CBR - Customer growth, normal winter boost SCANA Corp. earnings

Staff Report
Published April 25, 2013
First-quarter earnings for SCANA Corp. climbed nearly 25% on revenues of $1.31 billion, the Cayce-based energy provider reported Thursday.
The company attributed higher margins to customer growth, recent rate increases at its principal subsidiary, South Carolina Electric & Gas, and an improving performance of its Georgia retail natural gas unit, SCANA Energy.

State agency to hold additional hearings on Duke Energy rate increase

Public hearings on Duke Energy’s proposed $221 million annual rate increase in South Carolina will be held in Spartanburg, Anderson and Columbia, in addition to a public hearing in Greenville previously ordered by the S.C. Public Service Commission.
The commission in a Wednesday vote ordered the evening hearings, with the dates and locations to be announced later.

Richest Man Slim Cited for Profiting From Phones for Poor - Bloomberg

By Todd Shields - Apr 25, 2013 12:00 AM ET

Slim’s TracFone Wireless Inc. received about a quarter of the funds from the U.S. government’sLifeline program, according to the latest figures. Today, a House subcommittee convenes ahearing to ask why the program, paid for by fees charged to U.S. phone subscribers, tripled in cost since 2008.

SCE&G nuke plant faces federal scrutiny

sfretwell@thestate.com (SAMMY FRETWELL)
Published: Apr 22, 2013, 6:47 PM
NRC inspectors discovered the flaws in February and required SCE&G to address the agency’s concerns before utility contractors poured the foundation, said Scott Freeman, chief of the agency’s nuclear construction branch in Atlanta.

Natural Gas Use in Long-Haul Trucks Expected to Rise - NYTimes.com

By DIANE CARDWELL and CLIFFORD KRAUSS  Published: April 22, 2013

And in the latest sign of how the momentum for natural gas in transportation is accelerating, United Parcel Service plans to announce in the next few days that it will expand its fleet of heavy 18-wheel vehicles running on liquefied natural gas, or L.N.G., to 800 by the end of 2014, from 112. The vehicles will use the new Cummins engines, produced under a joint venture with Westport Innovations.

Google pushes new plan for utility-supplied renewable energy

By Tina Casey on 21 April 2013

Nevertheless, Google seems pretty confident that other factors would offset any cost differential. Namely, Google foresees that companies would be willing to pay a little more in order to achieve a more diverse energy supply that provides far more long term stability than the fossil fuel market, which is characterized by periodic price spikes and is vulnerable to geopolitical factors that can (and do) lead to supply disruptions.