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Tom Sanzillo
Lease relinquishments are a sign of deeper trouble
In Peabody Energy’s recent relinquishment of some of its federal coal leases, the company is cleaning up its production cost side in the face of declining demand, particularly for the lower-quality 8400 BTU product that comes out of the Powder River Basin. The particular Wyoming coal in question has gone from being an asset to […]
Simon Nicholas
Growing acknowledgement of climate risk to companies and investors alike
SYDNEY — In distancing itself from coal, Japan’s Marubeni Corp., one of the world’s largest developers of coal-fired power plants, is adding to global momentum away from traditional forms of electricity generation. An announcement earlier this week by the company recognises climate risk as a threat to Marubeni’s business and shareholders and states that—as a […]
Melissa Brown
Putting the brakes on a runaway state-owned utility
Currency crises can bring hard truths into focus. That’s the lesson that the many parties who have been feeding off of Indonesia’s power sector expansion must be considering after the announcement earlier this month that 13,374[1] megawatts (MW) of planned new power capacity would be delayed. This cannot have come as a surprise. The warning […]
Tom Sanzillo
Past performance is no guarantee of future success
By adopting a fossil-free portfolio strategy as has been urged, the Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado would be doing right by its 560,000 members, ensuring steadier investment returns as the oil and gas industry faces continued uncertainty and decline. In a paper commissioned by the Independent Petroleum Association of America, an anti-divestment consultant and […]
Cathy Kunkel
Reliance on imported fuel is not in the public’s best energy-security interest
IEEFA is urging the Financial Oversight and Management Board (FOMB) of Puerto Rico to halt the rush to natural gas infrastructure development in Puerto Rico. We’ve sent an open letter to board members warning this ill-advised strategy after recent news reports of PREPA discussions around potential new liquefied natural gas import terminals—at San Juan, Mayaguez […]
Tom Sanzillo
Too many ‘empleados de confianza’ at the Puerto Rico Electric Power Authority
The Kobre & Kim report on Puerto Rico’s debt crisis shines a light on the corrosive impact of political hiring at various governmental agencies on the island, including at its public electric utility. By subsuming competent management to the rough and tumble of political interference in government decision-making and operations, Puerto Rico’s leaders have created […]
Tom Sanzillo and Kathy Hipple
A tendency among academics to overlook the burgeoning risk in fossil fuel holdings
Academic arguments against divesting from the oil and gas sector are just that—academic—and those who make them ignore the underperformance of the sector and the array of mounting risks it faces. The principal objections of divestment detractors—that divestment will either cause institutional investment funds to lose money or undermine their ability to meet their objectives—are […]
Tom Sanzillo
Who got picked to be bond advisers, why, and how much were they compensated?
The Kobre & Kim debt investigation report on Puerto Rico that we wrote about earlier this week establishes a framework for bondholders (and the government) to bring claims against the financial advice industry that participated in the island’s bankruptcy. But it has important omissions. The report leaves out any mention of how the underwriters, bond […]
Elrika Hamdi
Research brief: The current state of electricity generation affairs is designed mainly to benefit the coal industry
In April 2018, President Joko Widodo unveiled a roadmap to drive Indonesia into the world’s top 10 largest economies by 2030. Making Indonesia 4.0 is a reference to the fourth industrial revolution sweeping the world via innovations in digital technology, artificial intelligence and 3-D printing, among other areas. Making Indonesia 4.0 aims to spur growth […]
Press Release
KEPCO plays catchup in the fast-moving global energy shift
Sept. 6, 2018 (IEEFA) — South Korea is at an energy policy crossroads as the country’s state-owned power company and its two most important investors consider how to adapt to fast-moving changes in electricity generation, concludes a research brief published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The brief— “Korea’s Clean Energy […]
IEEFA update: Peabody continues to grapple with decline
Lease relinquishments are a sign of deeper trouble
In Peabody Energy’s recent relinquishment of some of its federal coal leases, the company is cleaning up its production cost side in the face of declining demand, particularly for the lower-quality 8400 BTU product that comes out of the Powder River Basin. The particular Wyoming coal in question has gone from being an asset to […]