Electric Utilities

In 2024, SCE equipment will ignite nearly 60% more fires No cause yet determined for the Eaton Canyon fire that SCE is being sued for SCE partially blames the weather for increasing fire ignitions Tim McLaughlin Southern California Edison equipment caused nearly 60% more fires than the previous year in 2024. These were mostly small fires that were quickly put out as the utility fought to prevent disaster in the months before the Los Angeles wildfires. SCE disclosed in its quarterly report to regulators this month that the escalation in fire ignitions on their territory preceded the multiple wildfires which...

Duke Energy announced on Thursday that it had increased its five-year plan for capital expenditures to $83 billion. This represents a 13.7% increase, and is to meet the rising demand due to population growth in the U.S. Southeast, and expansion of data centres and advanced manufacturing. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. energy demand will reach record levels in 2025 and 2020 due to new AI and cloud computing centers as well as the electrification and modernization of buildings and transport. The rapid population growth in the Southeast, where Duke is one of the largest electric utilities,...

PPL Corp. increased its infrastructure investment goal for 2025-2028 to $20 billion on Thursday, nearly 40% more than its previous plan. The company is looking to protect its grid against storms, and it expects to increase electrification. The company intends to invest $4.3 Billion in infrastructure this year. Energy Information Administration (EIA) predicts that power consumption in the U.S. will reach record levels in this year and next due to the increased use of data centers and rising energy requirements for heating and transport in homes and businesses. PPL expects to spend $14.3 Billion between 2024 and 2027. PPL expects...

Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a Singapore-based renewables energy company, has commissioned Morgan Stanley and Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group with managing the sale of a majority stake in Vena Energy. The deal could be worth up to $10 billion. Vena is a wholly owned subsidiary of GIP and has operations in Japan, North Asia and Southeast Asia as well as India and Australia. One of the sources said that financial advisers had begun to gauge interest from potential purchasers, but an official sales process was not yet launched. Sources said that the exact size of stake to be sold had...

American Electric Power, a U.S. utility, posted an increase in its fourth-quarter profits on Thursday as the demand for electricity from commercial customers was boosted by data centers. Big Tech is investing billions of dollars in artificial intelligence and the infrastructure required to develop it. As a result, power utilities are experiencing a massive surge in demand. Bill Fehrman, CEO, said: "In 2024 we saw significant growth in commercial loads, due largely to the economic development of Indiana, Ohio, and Texas." The utility said that it expects retail loads to grow by up to 9% per year over the next...

PG&E Corp. raised its core earnings forecast on Thursday, benefiting from lower operating costs and higher electricity prices. California Public Utilities Commission has approved an additional request for the company to increase electricity prices. This follows a similar approval last year. The utility reported a 10.5% rate base increase in 2024. U.S. Electric utilities are pushing to increase rates, due to the increasing demand for grids from industries like transportation, data centers, and manufacturers. The company reported that it would add nearly 14,000 additional customers to its electric grid in 2024. Patti Poppe, CEO of PG&E Corporation, said that "in...

Duke Energy raised its five-year plan for capital expenditures to $83 billion on Thursday, an increase of 13.7%. The utility is looking to improve its grid in order to capitalize on the increasing demand from data centres and increased electrification. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. electricity demand will reach record levels in 2025 and 2026, due to demand from data centres dedicated to artificial intelligence, cryptocurrency and homes and businesses to heat and transport. Duke plans to raise $6.5 billion in equity during its 2025-2029 capital plan, including $1billion this year. It plans to finance approximately 40%...

Dominion Energy increased its five-year plan for capital expenditures on Wednesday, as the electricity demand in Virginia continues to increase. Richmond, Virginia-based utility anticipates spending $50.1 billion between 2025 and 2029, an increase from its previous estimate $43.2 billion. Robert Blue, Dominion's Chief Executive Officer, said in a conference call that the growth of data centers in Virginia was not slowing. "In fact, it's accelerating. We are taking all the necessary steps to take advantage of this opportunity. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, U.S. electricity demand will reach record levels in 2025 and2026, due to a growing demand...

