QUICK NEWS, June 9: THE HIGH COST OF NEW NUCLEAR STRIKES AGAIN; NRG YIELD BUYS BIGGEST U.S. WIND PROJECT FOR $870MIL; DEMAND RESPONSE TO GROW SIX-FOLD

THE HIGH COST OF NEW NUCLEAR STRIKES AGAIN SCE&G customers facing seventh rate increase for nuclear project

Roddie Burris, May 30, 2014 (The State)

“South Carolina Electric & Gas Co. customers would pay an extra $50 a year on average [$236 more per year in 2014 than in 2008, a 37 percent increase] for their electric bills starting in October [for five years] if the utility’s request for a rate hike is approved…[The increases are] to pay for two new nuclear plants under construction…[The request is with the S.C. Public Service Commission to raise rates 2.99 percent overall to cover $70 million in construction costs for the past year…[for the $9.8 billion] two new reactors at the Summer site…The first new 1,117-megawatt reactor is scheduled to begin power generation at the end of 2017 or beginning of 2018, with the twin Westinghouse reactor powering up 12 months later…This would be the seventh rate increase since 2009 under South Carolina’s controversial Base Load Review Act…[which] allows the utility to increase rates for current customers to pay for construction of the nuclear plants before they go into operation…” click here for more

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NRG YIELD BUYS BIGGEST U.S. WIND PROJECT FOR $870MIL NRG Yield to buy largest N America wind farm for $870 million

Sneha Banerjee, June 4, 2014 (Reuters)

“NRG Yield Inc. has bought the 947 megawatt Alta Wind Energy Center in California for $870 million from Terra-Gen Power, an affiliate of private-equity firms Global Infrastructure Partners and Arclight Capital Partners…NRG Yield will also assume $1.6 billion in project financings but expects annual earnings from the investment to be $220 million, including returns from some land leases in the wind project’s Tehachapi, California, region…The acquisition is being described as a move to cut the NRG Energy generation portfolio’s overall emissions profile in the wake of the just-announced EPA GHG regulations…NRG Yield is a newly formed arm of NRG Energy, created to turn the guaranteed cash flow from generation projects with utility-backed power purchase agreements into a steady return for investors who buy shares…Alta Wind’s PPAs with SCE have 21 years of returns remaining for phases I-V and 22 years, beginning in 2016, for phases X and XIThis brings the NRG Energy wind portfolio to 2,839 megawatts, the fifth biggest in North America…” click here for more

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DEMAND RESPONSE TO GROW SIX-FOLD Demand Response; Commercial & Industrial DR, Residential DR, and DR Management Systems: Global Market Analysis and Forecasts

2Q 2014 (Navigant Research)

“…[In the 1970s] DR was implemented as a component of the energy conservation focus of demand-side management (DSM) programs to encourage consumers to use less electricity during peak hours or to shift their energy use to off-peak times…As DR has become a larger part of the resource base, regulators and other market participants are calling for tighter requirements to ensure reliable operations and efficient markets. There are general economic market factors, like low natural gas prices and coal and nuclear retirements, that affect the growth path of DR as well. Navigant Research forecasts that global DR capacity will grow from 30.8 GW in 2014 to 196.7 GW in 2023…” click here for more

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