A record-setting agreement over pollution emissions from the Big Cajun II coal-fired power plant in New Roads becomes effective today, following U.S. District Judge James Brady's signing off Tuesday on the settlement between NRG Energy's subsidiary Louisiana Generating, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice. The largest Clean Air Act settlement in state history requires Louisiana Generating, which has owned Big Cajun II for more than a decade, to spend $250 million to reduce air pollution through 2015, with further reductions by 2025. The company will also pay a civil fine of $3.5 million—half of which will go to Louisiana for environmentally friendly measures—and spend $10.5 million on environmental mitigation projects. Officials say a combination of new pollution controls, natural gas conversion and annual emission caps will eliminate 27,300 tons of harmful emissions, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, each year. "The Big Cajun...
Gov. Bobby Jindal joined officials from a pair of Texas and New Zealand companies today to announce plans for a $1.3 billion methanol plant in St. James Parish. Located across the river from the Nucor Corp. project in Convent, the project will create 63 new direct jobs paying an average salary of $66,500 a year, plus benefits, officials say. LED also estimates the project will result in 374 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 430 new jobs for the area. Austin-based Zero Emission Energy Plant Ltd.—or ZEEP—and New Zealand-based Todd Corp. are joint owners of the project, which they say will be the largest methanol plant in the United States. To secure the project, LED says the state is offering a performance-based $5 million grant for infrastructure costs. The companies are also expected to get tax exemptions for industry and for job creation. Methanol is used to produce everyday goods such as plastics, polyester fibers and fabrics, pesticides, fuel additives,...
Louisiana's utility regulators have shelved plans for a statewide energy efficiency program, only two months after backing the idea. The change of one member of the Public Service Commission was enough to reverse course. The commission voted 3-2 today to stall the program plans. The PSC's newest commissioner, Scott Angelle, says he's concerned about the program's cost for small businesses, because utility companies would be able to charge their customers for energy efficiency initiatives. Supporters of the program, however, say any costs to utility customers would be more than offset by the rate savings stemming from efficiencies created in the way power is delivered and used. PSC Chairman Eric Skrmetta, who voted to abandon the previous plans, says the commission will study the idea and return with a new approach.
Louisiana and the Gulf Coast likely will be the prime beneficiaries of a natural gas–fueled industrial building boom over the next several years, says David Dismukes of LSU's Center for Energy Studies. However, several variables— such as tax reform, which will be a hot topic at this year's legislative session—could affect the economics of some of those potential projects, he says. "Everybody's sitting back waiting and watching," Dismukes says, when asked about the state-level tax reform conversation. "They will sit down and redo the books on these projects as soon as they get a more concrete idea of how it's going to change things." The Jindal administration wants to protect incentives such as exemptions for business utilities and purchases of manufacturing machinery and equipment. However, Dismukes says the state's Quality Jobs and Enterprise Zone programs could be in play. Changes in federal tax policy and environmental regulations also could make a difference,...
No doubt much of the local petrochemical industry is relieved by this week's announcement that Lisa Jackson, who has been administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the past four years, is stepping down. Her tenure has been tumultuous, and she has opposed measures like hydraulic fracturing that are strongly favored by industry both for its energy and economic development potential. But local industry leaders are not crowing about Jackson's departure. Rather, they are circumspect in their reaction. "It's normal for the majority of a president's first-term team to move on after his re-election, and we expected that Administrator Jackson would do so," says Dan Borné, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association. "Rather than looking back on her tenure, it's best to look ahead and to plan a meaningful dialogue with her permanent successor." While the process to replace Jackson—a New Orleans native and graduate of Tulane University—plays out, Borné says the...
BRAC has identified five industry sectors that have the best potential for economic development "wins" over the next several years. BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp stresses that the chamber won't turn away any opportunities that walk through the door, adding that it will continue to work with existing local businesses regardless of industry. The analysis by consultant Newmark Knight Frank, which BRAC commissioned, is meant to show the sectors with significant growth potential where the Capital Region has the best chance to compete, and will influence nearly every aspect of BRAC's work. The state commissioned a similar report known as "Blue Ocean" in 2009. The five sectors are: chemicals and new energy production, fabricated structural materials, software design, technical research and consulting, and advanced shared services. Possible sources for foreign direct investment in each sector are noted, with the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada cited as the most active. Until recently,...
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale that stretches across central Louisiana will not excite frenzy equal to that surrounding the Haynesville Shale, an oil and gas executive told the Alexandria Rotary Club on Tuesday, but it could eventually prove more valuable, The (Alexandria) Town Talk reports. The Tuscaloosa Shale formation is located north of the Capital Region—covering most or all of Rapides, Avoyelles and Vernon parishes—and also stretches into southwest Mississippi. It's still in early exploratory phases, but it could yield significant oil discoveries. "I think [the Tuscaloosa play] is going to be a big deal," Chris John, a former congressman from Louisiana and president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, told the Rotary club. "It's not going to be quite the heyday Haynesville was, because that was boomtown stuff. People see what happened there and say, 'When is that going to happen here?' That's a bad thing to compare. It's not going to happen...
