Electric Utilities

Iranians are urged to reduce water consumption as dam levels drop Farmers in the United States are suffering from a nationwide water shortage The shortfall is similar to an overdrawn account By Sanam Mahoozi The water levels in the dams surrounding the capital are at an all-time low. Water rationing is expected this summer, as the country wilts from a severe drought. As water levels decline, lakes are disappearing and farmers are struggling. In cities, huge sinkholes appear. The kitchen taps often run dry, and students are concerned about the washing. Last week, the managing director of Tehran’s Water and...

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Monday that it had disbursed $57 Million of a loan guarantee of up to $1.52 Billion for Holtec’s Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Holtec hopes this will be the United States' first commercial reactor to resume operations after ceasing to operate. The conditional guarantee of loan was part of a campaign by former President Joe Biden's administration to support nuclear power, which produces virtually emissions-free electricity, to curb climate changes and to help meet the rising demand for electricity from artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles, and digital currencies. After closing the loan financing...

The U.S. Department of Energy announced on Monday that it had disbursed 57 million dollars of a loan guarantee of up to $1.52billion for Holtec’s Palisades Nuclear Plant in Michigan. Holtec hopes this will be the U.S.'s first commercial reactor to resume operations after ceasing to operate. The loan guarantee was part a larger effort by former President Joe Biden's administration to support nuclear power, which produces virtually emissions-free electricity, and to curb climate changes and to satisfy the rising demand for electricity from artificial intelligence (AI), electric vehicles, and digital currencies. The Loan Programs Office of the Department closed...

Berkshire Hathaway announced on Friday that longtime director Ronald Olson would be leaving the board due to a new policy requiring all directors except Warren Buffett to step down when they reach 80. In its proxy statement for the company's annual meeting on May 3, in Omaha, Nebraska Berkshire said that its board had unanimously recommended rejecting seven shareholder proposals. This included three regarding its subsidiaries' anti-discrimination and diversity efforts. Berkshire said Buffett will also receive $405,111 by 2024. This includes his $100,000 salary plus personal security and home protection. Vice Chairman Greg Abel and vice chairman Ajit Jain, who...

According to sources familiar with the situation, the Trump administration plans to reverse pollution rules that reduce soot emission from U.S. power plants. This is a move to keep some of America's dirtiest coal-fired plants operating. Because they are small enough to enter the bloodstream, soot particles have a negative impact on health. The plan is in line with Trump's executive orders of January 20, which directed the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to review measures that affect energy reliability. They also declared a National Energy Emergency to increase government powers for boosting fossil fuels and electricity production. The White House...

On Tuesday, the Premier of Ontario who imposed a 25 percent surcharge on exports of electricity to the United States said that he wouldn't back down until U.S. president Donald Trump removed his tariffs against Canadian imports. Doug Ford reiterated his threat from Monday and said that he wouldn't hesitate to reduce the supply if necessary. Ontario exports electricity to 1.5 million homes across New York, Minnesota, and Michigan. We will not retreat. We will not back down. Ford apologized to the American public for President Trump's unprovoked attacks on our country. This was shortly after Trump announced he would...

According to a document from the government, Vietnam is expecting to sign pacts this week with the United States after its trade minister met U.S. energy and trade officials. This step follows weeks of conciliation messages Vietnam sent to Washington, in an attempt to avoid tariffs that the Trump administration may impose on Southeast Asian nations due its large trade deficit with the United States. The document dated March 5, from the Trade Ministry, contains the itinerary of Nguyen Hung Dien, the Minister of Commerce's visit to the United States in this week. The list also included energy companies, government...

On Wednesday, the County of Los Angeles, City of Pasadena and other public entities filed lawsuits against Edison International, its subsidiary Southern California Edison and others, alleging that they were responsible for igniting California's most devastating wildfire. The Eaton Fire, which began early in January in the foothills to the east of Los Angeles and scorched over 14,000 acres - nearly as large as Manhattan - caused dozens of fatalities. The authorities have not yet released an official cause of the major fires including the Eaton fire. The County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District...

