QUICK NEWS, October 20: EMISSIONS TRADING AND CLIMATE CHANGE; THREE SOLAR STOCKS TO WATCH; COLORADO GETS HALF ITS POWER FROM WIND

EMISSIONS TRADING AND CLIMATE CHANGE U.S. Said to Engage in Talks on Carbon Market Rules

Mathew Carr, October 19, 2015 (Bloomberg News)

“The U.S. is engaged in [not yet public] talks on setting international rules and guidelines for carbon trading in the event that United Nations climate talks fail to set a framework for such a system, according to a person with direct knowledge of the plan…A coalition of nations and regions willing to implement the market standards to meet their domestic climate targets would be a fallback position in case the UN-negotiated climate deal expected in Paris doesn’t include such measures or progress is deemed too slow…Almost 200 countries are meeting today in Bonn for a final session of climate talks before a conference in Paris in November, at which envoys plan to seal a global emissions-limiting deal…If the UN effort is seen on track setting required market rules, there would be no need for regulations from a smaller markets group…Governance of such a system is still to be determined…” click here for more

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THREE SOLAR STOCKS TO WATCH 3 Undervalued Solar Energy Stocks Investors Should Buy

John Persinos, October 19, 2015 (The Street)

“…The conventional wisdom is that low oil and gas prices motivate energy consumers to abandon solar power in favor of cheaper fossil fuels…[but] the infrastructure for the solar industry is now so pervasive and entrenched, it has precipitated a ‘price decoupling’ between solar and fossil fuels. Solar and other renewable energies are increasingly part of the energy status quo…Three solar stocks are in the best position to profit from this new pricing dynamic: First Solar (FSLR), SunPower (SPWR), and Canadian Solar (CSIQ)…[These solar stalwarts are] priced at absurdly low valuations right now…[T]he proxy for solar energy stocks, the Market Vectors Solar Energy ETF(KWT), is down 7.27% year-to-date…[but it has been on a multi-year tear and was bound to take a breather. KWT's three-year return stands at an impressive 90.02%, compared to 14.5% for the S&P 500…” click here for more

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COLORADO GETS HALF ITS POWER FROM WIND Xcel blows through Colorado wind-energy records

Mark Harden, October 15, 2015 (Denver Business Journal)

“Xcel Energy Inc. has set new records for single-day and one-hour wind-energy production in Colorado…[The utility] said that on Oct. 2, an average of 54 percent of its Colorado customers' energy was supplied by wind power, the highest percentage ever...Almost all of that wind energy was produced within Colorado…[Wind served more than 50 percent of Xcel] customers’ load every hour that Friday, except during the last hour of the day when it served about 49 percent…Xcel also set a new Colorado record for wind generation over a one-hour period: 2,352 megawatt hours from 3 to 4 p.m. on Oct. 2, compared to the previous record of 2,203 megawatt hours on Dec. 23, 2014, from 5 to 6 p.m…Weather records show sustained winds up to about 17 mph in both Denver and Boulder [that afternoon]…” click here for more

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