The success of American drillers in coaxing fossil fuels from shale rock via hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—has the potential to boost production so much that it may deny OPEC the power to set global oil and gasoline prices, an intelligence advisory panel concludes in a new report. Bloomberg reports that rising domestic production from hydraulic fracturing is expanding U.S. supplies, which in time would shift the balance of power in global energy markets, according to a new report by the National Intelligence Council. The council, an adviser to the director of national intelligence, publishes a report every four years to aid policymakers' long-term planning. As the U.S. adds supply, OPEC's influence over prices would wane. "In a tectonic shift, energy independence is not unrealistic for the U.S. in as short a period as 10-20 years," the report states. The 12 nations of OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Venezuela, produce more than 40% of the world's oil, a...
Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has pledged an incentive package valued at more than $135 million to South African energy company Sasol Ltd., which is developing a multibillion-dollar complex in southwest Louisiana to turn natural gas into chemicals, diesel and other fuels. Incentives include tax breaks, a $20 million worker training facility, and a $115 million payment to the company for land and infrastructure that will be left to a future governor's administration and lawmakers to fund. Sasol announced on Monday it plans to spend between $16 billion and $21 billion on the construction of a chemical plant and a gas-to-liquids plant at a site in Westlake, near Lake Charles. The project is described as the largest manufacturing investment in Louisiana's history. The governor's office says Sasol will create 1,250 new permanent jobs, while an LSU study says the project will generate an economic impact of $46 billion over 20 years. Landing the facility in Louisiana comes with a...
South African chemicals and energy company Sasol Ltd. announced today it anticipates spending between $16 billion and $21 billion to build a complex in Louisiana to convert natural gas into diesel, other fuels and chemicals. When, and if, that projection comes to fruition, Gov. Bobby Jindal says it would represent the largest industrial investment in state history. "It also represents one of the largest foreign direct investment manufacturing projects in the history of the entire United States," says the governor, who joined Sasol officials today to shed additional light on the scope of the project, which has been in development for years. Sasol says it will soon begin initial engineering work on a complex in Westlake that will use domestic natural gas—which is among the cheapest in the world—to make higher-value chemicals and fuels. The company plans to first spend $5 billion to $7 billion on a chemical plant, and later add an $11 billion to $14 billion gas-to-liquids...
An Ascension Parish coal port facility has received permission from state officials for a $130 million tax-exempt borrowing plan that will be used to expand the plant. The Bond Commission approved the bond sale without objection today, despite requests for postponement from New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy, which claims the expansion will boost costs for customers of utility cooperatives. Impala Warehousing will use the money for improvements at its facility near Burnside to ship coal, primarily to international markets. Trafigura Beheer BV, a Dutch trading company that owns Impala, says the Ascension site will become a top coal and bulk logistics facility in the United States with the expansion.
An eerie quiet has settled over the Walker Components plant in Denver, which assembles custom cables for a global wind turbine company. Orders are down from earlier in the year, and one-third of its employees have been laid off so far in 2012. "At the beginning of this year we just didn't feel we had enough time, and now we've got too much time on our hands," says one of its workers, 25-year-old Calvin Huddleston. "I really thought wind would be a sustainable business." The wind energy boom President Barack Obama touted as key to his energy strategy has hit a wall in an election-year dispute over taxpayer support for renewable energy. The government poured billions of dollars into renewable energy, hoping to unleash a wave of good-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs. But federal spending to support development of green energy has dropped sharply—75% since 2009—amid tea party criticism that it's wasteful. Congress's failure to extend past December the production tax...
As advanced metering technologies such as “smart meters” emerged, Todd Barlow and Dale Pennington began to talk about opening a consulting firm to help utilities and cities implement the systems. “My roots were in engineering and utilities; Dale's roots were in technology and energy,” Barlow says. “We decided if we put our heads together, we had a meaningful consulting business.”
When Louisiana regulators launched a pilot program to encourage the development of renewable power sources, Greg Nolan Jr. saw an opening for his Thibodaux sugar mill. Nolan's mill, Lafourche Sugar, had long desired to create its own power by using a sugarcane byproduct called bagasse. By cutting its own power costs and selling electricity back to the grid, the project would boost Nolan's bottom line. And now he had a willing buyer—Entergy Louisiana—which needed an environmentally friendly energy partner. While the state's major utilities have largely been slow to buy into the program, several new proposals have been filed with the state in recent weeks, The Times-Picayune reports, and utility regulators say they are growing more optimistic that the pilot could begin to spur investment in smaller-scale renewable energy options, like Lafourche Sugar. The state Public Service Commission launched the pilot two years ago to get utilities ready in the event that federal...
