22 Feb, 2022
Con Edison eyes 'alternatives' for subsidiary; NextEra takes $800M charge
* Consolidated Edison Inc. confirmed that it will "explore strategic alternatives" for its unregulated Con Edison Clean Energy Businesses Inc. subsidiary.
* NextEra Energy Resources LLC recorded an impairment charge of approximately $800 million, or $600 million after tax, in the first quarter of 2022, to completely write off its investment in the Mountain Valley Pipeline LLC project.
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Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman Richard Glick pushed back against early criticism of the agency's newly issued policy statements on how it will conduct natural gas pipeline project reviews.
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Alliant Energy Corp. boosted its projected investments into renewable energy and battery storage through 2025 by a half-billion dollars and put 325 MW of delayed solar capacity back on track for completion in 2022.
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Ameren Corp. outlined plans to reduce its reliance on coal, aiming to shrink its coal-fired generation rate base to 6% by 2026 while growing a portfolio of carbon-free generation.
UTILITIES & POWER
* ALLETE Inc. provided an updated five-year capital expenditure plan that supports its clean energy transition.
* Powhatan Energy Fund LLC decided to end its fight with the FERC over alleged market manipulation and is declaring bankruptcy.
* Australian utility AGL Energy Ltd. rejected a multibillion-dollar takeover bid from Canada's Brookfield Asset Management Inc. and tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes, Reuters reported.
* A new report from the Texas Section of the American Society of Civil Engineers said the near-collapse of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. grid in February 2021 resulted from ERCOT's energy-only market model, which is influenced by the subsidization of intermittent resources and "fails to adequately pay for reliable dispatchable generation."
RENEWABLES & CLIMATE
* Despite supply chain problems and inflation driving up rooftop solar costs, leading U.S. residential solar supplier Sunrun Inc. grew at its fastest clip in five years in 2021 and expects ongoing strong expansion in 2022.
* Avista Corp. issued an all-source request for proposals seeking generation and demand management resources to meet renewable energy goals and projected capacity deficits in Washington and Idaho between 2026 and 2030.
* A recent study conducted by the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Stanford University suggests that achieving zero blackouts across the U.S. is achievable through transition to 100% clean, renewable wind-water-solar electricity and heat plus storage and demand response.
* The COP27 meeting, which will be hosted by Egypt in November, will focus on raising money so that developing nations can strengthen and achieve their climate pledges, Bloomberg Green reported.
NATURAL GAS
* Enterprise Products Partners LP, a Houston-headquartered oil and gas storage and transportation company, completed its previously announced purchase of Navitas Midstream Partners LLC for $3.25 billion.
* Exxon Mobil Corp. and its partners, including Santos Ltd., signed an agreement with the Papua New Guinea government for the development of the P'nyang gas field, according to Reuters.
* Chevron Corp. is planning to divest its shares in three oil and gas fields in Equatorial Guinea, Reuters reported, citing three unnamed sources.
OIL
* The U.S. Department of the Interior is pausing decisions on new federal oil and gas drilling in a legal fight with some states over the cost of climate change, according to The New York Times.
* Trans Mountain Corp. announced that the total cost of the Trans Mountain oil pipeline expansion project has increased from C$12.6 billion to C$21.4 billion. In response, the Canadian government said it will spend no additional public money on the project.
* Crude oil futures continued a steep ascent in mid-morning Asian trade Feb. 22 after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered troops on a "peacekeeping" mission into breakaway regions in Ukraine in an escalation of Russia-Ukraine tensions, S&P Global Platts reported.
* Marathon Petroleum Corp. said it had extinguished a fire at its Garyville, Louisiana, refinery that broke out at about 9:30 am CDT on Feb. 21, a company spokesperson said in an email to Platts.
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