On Wednesday, the County of Los Angeles, City of Pasadena and other public entities filed lawsuits against Edison International, its subsidiary Southern California Edison and others, alleging that they were responsible for igniting California's most devastating wildfire. The Eaton Fire, which began early in January in the foothills to the east of Los Angeles and scorched over 14,000 acres - nearly as large as Manhattan - caused dozens of fatalities. The authorities have not yet released an official cause of the major fires including the Eaton blaze. The County of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District...

Utility Southern Co’s Alabama unit announced on Monday that it would develop a utility-scale, battery energy storage system of 150 megawatts (MW) at the former site of its coal-fired plant in Walker County. CONTEXT The new Gorgas Battery Facility is designed to house lithium-ion phosphate battery packs with a 2-hour lifespan. Construction should begin in this year, and be finished by 2027. Alabama Power said that the seven-acre facility would be designed as an independent system, which will be connected to and charged directly from electric grid. Why it's important BESSs have become increasingly important as companies and countries move...

The Raines family did not plant any cotton seeds last year for the first time in 4 generations. Chad Raines parked the tractor and rented most of his Texas land to a neighbour. Raines, instead of plowing his fields, spent the entire year transporting his flock to solar farms to eat the grass around the panels. He said that the deals he made with five solar companies for his natural lawn-mowing services were more lucrative than farming cotton. Raines said, "Cotton has been so low for such a long time, I needed to do something else." Some crop producers in...

Acciona's top management stated on Friday that it expects to see little impact of President Donald Trump’s energy and trading policies. It also outlined plans for asset sales up to $4.68 billion. Acciona Energy, like other European green energy companies has faced investors' difficulties. Unease The U.S. Renewable Energy Market is changing dramatically under the Trump Administration. In a conference call with analysts on earnings for 2024, Chief Executive Rafael Mateo said that "our exposure to the U.S. Energy Policy Volatility is very limited." Acciona had already acquired the necessary equipment in advance and secured tax incentives, he said at...

The chief executive of Colombian conglomerate ISA said that the company expects to invest between 28.4 billion dollars and 33 billion dollars through 2040. According to CEO Jorge Carrillo, the majority of the projected investment will go towards power transmission projects. Around a quarter is destined for new electricity projects. Carrillo said that ISA would also divest its infrastructure in telecommunications, services and other areas. "In the transmission industry, we will stay where we are, and expand into other countries in Latin America. We'll also look at new solutions, such as energy storage. Carrillo said that besides being in the...

Brazil's Government and local power giant Eletrobras reached a preliminary agreement in a mediation procedure that could allow for the state to nominate three members of company's board. Both parties have been trying to come to an agreement with Eletrobras since 2023, when the government was pushing to gain a greater influence over the company. Eletrobras had been privatized in 2022. Eletrobras said in a filing of securities on Friday that the parties will now work on a term for conciliation to be approved and validated by Brazil’s Supreme Court. Brazil owns over 40% of Eletrobras common shares but, under...

Portugal's largest utility EDP maintained its EBITDA guidance and net profit forecast for 2026, despite reducing its investment plan and reporting lower profits for the last year. EDP announced earlier this week that it would slow down the expansion of its capacity, "to maximise returns", and install 3.5 gigawatts in the next two year compared to the 4 gigawatts in 2024. This means that an average investment of 4.4 million euros ($4.6 million) per year will be made over the next two-years, compared to the 5.4 billion euro invested in 2024. EDP announced in May that it would invest an...

EDP, Portugal's largest utility company, announced on Thursday a 100-million-euro share buyback program and an increase in dividends despite a 16 percent drop in net consolidated profits for 2024. The company announced that it would increase its dividend by 3% to 0.20 euro per share in 2024. This represents a payout ratio of 60%. EDP's net profit was 801 million euro ($839.69 millions), far below the analysts' average forecast of 1,23 billion euro in an LSEG survey. This is due to a large loss in EDP’s renewables unit. EDP ???? ?Renovaveis ? ??????????????????????? ?, the fourth largest wind energy producer...