Louisiana is lagging when it comes to its energy efficiency, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's sixth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, released today. On the scorecard, Louisiana is listed among the 10 states most in need of improvement when it comes to energy efficiency. Overall, Louisiana ranks No. 43 in the nation. "Aside from programs established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that incorporate energy efficiency into rebuilding efforts, Louisiana has no energy efficiency programs for utility customers outside of New Orleans," the scorecard says. "Entergy offers a portfolio of energy efficiency programs—including residential, small commercial, and industrial programs—for customers in the city of New Orleans." The top 10 states leading the energy efficiency charge are, in order of ranking, Massachusetts, California, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, and Minnesota. ACEEE's annual...
The Shaw Group announced this morning that it has been awarded a contract by FirstEnergy Corp. to implement an air quality control program for 22 coal-fired units at eight sites in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The units represent more than 11,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, according to Shaw, which will provide the engineering, procurement and construction management for modern air quality control technologies to help reduce emissions including sulfur dioxide, mercury, particulate and hydrogen chloride. "Shaw expects to play an integral role in helping power generators develop and implement compliance strategies that will meet federal and local air regulations," says Shaw's Power Group president, Eli Smith, in a statement. Shaw says it has performed emissions retrofits on more than 40,000 megawatts worth of generation over the past 10 years.
The Shaw Group announced today it has completed the sale of its energy and chemicals business to French oilfield services group Technip for approximately $290 million. The deal was initially announced in May. The Baton Rouge-based technology and engineering firm says the completion of the transaction satisfies one of the conditions of its recent agreement to be acquired by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. for about $3.04 billion in cash and stock. CB&I has said the buyout will create one of the world's most complete engineering and construction companies focused on the energy industry. Shaw shares were flat at $42.10 in afternoon trading. CB&I shares were up 22 cents to $36.83.
A tax break passed by lawmakers five years ago to spur investment in solar energy has become a costly deal for the state, siphoning millions of dollars more than expected from Louisiana's coffers. When lawmakers passed the Wind and Solar Energy Systems Tax Credit in 2007, fiscal analysts said they expected lost state tax income to be less than $500,000 a year. But in the four years that the tax expenditure has been used, the state has shelled out $37 million for it—more than 18 times the maximum estimate, according to data provided to The Associated Press by the Department of Revenue. As questions have been raised, the department is taking steps to put limits on who qualifies for the tax break and what items are eligible for reimbursement.
The July 30 announcement that The Shaw Group is being acquired for $3.04 billion by CB&I, a Netherlands company with U.S. operations in The Woodlands, Texas, came as a surprise to employees, state economic development officials and even analysts who closely follow the local, 30-year-old company.
The Shaw Group says it has gotten word from the Federal Trade Commission that a required waiting period for the previously announced sale of its energy and chemicals group to French company Technip has ended early, clearing the way for the sale to close by the end of August. Termination of the waiting period was one of the last remaining hurdles to completing the sale, Shaw says. The deal, which will net Shaw an estimated $300 million, was first announced in May. The Houston Business Journal has previously reported that Paris-based Technip will acquire Shaw's Stone & Webster process technologies in the deal, along with 1,200 employees in business operations in Houston, two locations in Massachusetts, the U.K. and India. In a separate deal announced one week ago, Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. has agreed to acquire Shaw for $3.04 billion in cash and stock as the energy infrastructure construction company looks to diversify its offerings in growth areas like power generation.
The Senate's tax-writing panel is moving to revive dozens of tax breaks for businesses including biodiesel and wind energy producers, even as the GOP-controlled House trumpets symbolic legislation to erase them and create a new tax code with lower rates and fewer special-interest tax breaks. The $200 billion-plus package debated by the Senate Finance Committee today is anchored by a two-year provision to protect middle- and upper-income taxpayers from being hit by the alternative minimum tax, shielding them from higher levies originally meant to prevent the rich from escaping taxes altogether. The cost of the package grew by more than $50 billion since its initial release on Wednesday, including a tax credit for wind production criticized by presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney. That provision was initially targeted for elimination. Supporters of a tax break for builders of NASCAR tracks and other motorsports facilities also managed to revive them after that break had faced the...
Offshore operators racing to extract more oil from under deep waters have a vision of one day running wells remotely from land, The Houston Chronicle reports, reducing the need for multibillion-dollar offshore production platforms. That will take lots of electric power, though, and while the companies don't have technology to generate electricity underwater, they are developing new ways to get it there from shore or from generators on the ocean's surface. Siemens is working on subsea transmission equipment that could deliver 100 megawatts at a distance of more than 70 miles from a generation facility—a dramatic increase from the 3-4 megawatts maximum transmitted now through cables from platform generators to the deepwater wells below. "A subsea power grid lets you power up all your appliances to manage your field, and will allow you to do so for multiple wells," say Adil Toubia, CEO of the Oil & Gas Division of Siemens Energy. While underwater electric cables have been...