Dominion Energy increased its five-year plan for capital expenditures on Wednesday, as the utility firm looked to capitalize on the possible growth in demand in electricity due to the rise of data centers in the U.S. The Richmond, Virginia based company anticipates spending $50.1 billion between 2025 and 2029, up from the $43.2 billion previously estimated. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, the U.S. power demand is expected to reach record levels in 2025 and in 2026, due to an increase in demand for data centers that are dedicated to artificial-intelligence and cryptocurrency as well as homes and businesses...

Exelon, the U.S. utility, forecast a profit for this year that was above Wall Street expectations on Wednesday. The company expects to gain from higher electricity and gas rates. U.S. utilities are seeking to increase customer bills in order to fund infrastructure improvements. This is because the electrical grids of the United States are facing extreme weather conditions and a growing demand for electrification by industry and data centers. Exelon plans to invest an additional $38 billion over the next four-years, a 10% increase on its previous plan. Jeanne Jones, CFO, said: "With the growth of our capital plan in...

Southern California Edison's parent company has been sued by shareholders for allegedly misleading them before the recent wildfires in the Los Angeles area, when it assured them that they could shut down the power lines to minimize the risk of catastrophic damages. The proposed class action filed against Edison International on Tuesday appears to be the initial shareholder lawsuit stemming directly from the Eaton Fire, which began in Altadena (California) east of Los Angeles during the Santa Ana winds. The fire destroyed over 9,400 structures, and 17 people were killed. Edison did not immediately comment on the complaint, but said...

Eversource Energy, a utility company, reported on Tuesday a profit for the fourth quarter. The higher electricity prices were to blame. Rate case proceedings are used by utilities to increase their rates. They base their appeals on the investments they have made or the expenses they have incurred in providing services. The company posted a profit for the quarter ending December 31 of $72.5m, or 20c per share. This compares to a loss in the previous quarter of $1.29bn, or $3.68/share. The fourth quarter earnings were however impacted by a loss of $298.3 millions on the sale of the water...

Kojiro Higachi, the president of Tohoku Electric Power in Japan, said that Tohoku Electric Power should review its LNG procurement strategy if it is to stop buying from Russia. Under a contract that runs for 20 years, the utility will import 420,000 metric tonnes of LNG per year from Russia's Sakhalin-2 Project. Higuchi stated that this accounted for approximately 10% of the LNG produced by his company. He said at a press conference that "we must think about (our future procurement plans) assuming we will eventually stop purchasing from Russia." Later, the company stated that no decision had been made...

Japan's agricultural, forest and fishery exports rose by 3.7% in 2024 to reach a new record, despite China banning seafood imports after the Fukushima nuclear plant water discharge. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries said that exports in 2018 totaled 1.507 trillion yen, up from 1.454 billion yen by 2023. Kazuyoshi Nakasugi, deputy head of MAFF’s export policy planning department, noted that it was the 12th consecutive year of growth and a new record. He also pointed out that exports from China and Hong Kong were down, but exports in other parts of Asia and the United States increased....

Kansai Electric Power Co, Japan's largest nuclear power company, has raised its profit forecast by 40% for the fiscal year that ends in March to 365 billion Japanese yen ($2.4billion) due to higher nuclear power runs as well as stronger earnings from its transmission and distribution businesses. Kansai Electric has five nuclear reactors with a combined power of 4.6 gigawatts. This was the case as of December 31. The company increased its nuclear capacity factor forecast, an indicator of nuclear power load to 85% on Friday from the previous expected 80%. Kansai Electric expects its profit in the transmission and...

Japanese power generator JERA and city gas supplier Toho Gas stated on Monday they will develop the No. 7 and No. 8 gasfired power systems at JERA's Chita thermal power station in central Japan, targeting operations in 2029. The 2 new systems, each with a capability of 659.9 megawatts ( MW), will replace the decommissioned No. 1- No. 4 gas-fired systems, which had actually an integrated capacity of 225.8 MW, a JERA spokesperson said. Ownership of the new units will be split in between the 2 business, with JERA taking a 75% stake and Toho Gas 25%. Electrical energy output...

