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Associated Press | Oil prices on Thursday dropped to levels not seen since February, as the stock market plummeted. Benchmark crude lost $2.86 to settle at $77.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil hit $73.71 on Feb. 16 and has lost almost $10 a barrel since Monday.
Get the full story: Oil prices slide along with stock market.
Dow Jones Newswires | Integrys Energy Group Inc. reported net
income attributed to common shareholders of $49.5 million or $0.64 per
share for the first quarter, compared to a loss of $180.2 million or
$2.35 per share in the same quarter a year-ago.
By Julie Wernau | Commonwealth
Edison Co. and Exelon said Wednesday afternoon they have decided not to
pursue a last-minute proposal this week in which the company was
offering $500 million in cash to state to fill a budget hole in
exchange for guaranteed future profits on electrical rates.
ComEd and its parent company, Exelon, also offered a pledge to commit
$1 billion during the next decade to projects that they estimated would
create 2,000 new “green” jobs in the state.
From Earth 911 | United Airlines recently made the first commercial flight powered by synthetic fuel, using RenJet which is derived from natural gas. “This flight confirms our assumptions about how this fuel performs on a commercial aircraft and is the next step in our effort to stimulate competition in the aviation fuel supply chain, promote energy security, environmental benefits and the creation of green jobs,” said Joseph Kolshak, United Airlines senior vice president of operations.
Get the full story: earth911.com
Associated Press | ComEd has tossed a $500 million wild card on
the table in Springfield, where Gov. Pat Quinn and legislative leaders
were trying to complete a state budget before Friday’s expected
adjournment of the Illinois General Assembly. In Tuesday’s proposal,
the utility reportedly offered the cash-strapped state government $500
million upfront in exchange for guaranteed future profits on electrical
rates.
Associated Press | BP’s chief executive says that a containment
dome designed to cover the Gulf oil leak will be on the seabed
Thursday, and will be hooked up to a drill ship over the weekend.
CEO Tony Hayward told reporters Tuesday that if all goes according to
plan, the principal leak could be contained by early next week. But he
stressed that this procedure has never been done before at a depth of
5,000 feet, saying “there’s no guarantees.”
Associated Press | NiSource Inc.’s first-quarter profit rose 24
percent on lower costs, while revenue fell in its biggest gas
distribution business.
The Midwest and Northeast electricity, natural gas and water utility
has seen signs of recovery after struggling last year amid a drop in
industrial demand and a cool summer. Merillville, Ind.-based NiSource serves 3.7 million
customers in the Gulf Coast, Midwest and New England.
Associated Press | BP says it will pay “all necessary and appropriate clean-up costs” resulting from the blown-out oil well that has caused a massive slick that continues to swell in the Gulf of Mexico.
Get the full story: BP says it will pay cost of Gulf oil spill.
Dow Jones Newswire | Nicor Inc.’s first-quarter profit rose 38
percent as stronger sales in its gas distribution and energy-related
business more than offset weak shipping segment.
The utility, which has operations centered in northern Illinois, has
been increasing rates and reining in operating costs to combat soft
demand in the downturn. As a result, the company has seen results
improvement in past few quarters.
Associated Press | After a break, gasoline prices are ready to
climb again.
Surging wholesale gasoline prices should push pump prices to an 18-month
high and put drivers in many parts of the country on the cusp of having
to pay $3 per gallon for gasoline. Wholesale prices jumped 5 cents
Friday and that should mean retail prices of at least $2.87 per gallon
in the next couple of days, the highest level since October 2008, said
Tom Kloza of Oil Price Information Service.
Associated Press | Exelon Corp. said Friday that its first-quarter earnings rose 5 percent
and that electricity demand and residential customer growth is starting
to pick up as the economy improves.
The nation’s utilities are a proxy for how the economy is doing. Signs
of improved demand would support other indicators that the economy is
getting better.
By Kiah Haslett |
The Energy Department will make $25 million in funding available to northern Illinois homeowners and business owners to defray the cost of making homes more energy-efficient. The proposal couples the grant with at least $300 million in private capital raised from partners to fund the venture. Although the $25 million grant is spread over three years, the private capital will be available sooner, within the year.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Associated Press | Commonwealth Edison has recycled 32,000 energy-hogging fridges, freezers and window air conditioners by offering consumers $25 in Illinois’ Energy Star appliance rebate program.
Consumers must replace old units with new ones, and should also see lower energy bills in return. Items must be purchased between April 16 and 25. ComEd customers can schedule a pickup by calling 1-800-806-2273 or online at www.comed.com.Consumers can call 877-782-7005 for more information about the state program.
By Julie Wernau
| In speech today at the Pew Center for Global Climate Change conference
at the downtown Chicago Marriott, John Rowe, chairman and CEO of
Chicago-based Exelon, spoke in favor of a market-based approach to
greening the nation’s energy sources, saying that energy policy can only
move forward once a price is set for on carbon emissions.
As things stand, Rowe said, energy sources like wind, solar and nuclear
are not the cheapest to build and produce, he said, and the current
subsidies and incentives that exist to try encourage companies to
produce energy from renewable sources are part of a system that is
inefficient, expensive and piecemeal.
From the Times of Northwest Indiana | Northwest Indiana power company Nisource CEO Robert Skaggs Jr. saw his compensation jump 40 percent to $4.14 million in 2009, mirroring gains in company’s stock.
Get the full story: nwitimes.com