The United States is at risk of relying too much on natural gas as transportation, manufacturing and electric-power industries vie for the cheap fuel, top executives of three power utilities tell Bloomberg. While greater use of gas instead of coal for generation cuts air pollution and carbon-dioxide emissions linked to climate change, the executives say the nation needs a diverse fuel mix to hedge against cost increases in any one source. "Having one focus is never good, just like a portfolio having one stock," says Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of Las Vegas-based NV Energy Inc. Energy companies are developing vast reserves of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing underground to push gas out of shale rock. The process, also called fracking, has sent gas prices down about 38% over the past year, benefiting industries that use the fuel in production, such as chemical manufacturers. The three executives with whom Bloomberg recently sat down disagree on whether the...
As oil and natural gas production surges in new regions of the country, America's entire energy transportation network is undergoing a multibillion-dollar overhaul. The Houston Chronicle reports that all across North America, pipelines and rail terminals are being built in areas where wells were once scarce. Companies are reversing pipe flows and adding stronger pumps to funnel more crude through their lines. The changes are transforming the web that carries energy across the country. "Where it used to be isn't where it is now. Where it needs to go isn't where it used to go," says Terrance McGill, president of fuel carrier Enbridge Energy. "You're seeing this fundamental shift of crude oil across the country." Historically, fossil fuels flowed north, from oil fields in Texas toward the nation's big cities. But energy producers have charged into new areas with technology that can reach oil and natural gas trapped in shale and other tight rock formations. Pipelines haven't moved...
America will halve its reliance on Middle Eastern oil by the end of this decade and could end it completely by 2035 as a result of declining demand and the rapid growth of new petroleum sources in the Western Hemisphere, energy analysts now anticipate. The Wall Street Journal reports the shift in supply and demand is due to technological advances in oil extraction techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—which has only become commercially viable during the last decade in U.S. fields previously deemed not worth tampering with. By 2020, nearly half of the crude oil America consumes will be produced at home, and 82% will come from the western side of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By 2035, oil shipments from the Middle East to North America "could almost be nonexistent," the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries recently predicted, partly because more efficient car engines and a growing supply of...
The Shaw Group announced this morning that it has been awarded a contract to implement a new services program for Saudi Electricity Co.'s 37 oil and gas-fired power plants throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The contract follows an April 2010 multiphase study Shaw was commissioned to conduct that defined and recommended operational improvements for Saudi Electricity Company's fleet of power plants. Under the new contract, Shaw will implement a comprehensive asset management and performance diagnostic program addressing most aspects of 37 operating power plants with a concentration on safety, maintenance, staffing, benchmarking and corporate environmental programs. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Shaw says it expects to continue expanding its role in Saudi Arabia, assisting in developing oil, gas and nuclear power to support the kingdom's growing power generation needs. Under a separate, previously announced agreement, Shaw is pursuing the design, construction and...
Biodiesel production in the United States has surged so far in 2012, just two years after a collapse in which 52 of the nation's 170 biodiesel plants were idled. But as The Los Angeles Times reports, the fuel still has many miles to go before it becomes a significant addition to the nation's energy needs, according to Energy Department statistics. During the first quarter of 2012, which are the most recent statistics available, 241 million gallons of biodiesel were produced, the Energy Department reports. That was a 78.5% increase over the same three months in 2011, and a whopping 169% increase over the same period in 2010—the year the industry was rocked by the temporary loss of federal tax credits. But biodiesel still represents a relative drop in the bucket of the nation's immense thirst for liquid fuel. The total of 92 million gallons of biodiesel produced in March—the best month in 2012 on record—appears miniscule next to the 4.9 billion gallons of crude...
New emissions rules take effect at Big Cajun II
A record-setting agreement over pollution emissions from the Big Cajun II coal-fired power plant in New Roads becomes effective today, following U.S. District Judge James Brady's signing off Tuesday on the settlement between NRG Energy's subsidiary Louisiana Generating, the Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Justice. The largest Clean Air Act settlement in state history requires Louisiana Generating, which has owned Big Cajun II for more than a decade, to spend $250 million to reduce air pollution through 2015, with further reductions by 2025. The company will also pay a civil fine of $3.5 million—half of which will go to Louisiana for environmentally friendly measures—and spend $10.5 million on environmental mitigation projects. Officials say a combination of new pollution controls, natural gas conversion and annual emission caps will eliminate 27,300 tons of harmful emissions, such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, each year. "The Big Cajun...
