House Democrats face resistance from their own caucus on oil spill bill - TheHill.com

House Democrats face resistance from their own caucus on oil spill bill - TheHill.com:

By Darren Goode - o7/29/10

"About 30 oil-state Democrats, many of them Blue Dogs, oppose the removal of a liability cap on economic damages for oil and gas producers, not just retroactively for BP, but for all companies involved in future spills.

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Echoing the arguments of some of their centrist Democratic colleagues in the Senate, they say that measure would price smaller independent companies — many of which they represent — out of the offshore drilling business."

SCANA’s earnings hit by higher property taxes in Q2

Charleston Regional Business Journal | Charleston, SC: "SCANA Corp. reported earnings of $54 million, or 43 cents per share, for the second quarter of 2010, down from $55 million, or 45 cents per share, for the second quarter of 2009.

The drop, announced today, was attributed to higher property taxes, interest, and operating and maintenance expenses, which the utility said more than offset improved electric margins driven by favorable weather, customer growth and the electric base rate increase under the Base Load Review Act."

Smart Meters On Horizon in Upstate Along with Utility Rate Changes | WSPA

Smart Meters On Horizon in Upstate Along with Utility Rate Changes | WSPA:

By DIANE LEE
Published: July 29, 2010

"In six weeks (September) the utility company plans to start testing its first smart meters.

'Now the customer will have the ability to see their real time energy information. And when you give customers the ability to see their actual consumption, now they have the ability to engage and make decisions on their power usage,' said Donahoo.

He says customers will be able to access their usage through the Laurens Electric website.

Laurens Electric says eventually we'll even be able to hook up our appliances to the smart meters so we can know exactly how much we're spending on that load of laundry.

But that knowledge could come at a price. The rate structure will be changing.

'When electricity costs more during the day we'll charge you more and then when it costs less we'll charge you less,' said Donahoo."

Duke Energy Wants To Follow Amazon’s Business Model - PSFK

Duke Energy Wants To Follow Amazon’s Business Model - PSFK: "Jim Rogers, Duke Energy’s CEO, wants his company to model its business after Amazon’s. Just like Amazon.com discounts e-books bought through the Kindle, Rogers too envisions using a smart-grid system to offer discounts on energy-efficient appliances to its customers.

Speaking at the Clean Energy Ministerial Forum, the Duke chief said that state regulations governing utilities need to change to allow utilities to make more profit without selling more electricity. He also proposed a new business model for his company under which Duke would associate its brand with computer chip enabled energy-efficient products that can interact with the utility and Duke will give customers discounts to buy them.

The company is already working on a smart-grid system that involves placing utilities, appliances and commercial equipment on a single, open Internet protocol platform."

Graniteville still watching water use | The Augusta Chronicle

Graniteville still watching water use | The Augusta Chronicle:

By Julia Sellers

South Carolina Bureau Chief

Wednesday, July 28, 2010 "A year after Avondale Mills customers saw water rates spike, they still see higher-than-average bills from their new company, Valley Public Service Authority, but not as bad as they were at their peak.

Johnson and her husband, Wayne, were among more than 550 customers who fought back last year when water rates jumped without warning. Customers who averaged bills of $15 to $20 a month saw them spike to well above $200, and in some cases, past $500."

Gibbs suggests climate measures could be added to Senate bill - The Hill's E2-Wire

Gibbs suggests climate measures could be added to Senate bill - The Hill's E2-Wire:

By Sam Youngman - 07/27/10 04:21 PM ET

"White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said he wouldn’t rule out adding some climate measures to the legislation in conference, assuming a scaled-down energy bill passes the Senate."

GM, Nissan compete for best deal on electric car

GM, Nissan compete for best deal on electric car:

By TOM KRISHER

The Associated Press
Tuesday, July 27, 2010; 6:09 PM

"For those who buy the Leaf or Volt, the two cars also are eligible for a federal tax credit that will cut their prices by $7,500. The Volt's price would fall to $33,500 while the Leaf's would drop to $25,280 - from $32,780. Some states, such as California, Georgia and Oregon, offer additional tax breaks that will lower the price further. The federal government will phase out the credits when each manufacturer sells 200,000 electric cars."

Pushed Along by Wind, Power Storage Grows - NYTimes.com

Pushed Along by Wind, Power Storage Grows - NYTimes.com:

By MATTHEW L. WALD

Published: July 27, 201

"The rapid growth of wind farms, whose output is hard to schedule reliably or even predict, has the nation’s electricity providers scrambling to develop energy storage to ensure stability and improve profits."

PSC official urges Congress to act on Yucca - Local / Metro - TheState.com

PSC official urges Congress to act on Yucca - Local / Metro - TheState.com:

"David Wright, vice chairman of the S.C. Public Service Commission, testified at a hearing convened by House Budget Committee chairman John Spratt.
“Without a solution to the storage of spent nuclear fuel – meaning a permanent repository – state regulators may be hesitant to approve the construction of new nuclear units,” Wright said. “And utilities may be hesitant to construct new nuclear units even if the (federal) Nuclear Regulatory Commission approves the license.”"

Monitor Urges Utilities to Go Slow on Smart Grid Renovations - NYTimes.com

Monitor Urges Utilities to Go Slow on Smart Grid Renovations - NYTimes.com:

By PETER BEHR of ClimateWire

Published: July 27, 2010

"Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) systems and carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) are two transformational technologies whose potential won't be known for a decade or more, says the task force, whose members included representatives of investor-owned power companies and cooperatives, grid managers, a consumer organization and the Energy Department, among others. It was chaired by Ben Crisp, director of system planning and regulatory performance for Progress Energy Florida in St. Petersburg, Fla.

The report, 'Reliability Impacts of Climate Change Initiatives: Technology Assessment and Scenario Development,' considers how the reliable operation of the grid could be affected if the U.S. adopted carbon reduction goals at the levels of the House-passed 'American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009."

Energy efficiency programs are paying off for Progress Energy customers in Marion County | Ocala.com

Energy efficiency programs are paying off for Progress Energy customers in Marion County | Ocala.com:

Fred Hiers

"The drop in energy use was a 45 percent reduction since Progress Energy started the program in 2007, enough to power 5,500 homes for a year, according to utility spokesman Tim Leljedal.

Savings for 2010 are not yet available.

The 87,000 megawatt-hours in savings is a record for the Save the Watts program, which is geared toward reducing energy use by the company’s 1.6 million Florida customers."

Post Tech - 'Jailbreaking' the iPhone

Post Tech - 'Jailbreaking' the iPhone:

Cecilia Kang, Washington Post

"The practice, known as “jailbreaking” has been criticized by Apple and other firms, who say their mobile devices can become destabilized when users download unapproved software applications. Apple would not comment on whether it would sue the Library of Congress’s copyright office for the changes made to the Digital Millennial Copyright Act announced Monday."

Liberal activists say good riddance to Kerry-Lieberman climate legislation - TheHill.com

Liberal activists say good riddance to Kerry-Lieberman climate legislation - TheHill.com:

By Alexander Bolton - 07/24/10 07:09 PM ET

"'Given that the energy bill was already a big capitulation to polluters, the failure to move it will not exacerbate the enthusiasm gap that was already there due to it's underlying lameness,” Green said. “If Democrats don't pass a gold-standard bill cracking down on polluters after the BP disaster, that's plain political malpractice.”"