U.S. energies are lastly signing concrete supply deals with datacenter operators as the artificialintelligence wave triggers a rise in power need, paving the way for greater earnings in the coming quarters. Data centers are expected to represent 8% of the power produced in the U.S. by 2030, compared to 3% in 2022, according to a Goldman Sachs report in May. Here are some deals announced by utilities in 2024: Constellation Energy signed a special handle Microsoft to restart among the systems at the 3 Mile Island nuclear plant in Pennsylvania. Under the agreement, the utility will provide 835 megawatts (...

South Korea's LG Energy Solution remains in talks with India's JSW Energy to make batteries for electrical lorries and renewable resource storage in a joint venture that would need an investment of over $1.5. billion, two sources informed Reuters. The two companies have signed a preliminary contract to form. an equal partnership in which LGES will contribute. the technology and equipment for making batteries and JSW. will invest cash, said one of the sources. The conversations consist of setting up a plant in India with a. total capability of 10 gigawatt hours of which JSW is likely to. usage about...

Japan's Hokkaido Electric Power and Chugoku Electric Power stated on Thursday they had actually scheduled remarkable profits for the AprilSeptember period from offering previously gotten nuclear fuel. Neither utility has actually been able to restart any nuclear power plants given that the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster which triggered stricter security requirements in Japan. Hokkaido Electric booked a special profit of 19 billion yen ($ 124 million) for the 6 months ended Sept. 30 by selling nuclear fuel obtained through long-term agreements. It began selling some of its fuel in the 2021 fiscal year, reserving remarkable gains of 5.7 billion yen...

Japan's Kansai Electric Power and Tokyo Electric Power reported on Wednesday drops in their firsthalf net profit of 38% and 46%,. respectively, due to losses linked to delays in changing power. costs to reflect fuel cost changes. Kansai's net earnings fell to 228.8 billion yen ($ 1.5 billion). in the 6 months ending September from 371 billion yen in the. year earlier duration, while Tepco's earnings moved to 189.6 billion. yen from 350.8 billion yen. The earnings decrease was driven by a wear and tear in. so-called time-lag impacts, originating from the postponed fuel. rate changes. Kansai's time-lag impacts moved...

China is including renewable resources such as wind and solar to its electrical energy grid at a record pace, but it is also enhancing the use of coalfired generation, with September information revealing a. sharp boost. The world's second-biggest economy saw power generation of. 802.4 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh) in September, an increase of. 6.0% from the corresponding month last year, main data. revealed recently. The share of thermal generation, which is mainly coal-fired,. with just a small amount of gas, increased 8.9% from a year. earlier to 545.1 billion kWh. The primary reason for the boost in coal-fired generation. was...

O verestimating China's cravings for crude has actually been a factor in oil markets this year, especially by OPEC, and it's a theme that looks likely to continue in coming years. The increasing shift to electrical energy in transport from fossil fuels and what it termed electrical movement is wrong-footing. oil manufacturers, according to the International Energy Company's. latest World Energy Outlook, released on Wednesday. It's China, the world's biggest oil importer, that is. leading the drive to electrical vehicles, with 50% market share in. brand-new sales already achieved, a level the remainder of the world is. likely to reach...

Investors of Japan's. largest companies are significantly voting against management. resolutions, information showed on Tuesday, spurred on by assistance on. efficient corporate governance and capital allowance set out by. Japanese regulators. Investor resistance is now consistently a feature of Japan's. annual general meeting (AGM) season, proxy lawyer Georgeson. said in an annual evaluation of the conferences. The proportion of objected to resolutions-- those getting. 10% or more against shareholder votes-- rose to 13.1% of all. resolutions put to shareholders at AGMs held by Nikkei 225. companies in the year to 30 June 2024. The outcome is up slightly from 12.8%...

The U.S. governmental election, the most substantial vote for financial markets in an electionpacked year, is weeks away. With Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump locked in a close race to win the Nov. 5 election, we take a look at what matters most for world markets. EUROPE IN THE BALANCE For European equity markets, a Trump triumph might spell trouble for export-heavy sectors, especially German car manufacturers such as BMW but likewise LVMH and other luxury items makers as issues of restored trade stress loom. Barclays has actually cautioned of possible high single-digit portion drops in...