Plans for $1.3B methanol plant in St. James Parish outlined
Gov. Bobby Jindal joined officials from a pair of Texas and New Zealand companies today to announce plans for a $1.3 billion methanol plant in St. James Parish. Located across the river from the Nucor Corp. project in Convent, the project will create 63 new direct jobs paying an average salary of $66,500 a year, plus benefits, officials say. LED also estimates the project will result in 374 new indirect jobs, for a total of more than 430 new jobs for the area. Austin-based Zero Emission Energy Plant Ltd.—or ZEEP—and New Zealand-based Todd Corp. are joint owners of the project, which they say will be the largest methanol plant in the United States. To secure the project, LED says the state is offering a performance-based $5 million grant for infrastructure costs. The companies are also expected to get tax exemptions for industry and for job creation. Methanol is used to produce everyday goods such as plastics, polyester fibers and fabrics, pesticides, fuel additives,...
PSC scraps statewide energy efficiency program
Louisiana's utility regulators have shelved plans for a statewide energy efficiency program, only two months after backing the idea. The change of one member of the Public Service Commission was enough to reverse course. The commission voted 3-2 today to stall the program plans. The PSC's newest commissioner, Scott Angelle, says he's concerned about the program's cost for small businesses, because utility companies would be able to charge their customers for energy efficiency initiatives. Supporters of the program, however, say any costs to utility customers would be more than offset by the rate savings stemming from efficiencies created in the way power is delivered and used. PSC Chairman Eric Skrmetta, who voted to abandon the previous plans, says the commission will study the idea and return with a new approach.
Manufacturing boom predicted in La. despite uncertainty
Louisiana and the Gulf Coast likely will be the prime beneficiaries of a natural gas–fueled industrial building boom over the next several years, says David Dismukes of LSU's Center for Energy Studies. However, several variables— such as tax reform, which will be a hot topic at this year's legislative session—could affect the economics of some of those potential projects, he says. "Everybody's sitting back waiting and watching," Dismukes says, when asked about the state-level tax reform conversation. "They will sit down and redo the books on these projects as soon as they get a more concrete idea of how it's going to change things." The Jindal administration wants to protect incentives such as exemptions for business utilities and purchases of manufacturing machinery and equipment. However, Dismukes says the state's Quality Jobs and Enterprise Zone programs could be in play. Changes in federal tax policy and environmental regulations also could make a difference,...
Industry remains cautious with upcoming EPA changes
No doubt much of the local petrochemical industry is relieved by this week's announcement that Lisa Jackson, who has been administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency for the past four years, is stepping down. Her tenure has been tumultuous, and she has opposed measures like hydraulic fracturing that are strongly favored by industry both for its energy and economic development potential. But local industry leaders are not crowing about Jackson's departure. Rather, they are circumspect in their reaction. "It's normal for the majority of a president's first-term team to move on after his re-election, and we expected that Administrator Jackson would do so," says Dan Borné, president of the Louisiana Chemical Association. "Rather than looking back on her tenure, it's best to look ahead and to plan a meaningful dialogue with her permanent successor." While the process to replace Jackson—a New Orleans native and graduate of Tulane University—plays out, Borné says the...
BRAC zeroes in on 5 target industries for future economic development
BRAC has identified five industry sectors that have the best potential for economic development "wins" over the next several years. BRAC President/CEO Adam Knapp stresses that the chamber won't turn away any opportunities that walk through the door, adding that it will continue to work with existing local businesses regardless of industry. The analysis by consultant Newmark Knight Frank, which BRAC commissioned, is meant to show the sectors with significant growth potential where the Capital Region has the best chance to compete, and will influence nearly every aspect of BRAC's work. The state commissioned a similar report known as "Blue Ocean" in 2009. The five sectors are: chemicals and new energy production, fabricated structural materials, software design, technical research and consulting, and advanced shared services. Possible sources for foreign direct investment in each sector are noted, with the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada cited as the most active. Until recently,...
Energy advocate says Tuscaloosa Shale could be more valuable than Haynesville
The Tuscaloosa Marine Shale that stretches across central Louisiana will not excite frenzy equal to that surrounding the Haynesville Shale, an oil and gas executive told the Alexandria Rotary Club on Tuesday, but it could eventually prove more valuable, The (Alexandria) Town Talk reports. The Tuscaloosa Shale formation is located north of the Capital Region—covering most or all of Rapides, Avoyelles and Vernon parishes—and also stretches into southwest Mississippi. It's still in early exploratory phases, but it could yield significant oil discoveries. "I think [the Tuscaloosa play] is going to be a big deal," Chris John, a former congressman from Louisiana and president of the Louisiana Mid-Continent Oil and Gas Association, told the Rotary club. "It's not going to be quite the heyday Haynesville was, because that was boomtown stuff. People see what happened there and say, 'When is that going to happen here?' That's a bad thing to compare. It's not going to happen...
