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Rapid Cost Deflation, Broad Gains in Scale; Key Momentum in China and India; Crucial Support From International Capital Markets and Tech Giants; Expansion Role Seen for National Governments
May 21, 2018 (IEEFA.org) – A report published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis describes how solar energy is accelerating the transformation of the global electricity-generation sector through gains in technology innovation and price deflation. The study—“Solar Is Driving a Global Shift in Energy Markets”—details some of the world’s biggest utility-scale […]
Tom Sanzillo and Kathy Hipple
U.S. Reversal on Iran Creates Market Disruptions That Affect Consumers, Investors and Whole Countries
Oil prices were already on the rise from strong economic growth, rising demand and OPEC supply cuts when political intervention in the markets via the Trump administration’s decision last week to abandon the Iran nuclear deal sent prices to almost $80 per barrel—or a half a mile from heaven—for Saudi Arabia, Russia, the United Arab […]
David Schlissel
Propping Up Outdated Models Is Not in the Country’s Best Interest
Most discussion around the possibility of the federal government invoking the Defense Production Act of 1950 in order to keep failing coal-fired and nuclear electricity plants alive has avoided exploring more sensible policy recommendations. For months, the Trump administration has been floating various proposals aimed at propping up aging plants and their suppliers. All of […]
Press Release
‘New Level of Risk’ Seen in Investing in Outdated Power Generation
May 14, 2018 (IEEFA) — Indonesia’s state-owned utility may raise electricity tariffs to offset its growing costs, concludes an investment-research memo published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis. The memo—“PLN’s Coal IPP Funding Gap Suggests Tariffs Must Rise in 2020”—comes as the utility plans to bring a more than $1 billion debt […]
Tom Sanzillo and Kathy Hipple
A Company With No Plan for a Less Carbon-Intensive World
Even with the recent rebound in oil prices that accelerated after President Trump announced the U.S. would re-impose sanctions against Iran, energy companies no longer dominate the stock market like they once did. In 1980, seven of the ten largest companies in the S&P 500 were oil companies. Today, ExxonMobil is the only remaining oil […]
Sara Jane Ahmed
Global Market Shift Requires Government Policy Adjustments
Rapidly declining costs and technological advances in renewable energy have reshaped the electricity-generation landscape in the three years since the Paris accords. These changes clearly demonstrate that addressing climate risk and promoting economic development are compatible goals—a key point to remember in the run-up to the COP24 conference this December in Poland. A record 51 […]
Tim Buckley and Kashish Shah
April Gains Show More Momentum, Driven by Falling Costs and Technological Innovation
India installed a record 10 gigawatts (GW) of solar electricity capacity in fiscal year 2017-2018, twice the rate logged in the previous year, and nearly double the country’s entire solar base. The gains put India at 22 GW of total cumulative capacity—and the trend is continuing. A number of announcements in April 2018 show momentum […]
Dennis Wamsted and Seth Feaster
In Its Coal-Industry Analyses, a Federal Agency Seems Oblivious to Reality
The Energy Information Administration, the federal agency responsible for national energy data compilation and analysis, has been historically out of sync on its U.S. coal-industry projections and seems every bit as off the mark as ever these days. It’s as if the EIA can’t quit going rogue from reality. In a “Today in Energy” article published […]
Cathy Kunkel
Little Rationale for a Port Complex That Would Support the Status Quo
In shelving its review of the economic viability of a proposed natural gas import complex off the south coast of the island, the Puerto Rico Energy Commission last week took a policy step in the right direction. The Aguirre Offshore Gas Port (AOGP) would bring additional liquefied natural gas into the commonwealth for electricity generation, […]
Karl Cates
Will Economics or Politics Prevail?
Word last week that two potential buyers are interested in the failing Navajo Generating Station (NGS) in Arizona turned heads regionally and nationally — perhaps even globally. The fate of NGS, as the power plant is known for short is a major story in the state. NGS is in remote far-northern Arizona, almost 300 miles […]
IEEFA Report: Advances in Solar Energy Accelerate Global Shift in Electricity Generation
Rapid Cost Deflation, Broad Gains in Scale; Key Momentum in China and India; Crucial Support From International Capital Markets and Tech Giants; Expansion Role Seen for National Governments
May 21, 2018 (IEEFA.org) – A report published today by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis describes how solar energy is accelerating the transformation of the global electricity-generation sector through gains in technology innovation and price deflation. The study—“Solar Is Driving a Global Shift in Energy Markets”—details some of the world’s biggest utility-scale […]