Greentech investments, 2009 vs. 2008. Is energy efficiency really moving beyond a feel-good way to save a few bucks into a real business? Some signs are pointing to ‘yes.’ In Idaho a 4.75 percent energy efficiency rider on consumer bills is helping to cut the state’s power demand significantly, notes The New York Times: As [...]  More »

Reliant Energy is formally rolling out what some say is the big payoff of “smart meters” — time-of-use plans that charge different rates based on energy demand throughout the day. These plans are only available to customers with the new digital meters being installed throughout much of Texas. More than 782,000 in Houston and North [...]  More »

A ruling by a district court judge in Austin will freeze billions of dollars of work on new high voltage power lines to bring electricity from West Texas wind energy projects to other parts of the state. State District Judge Stephen Yelenosky reversed an order from the Public Utility Commision awarding billions of dollars of [...]  More »

The nationwide home-building slump has led many tied to that trade to diversify, with some taking to upgrading the energy efficiency of existing homes. Seems like an easy sell, helping home owners save money, right? Not exactly. Demand for energy efficiency services is weak because of the costs and a lack of incentives, reports USAToday: [...]  More »

normalityrelief/Flickr The state’s main grid operator says Texas set a new winter record for electricity use, hitting 55,856 megawatts between 7 and 8 a.m. today, beating the old record by almost 5,500 megawatts. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas, said the region first beat the old record last night, between 7 and 8 p.m., when [...]  More »

In August of last year the Texas Public Utility Commission gave the OK for AllStar Energy to do business as an electric retailer. The Houston-based electric retailer listed as its CEO Neil Leibman, the former head of Gexa Energy, another electric retailer that was one of the success stories of Texas’ deregulated electric markets — [...]  More »

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said last week it would begin looking into whether chemical plants, refineries and power plants need to provide financial assurance they can afford to clean up after major environmental accidents, as required by the Superfund law, aka CERCLA. “Financial assurance requirements help ensure that owners and operators of facilities are [...]  More »

Sure, you love your ‘fridge but is it really a low energy unit? (dmguz/Flickr) The State of Texas will begin handing out $23 million in federal appliance purchase rebates in March, a sort of “cash for clunkers” for the other big pieces of metal in our lives. The funds are expected to go pretty quickly. [...]  More »

It seems safe to say San Antonio electric utility CPS Energy won’t be taking part in the two-reactor expansion of the South Texas Project nuclear plant in Bay City. The ongoing dispute over rising project costs (from $5 billion to now $18 billion) has devolved to CPS claiming NRG Energy and the firm coordinating the [...]  More »

Duke Energy is in talks with a Chinese power transmission firm about forming a joint venture to build high voltage transmission lines in the U.S., according to Dow Jones: The move shows how U.S. utilities are keen to tap China’s low-cost equipment and access to cheap credit to advance capital-intensive projects such as the construction [...]  More »

Texas will have plenty of power generating capacity to keep its electric grid stable at least through 2013, thanks in part to 3,100 megawatts of new power capacity added to the system since May, according to a semi-annual report from the state grid operator. ERCOT reserve margins since May 2007. The Electric Reliability Council of [...]  More »

Hunt Oil Co.’s electricity business, Sharyland Utilities, will buy West Texas utility Cap Rock Energy Corp. for $221.5 million. The deal expands Sharyland’s transmission territory into 28 counties in West Texas and North Texas and gives it 38,000 more customers. Sharyland’s current service territory is along the Rio Grande border in the South Texas cities [...]  More »