Report: Fracking could drain OPEC's power to set gasoline prices
The success of American drillers in coaxing fossil fuels from shale rock via hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—has the potential to boost production so much that it may deny OPEC the power to set global oil and gasoline prices, an intelligence advisory panel concludes in a new report. Bloomberg reports that rising domestic production from hydraulic fracturing is expanding U.S. supplies, which in time would shift the balance of power in global energy markets, according to a new report by the National Intelligence Council. The council, an adviser to the director of national intelligence, publishes a report every four years to aid policymakers' long-term planning. As the U.S. adds supply, OPEC's influence over prices would wane. "In a tectonic shift, energy independence is not unrealistic for the U.S. in as short a period as 10-20 years," the report states. The 12 nations of OPEC, including Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Venezuela, produce more than 40% of the world's oil, a...
Sasol getting incentives package worth $135M from Louisiana
Gov. Bobby Jindal's administration has pledged an incentive package valued at more than $135 million to South African energy company Sasol Ltd., which is developing a multibillion-dollar complex in southwest Louisiana to turn natural gas into chemicals, diesel and other fuels. Incentives include tax breaks, a $20 million worker training facility, and a $115 million payment to the company for land and infrastructure that will be left to a future governor's administration and lawmakers to fund. Sasol announced on Monday it plans to spend between $16 billion and $21 billion on the construction of a chemical plant and a gas-to-liquids plant at a site in Westlake, near Lake Charles. The project is described as the largest manufacturing investment in Louisiana's history. The governor's office says Sasol will create 1,250 new permanent jobs, while an LSU study says the project will generate an economic impact of $46 billion over 20 years. Landing the facility in Louisiana comes with a...
Sasol: Gas-to-liquids plant in La. could cost as much as $21B
South African chemicals and energy company Sasol Ltd. announced today it anticipates spending between $16 billion and $21 billion to build a complex in Louisiana to convert natural gas into diesel, other fuels and chemicals. When, and if, that projection comes to fruition, Gov. Bobby Jindal says it would represent the largest industrial investment in state history. "It also represents one of the largest foreign direct investment manufacturing projects in the history of the entire United States," says the governor, who joined Sasol officials today to shed additional light on the scope of the project, which has been in development for years. Sasol says it will soon begin initial engineering work on a complex in Westlake that will use domestic natural gas—which is among the cheapest in the world—to make higher-value chemicals and fuels. The company plans to first spend $5 billion to $7 billion on a chemical plant, and later add an $11 billion to $14 billion gas-to-liquids...
Bond Commission backs loan for Ascension coal port facility
An Ascension Parish coal port facility has received permission from state officials for a $130 million tax-exempt borrowing plan that will be used to expand the plant. The Bond Commission approved the bond sale without objection today, despite requests for postponement from New Orleans-based Alliance for Affordable Energy, which claims the expansion will boost costs for customers of utility cooperatives. Impala Warehousing will use the money for improvements at its facility near Burnside to ship coal, primarily to international markets. Trafigura Beheer BV, a Dutch trading company that owns Impala, says the Ascension site will become a top coal and bulk logistics facility in the United States with the expansion.
As green power debate continues, jobs dwindle
An eerie quiet has settled over the Walker Components plant in Denver, which assembles custom cables for a global wind turbine company. Orders are down from earlier in the year, and one-third of its employees have been laid off so far in 2012. "At the beginning of this year we just didn't feel we had enough time, and now we've got too much time on our hands," says one of its workers, 25-year-old Calvin Huddleston. "I really thought wind would be a sustainable business." The wind energy boom President Barack Obama touted as key to his energy strategy has hit a wall in an election-year dispute over taxpayer support for renewable energy. The government poured billions of dollars into renewable energy, hoping to unleash a wave of good-paying, high-tech manufacturing jobs. But federal spending to support development of green energy has dropped sharply—75% since 2009—amid tea party criticism that it's wasteful. Congress's failure to extend past December the production tax...
Todd Barlow
As advanced metering technologies such as “smart meters” emerged, Todd Barlow and Dale Pennington began to talk about opening a consulting firm to help utilities and cities implement the systems. “My roots were in engineering and utilities; Dale's roots were in technology and energy,” Barlow says. “We decided if we put our heads together, we had a meaningful consulting business.”
Two years in, La.'s renewable energy program picking up steam
When Louisiana regulators launched a pilot program to encourage the development of renewable power sources, Greg Nolan Jr. saw an opening for his Thibodaux sugar mill. Nolan's mill, Lafourche Sugar, had long desired to create its own power by using a sugarcane byproduct called bagasse. By cutting its own power costs and selling electricity back to the grid, the project would boost Nolan's bottom line. And now he had a willing buyer—Entergy Louisiana—which needed an environmentally friendly energy partner. While the state's major utilities have largely been slow to buy into the program, several new proposals have been filed with the state in recent weeks, The Times-Picayune reports, and utility regulators say they are growing more optimistic that the pilot could begin to spur investment in smaller-scale renewable energy options, like Lafourche Sugar. The state Public Service Commission launched the pilot two years ago to get utilities ready in the event that federal...
