The war of words and filings between power companies Exelon and NRG Energy was turned up a notch today when Exelon proposed a slate of candidates for shareholders to consider voting onto NRG’s board of directors at its next annual meeting. Since the fall Exelon has been waging a $6.5 billion hostile takeover bid for [...]  More »

The House passed its version of the massive economic stimulus package Wednesday with some energy-specific items in it, including: “Hey, that’s just what I asked for!” • $32 billion to upgrade the national energy transmission and distribution system using “smart grid” technology that better manages power flow, allows for demand response and incorporates renewable power [...]  More »

The names of retail electric companies in Texas can be a bit colorful at times. There’s Juice Energy (now extinct), Brilliant Energy, Bounce and Dynowatt. Every few weeks it seems like a new one is filed with the Texas Public Utility Commission. But earlier this month several really odd names showed up: TexRep5, TexRep6 etc. [...]  More »

TXU Energy said it will lower electric rates as much as 15 percent on service plans for new customers across the state, a reflection of lower natural gas prices and “challenging economic times.” The new prices go into effect February 1 and could save a typical customer “… as much as $340 over a year, [...]  More »

Valero Energy says it is shutting down its entire Texas City refinery rather than keep parts of it open while some units undergo maintenance because refining margins are weak and demand for gasoline is down. Bill Klesse, Valero’s chairman and CEO, says refiners “must continue to use discipline in matching production wiht demand” and the [...]  More »

The Obama administration’s decision today to give states more power to regulate auto emissions is — not surprisingly — being embraced by the environmental community: Environmental Defense Fund direct David Yarnold called it “a bold first step toward fixing some tough problems.” “The President’s announcement, along with his determination to move forward on a cap [...]  More »

All eyes have been on Washington, D.C. this week with the official start of the Obama administration and its big plans for new climate change laws, but it’s been a busy week for carbon trading in Houston, too. Platt’s held its 2nd annual Carbon Trading Conference here. The International Emissions Trading Association is holding a [...]  More »

Researchers at Cambridge University have found biology plays a part in successful financial trading. According to a report published in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: To determine the traders’ prenatal testosterone exposure, the researchers measured their “2D:4D ratio,” which is the relative lengths of the index and ring fingers on the right [...]  More »

Items on Chron.com and elsewhere related to energy: • ConocoPhillips plans to cut 4 percent of work force • LyondellBasell’s fall into bankruptcy was swift • To tax or to trade? The CO2 legislative debate. • Carbon Tax or Cap-and-Trade? Don’t Forget “Neither” • F.T.C. Asks if Carbon-Offset Money Is Well Spent • Carbon job [...]  More »

It’s quite a feat getting 32 business and environmental groups to agree on a proposal for creating a U.S. climate change law, as the United States Climate Action Partnership claimed to do this past week. But it may be getting that many people on the same page is just the easy part. Climate change policy: [...]  More »

Residents in parts of the Woodlands served by CenterPoint Energy were a bit angry that parts of the community served by Entergy-Texas had their power restored post-Hurricane Ike much more quickly. There’s been a movement afoot to get the companies to swap territories, but it appears that’s not going to work out, according to a [...]  More »

Dynegy’s recent announcement it was backing away from a joint venture to develop new coal plants was seen by some as another nail in the coffin of the key power plant fuel. But Texas and Illinois lawmakers are hoping to keep hope alive under the “clean coal” banner. The W.A. Parish Power Plant in Fort [...]  More »