From Crain’s Chicago Business | Exelon’s Commonwealth Edison Co. is the chief opponent of an Illinois Power Agency proposal that would to help the largest consumers of electricity finance major capital projects that would allow them to cut usage. Such cuts would hurt ComEd’s revenue and potentially reduce wholesale power prices. Get the full story>>
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Exelon, others take industry clean-up in own hands
A group of utility executives who once lobbied Congress to cap greenhouse-gas emissions say they are now pressing ahead with their own efforts to clean up the industry.
“We’re making our own destiny,” said Chris Gould, vice president of corporate strategy for Exelon Corp. in Chicago, the nation’s largest owner of nuclear-power plants and one of the biggest backers of the failed “cap and trade” legislation. Get the full story »
Nissan Leaf to get equivalent of 99 mpg
The Nissan Leaf, a 100 percent electric car is test driven at the 2010 Los Angeles Auto Show. (AP/Damian Dovarganes, file)
Nissan’s new electric car, the Leaf, will get the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon in combined city and highway driving, based on government testing.
Nissan says the Environmental Protection Agency’s fuel efficiency window sticker will estimate that the electric car will get the equivalent of 106 mpg in city driving and 92 mpg on the highway. Get the full story »
One more hurdle for Volt: EPA mileage rating
General Motors has begun commercial production of the Chevrolet Volt, producing cars at the automaker’s Detroit plant intended for sale or lease to consumers.
But there’s one final problem, one that’s been dragging on for years, that needs to get cleared up. Get the full story »
GM’s Chevy Volt named green car of the year
(Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
The Chevrolet Volt plug-in electric car, the centerpiece of a revitalized General Motors, was named 2011 Green Car of the Year on Thursday.
The highly anticipated Volt received the industry’s top environmental honor the same day GM shares began trading on the New York and Toronto stock exchanges.
The Volt edged out the Nissan Leaf, Ford’s Fiesta, the Hyundai Sonata Hybrid and the Lincoln MKZ Hybrid to win the award. Get the full story »
Experts say Congress may slow green job growth
Republican gains in the next Congress will likely curtail spending on green construction projects, but the sector promises to be a source of job growth for an economy that sorely needs it, advocates say.
“America needs 30 million jobs. Our mission ought to be to make those green jobs,” David Foster, executive director of the BlueGreen Alliance, a coalition of nine labor unions and four environmental groups, told the Greenbuild Expo in Chicago. Get the full story »
Citing strong demand, GM steps up Volt production
A model stands next to Chevrolet's new Volt at the Orange County Auto Show on Oct. 7, 2010. (Mark Ralston/AFP/Getty Images)
General Motors is stepping up production of its new Chevrolet Volt electric vehicle to try to meet “huge demand,” a top executive said on Tuesday.
Speaking at an event where the Volt was named Motor Trend magazine’s 2011 Car of the Year, GM product chief Tom Stephens said: “If you look at where we were originally, in terms of what we thought the volume would be, we have stepped it up.”
Stephens declined to give a new production forecast. Most recently, GM, the world’s No. 2 automaker, had said it planned to build 10,000 Volts in 2011 and 45,000 in 2012. Get the full story »
Nissan aims for 500K electric cars by 2013
The chief executive of Nissan Motor Co. says the automaker’s alliance with Renault could produce 500,000 electric vehicles a year globally by 2013. Get the full story »
Chicago among first to get Ford Focus electric car
Ford has chosen Chicago as one of the initial markets for its electric Focus, due to hit showrooms late next year.
Ford based the rollout markets on commuting patterns and hybrid purchase trends, among other criteria. The other first markets are Atlanta; Austin and Houston, Texas; Boston; Chicago; Denver; Detroit; Los Angeles; San Francisco; San Diego; New York; Orlando, Fla.; Phoenix and Tucson, Ariz.; Portland, Ore.; Raleigh/Durham, N.C.; Richmond, Va.; Seattle; and Washington, D.C.
The Focus Electric will be powered by a 23 kWh lithium-ion battery with a system that uses a liquid heating and cooling system to maximize battery life and driving range. Get the full story »
GE to buy 25,000 electric cars, including GM Volts
A 2011 Chevrolet Volt charges at a station in Rochester, Mich., , October 10, 2010. (Rashaun Rucker/Detroit Free Press/MCT)
General Electric Co. plans to buy 25,000 electric vehicles from makers including General Motors over the next five years, in a move it said could spark demand for the charging equipment it sells.
The largest U.S. conglomerate aims to swap out half its fleet of 30,000 cars — used by sales people and technicians, for instance — with electric vehicles and to start shifting customers who lease fleets of vehicles over as well.
GE, which over the past five years has made a major push into green businesses, said Thursday it hopes the move will speed acceptance of electric cars by getting more of them on road more quickly and prompting investment in the equipment that users will need to charge them. Get the full story »
Ex-CEO says BP was unprepared for oil spill
Former BP chief Tony Hayward has acknowledged that the company was unprepared for the disastrous Gulf of Mexico oil spill and the media frenzy it spawned, and said the firm came close to financial disaster as its credit sources evaporated. Get the full story »
New score to determine how green is your home
The White House unveiled a new Home Energy Score federal program Tuesday that will allow people to determine how energy-efficient their homes are.
It was one of several energy initiatives that Vice President Joe Biden announced at a White House event Tuesday. Get the full story »
EPA chief: Look beyond damage oil to restore Gulf
The U.S. Gulf region must repair not only the damage from the BP oil spill but also that caused by decades of environmental abuse, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson said on Monday. Get the full story »
BP gains, with traders citing Exxon bid talk
Shares in BP gained on Friday, with traders citing talk that Exxon Mobil was considering a bid for the oil company.
By 10:29 a.m. EDT, BP shares were up 1.1 percent at 450 pence, having hit an intraday high of 451.35 pence on the rumor. Get the full story »
Toxic chemicals found deep at oil spill site
Toxic chemicals at levels high enough to kill sea animals extended deep underwater soon after the BP oil spill, U.S. researchers reported Tuesday.
They found evidence of the chemicals as deep as 3,300 feet
and as far away as 8 miles in May, and said the spread likely worsened as more oil spilled. Get the full story »