Louisiana ranks 43rd for energy efficiency
Louisiana is lagging when it comes to its energy efficiency, according to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's sixth annual State Energy Efficiency Scorecard, released today. On the scorecard, Louisiana is listed among the 10 states most in need of improvement when it comes to energy efficiency. Overall, Louisiana ranks No. 43 in the nation. "Aside from programs established in the wake of Hurricane Katrina that incorporate energy efficiency into rebuilding efforts, Louisiana has no energy efficiency programs for utility customers outside of New Orleans," the scorecard says. "Entergy offers a portfolio of energy efficiency programs—including residential, small commercial, and industrial programs—for customers in the city of New Orleans." The top 10 states leading the energy efficiency charge are, in order of ranking, Massachusetts, California, New York, Oregon, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Washington, Maryland, and Minnesota. ACEEE's annual...
Shaw to implement air quality control programs at 22 coal-fired units
The Shaw Group announced this morning that it has been awarded a contract by FirstEnergy Corp. to implement an air quality control program for 22 coal-fired units at eight sites in Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The financial details of the deal were not disclosed. The units represent more than 11,000 megawatts of electric generating capacity, according to Shaw, which will provide the engineering, procurement and construction management for modern air quality control technologies to help reduce emissions including sulfur dioxide, mercury, particulate and hydrogen chloride. "Shaw expects to play an integral role in helping power generators develop and implement compliance strategies that will meet federal and local air regulations," says Shaw's Power Group president, Eli Smith, in a statement. Shaw says it has performed emissions retrofits on more than 40,000 megawatts worth of generation over the past 10 years.
Shaw Group completes sale of energy and chemicals business to French firm
The Shaw Group announced today it has completed the sale of its energy and chemicals business to French oilfield services group Technip for approximately $290 million. The deal was initially announced in May. The Baton Rouge-based technology and engineering firm says the completion of the transaction satisfies one of the conditions of its recent agreement to be acquired by Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. for about $3.04 billion in cash and stock. CB&I has said the buyout will create one of the world's most complete engineering and construction companies focused on the energy industry. Shaw shares were flat at $42.10 in afternoon trading. CB&I shares were up 22 cents to $36.83.
Cost of La. solar tax credit far exceeds estimates
A tax break passed by lawmakers five years ago to spur investment in solar energy has become a costly deal for the state, siphoning millions of dollars more than expected from Louisiana's coffers. When lawmakers passed the Wind and Solar Energy Systems Tax Credit in 2007, fiscal analysts said they expected lost state tax income to be less than $500,000 a year. But in the four years that the tax expenditure has been used, the state has shelled out $37 million for it—more than 18 times the maximum estimate, according to data provided to The Associated Press by the Department of Revenue. As questions have been raised, the department is taking steps to put limits on who qualifies for the tax break and what items are eligible for reimbursement.
Shaw sale aftershocks debated
The July 30 announcement that The Shaw Group is being acquired for $3.04 billion by CB&I, a Netherlands company with U.S. operations in The Woodlands, Texas, came as a surprise to employees, state economic development officials and even analysts who closely follow the local, 30-year-old company.
Shaw clears hurdle for $300M sale of energy and chemicals business
The Shaw Group says it has gotten word from the Federal Trade Commission that a required waiting period for the previously announced sale of its energy and chemicals group to French company Technip has ended early, clearing the way for the sale to close by the end of August. Termination of the waiting period was one of the last remaining hurdles to completing the sale, Shaw says. The deal, which will net Shaw an estimated $300 million, was first announced in May. The Houston Business Journal has previously reported that Paris-based Technip will acquire Shaw's Stone & Webster process technologies in the deal, along with 1,200 employees in business operations in Houston, two locations in Massachusetts, the U.K. and India. In a separate deal announced one week ago, Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. has agreed to acquire Shaw for $3.04 billion in cash and stock as the energy infrastructure construction company looks to diversify its offerings in growth areas like power generation.
Senate panel revives dozens of tax breaks
The Senate's tax-writing panel is moving to revive dozens of tax breaks for businesses including biodiesel and wind energy producers, even as the GOP-controlled House trumpets symbolic legislation to erase them and create a new tax code with lower rates and fewer special-interest tax breaks. The $200 billion-plus package debated by the Senate Finance Committee today is anchored by a two-year provision to protect middle- and upper-income taxpayers from being hit by the alternative minimum tax, shielding them from higher levies originally meant to prevent the rich from escaping taxes altogether. The cost of the package grew by more than $50 billion since its initial release on Wednesday, including a tax credit for wind production criticized by presumptive GOP nominee Mitt Romney. That provision was initially targeted for elimination. Supporters of a tax break for builders of NASCAR tracks and other motorsports facilities also managed to revive them after that break had faced the...