Brazil resumed imports of electricity from Venezuela to supply the northern state of Roraima after six years. The measure was taken in an effort to reduce costs and diversify energy supplies for consumers. The operation, approved by the Brazilian energy regulator Aneel on Tuesday, is intended to provide an alternative source of energy for Roraima. This is Brazil's sole state that doesn't receive its energy from the grid. Since the end of imports from Venezuela in 2019, Roraima consumers have been relying exclusively on local thermoelectric production, with fuel subsidised by a fund that is added to their electricity bills....

Two sources said that the Brazilian government is split over the completion of its third nuclear plant, after 40 years in construction. The country's economic team wants the project abandoned. The National Energy Policy Council, which has been delaying its decision about the Angra 3 plant since late last year, is the final authority on this matter. The Minister of Mines and Energy, Alexandre Silveira said that the matter is expected to come up at the next CNPE Meeting, which has not yet been scheduled. The construction of the plant in Angra dos Reis on the coast began in 1980...

Two sources said that the Brazilian government is split over the completion of its third nuclear plant, after 40 years in construction. The country's economic team has begun to push to abandon the project. The National Energy Policy Council, which has been delaying a decision on the Angra 3 plant since last year, will meet to discuss it on Tuesday. The issue is not resolved at the meeting. The construction of the plant in Angra dos Reis on the coast began in 1980 but was repeatedly halted due to funding issues and a corruption investigation in 2015. The project was...

BTG Pactual, a Brazilian bank, reported a net profit of 3,28 billion reais (568.12 million dollars) for the fourth quarter of 2018. This is up 15% from a year ago on stronger revenues in spite of a worsening economy. In a LSEG poll, the bottom line was slightly lower than the market expectation of 3.43 billion reais. Analysts noted that the earnings missed should not impact the positive prospects for the coming quarters. BTG shares rose 1% Monday, while the benchmark Bovespa stock index increased 1.3%. BTG, like other financial firms, such as Bradesco pointed out that the largest economy...

According to experts and growers, Brazilian farmers are expanding their solar power capacity and testing battery storage solutions in an effort to increase electricity supply predictability and reduce diesel consumption. The increased use of alternative energies in Brazil, which is the largest exporter of food products, will result in greater business for equipment suppliers, a reduced dependency on fossil fuels and more efficient agriculture. WEG and other companies that offer energy solutions say that the interest of farmers in battery-based systems has increased in recent months. Projects are now being implemented after a dramatic drop in battery costs. Around 14%...

Brazil's main government considerably narrowed its primary budget deficit to 4.5 billion reais ($ 746.5 million) in November, main information revealed on Wednesday, driven by higher profits, consisting of one-off inflows, and lower expenditures. The figure can be found in listed below the 6.6 billion genuine deficit anticipated by economic experts in a Reuters poll and marked a steep decline from the 38.1 billion genuine deficit tape-recorded in the same month of 2023. This helped reduce the 12-month deficit to 1.56% of gross domestic product (GDP), from 1.9% in October. Previously this month, Finance Minister Fernando Haddad said the federal...

The Brazilian federal government has actually loosened rules for an auction to secure longterm power capability, the official gazette showed on Monday, in a positive relocation for power generator Eneva. Eneva shares, which plunged recently when the federal government revealed guidelines permitting just new power jobs to bid for contracts from 2028 to 2030, rose 5% after the modifications were divulged. Eneva's Parnaiba power complex would have been restricted from bidding for agreements beyond the 2027 expiry of its existing offers under the initial rules, which were criticized by power-generation lobby group Abraget as decreasing the auction's. competitiveness. The updated...

Shares in Grenergy leapt as much as 28% on Wednesday early morning after the Spanish renewable energy company struck an offer to sell a possession portfolio in Chile to ContourGlobal, a KKR company, for an enterprise value of $962 million. The sale will lower take advantage of, unlock worth that the marketplace was not acknowledging and free up capital to speed up the investment plan, analyst Eduardo Inmedio from brokerage Renta 4 said in a note to financiers. Grenergy shares were up 19% in mid-morning trade, partially recuperating from a 28% decline since early November when the business reported a...