Underwater power grid aimed at new depths
Offshore operators racing to extract more oil from under deep waters have a vision of one day running wells remotely from land, The Houston Chronicle reports, reducing the need for multibillion-dollar offshore production platforms. That will take lots of electric power, though, and while the companies don't have technology to generate electricity underwater, they are developing new ways to get it there from shore or from generators on the ocean's surface. Siemens is working on subsea transmission equipment that could deliver 100 megawatts at a distance of more than 70 miles from a generation facility—a dramatic increase from the 3-4 megawatts maximum transmitted now through cables from platform generators to the deepwater wells below. "A subsea power grid lets you power up all your appliances to manage your field, and will allow you to do so for multiple wells," say Adil Toubia, CEO of the Oil & Gas Division of Siemens Energy. While underwater electric cables have been...
Utility chiefs worry U.S. rush to natural gas will crowd out other fuels
The United States is at risk of relying too much on natural gas as transportation, manufacturing and electric-power industries vie for the cheap fuel, top executives of three power utilities tell Bloomberg. While greater use of gas instead of coal for generation cuts air pollution and carbon-dioxide emissions linked to climate change, the executives say the nation needs a diverse fuel mix to hedge against cost increases in any one source. "Having one focus is never good, just like a portfolio having one stock," says Michael Yackira, chief executive officer of Las Vegas-based NV Energy Inc. Energy companies are developing vast reserves of natural gas by hydraulic fracturing underground to push gas out of shale rock. The process, also called fracking, has sent gas prices down about 38% over the past year, benefiting industries that use the fuel in production, such as chemical manufacturers. The three executives with whom Bloomberg recently sat down disagree on whether the...
U.S. energy transportation getting an overhaul
As oil and natural gas production surges in new regions of the country, America's entire energy transportation network is undergoing a multibillion-dollar overhaul. The Houston Chronicle reports that all across North America, pipelines and rail terminals are being built in areas where wells were once scarce. Companies are reversing pipe flows and adding stronger pumps to funnel more crude through their lines. The changes are transforming the web that carries energy across the country. "Where it used to be isn't where it is now. Where it needs to go isn't where it used to go," says Terrance McGill, president of fuel carrier Enbridge Energy. "You're seeing this fundamental shift of crude oil across the country." Historically, fossil fuels flowed north, from oil fields in Texas toward the nation's big cities. But energy producers have charged into new areas with technology that can reach oil and natural gas trapped in shale and other tight rock formations. Pipelines haven't moved...
U.S. makes strides in reducing dependence on Middle Eastern oil
America will halve its reliance on Middle Eastern oil by the end of this decade and could end it completely by 2035 as a result of declining demand and the rapid growth of new petroleum sources in the Western Hemisphere, energy analysts now anticipate. The Wall Street Journal reports the shift in supply and demand is due to technological advances in oil extraction techniques, such as hydraulic fracturing—or fracking—which has only become commercially viable during the last decade in U.S. fields previously deemed not worth tampering with. By 2020, nearly half of the crude oil America consumes will be produced at home, and 82% will come from the western side of the Atlantic Ocean, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. By 2035, oil shipments from the Middle East to North America "could almost be nonexistent," the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries recently predicted, partly because more efficient car engines and a growing supply of...
Shaw inks contract to service 37 Saudi power plants
The Shaw Group announced this morning that it has been awarded a contract to implement a new services program for Saudi Electricity Co.'s 37 oil and gas-fired power plants throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The contract follows an April 2010 multiphase study Shaw was commissioned to conduct that defined and recommended operational improvements for Saudi Electricity Company's fleet of power plants. Under the new contract, Shaw will implement a comprehensive asset management and performance diagnostic program addressing most aspects of 37 operating power plants with a concentration on safety, maintenance, staffing, benchmarking and corporate environmental programs. The value of the contract was not disclosed. Shaw says it expects to continue expanding its role in Saudi Arabia, assisting in developing oil, gas and nuclear power to support the kingdom's growing power generation needs. Under a separate, previously announced agreement, Shaw is pursuing the design, construction and...
U.S. biodiesel production soars, but crude is still king
Biodiesel production in the United States has surged so far in 2012, just two years after a collapse in which 52 of the nation's 170 biodiesel plants were idled. But as The Los Angeles Times reports, the fuel still has many miles to go before it becomes a significant addition to the nation's energy needs, according to Energy Department statistics. During the first quarter of 2012, which are the most recent statistics available, 241 million gallons of biodiesel were produced, the Energy Department reports. That was a 78.5% increase over the same three months in 2011, and a whopping 169% increase over the same period in 2010—the year the industry was rocked by the temporary loss of federal tax credits. But biodiesel still represents a relative drop in the bucket of the nation's immense thirst for liquid fuel. The total of 92 million gallons of biodiesel produced in March—the best month in 2012 on record—appears miniscule next to the 4.9 billion gallons of crude...