By JAMES HERRON SEPTEMBER 3, 2010, 5:03 A.M. ET

Original source: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704206804575467390218464732.html?mod=WSJ_Energy_leftHeadlines

LONDON—Cairn Energy PLC said Thursday it has restarted operations on the oil drilling rig it has under contract offshore Greenland following the end of a protest by Greenpeace.

“Operations have started again on the Stena Don where safety remains Cairn’s priority in this drilling exploration activity,” the company said in a statement.

Four Greenpeace protesters had attached themselves to the bottom of the rig, halting drilling operations for around 40-hours. They abandoned the protest Thursday due to freezing weather conditions by climbing aboard the rig, where they were arrested. Read more

By ALAN SAYRE  The Associated Press  Friday, September 3, 2010; 6:47 AM

Original source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/03/AR2010090300503.html

NEW ORLEANS — Stark differences exist between the oil platform fire in the Gulf of Mexico and the blast that led to the massive BP spill. Most notably, no one was killed and no crude was gushing into the water, but the distinctions don’t end there.

Even though the Mariner Energy-owned platform that erupted in flames Thursday was just 200 miles west of the site of the spill, everything from the structures to the operations to the safety devices were different.

Yet, when word spread of the latest mishap, Gulf Coast residents could only think of the three-month BP spill that began after the drilling rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, killing 11 workers.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Sophie Esch, 28, a graduate student at Tulane who is from Berlin, Germany. “They should finally stop drilling in the Gulf. They should shut down all the drilling out there and not give permission to do any more. They’ve shown that it’s just unsafe.”

The Coast Guard initially reported that an oil sheen a mile long and 100 feet wide had begun to spread from the site of the blast, but hours later said crews were unable to find any spill. The company that owns the platform, Houston-based Mariner Energy, did not know what caused the fire.

Workers who were pulled from the water told rescuers that there was a blast on board, but Mariner’s Patrick Cassidy said he considered what happened a fire, not an explosion.

Platforms are vastly different from oil rigs like BP’s Deepwater Horizon. They are usually brought in after wells are already drilled and sealed. Read more

By David A. Fahrenthold and David S. Hilzenrath Thursday, September 2, 2010; 11:48 PM

Original source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/02/AR2010090205730.html

The fire Thursday at an oil platform off the Louisiana coast may not, in the end, do much harm to the Gulf of Mexico. But it could still mean trouble for both the Obama administration and the oil industry – by raising new questions about the gulf’s oil fields.

The industry and the White House have battled each other all summer over a six-month moratorium on deepwater oil drilling imposed by the Obama administration after the historic spill from the Deepwater Horizon rig.

But, within that fight, there was common ground: Both sides seemed to agree that there was less of a crisis among the gulf’s other rigs. That would include those in shallower water, less than 500 feet deep, and those platforms that merely pumped oil instead of drilling for it.

Then, on Thursday, a shallow-water pumping platform caught fire.

In the hours afterward, both the White House and the petroleum lobby offered little comment. But others – in Congress and in environmental groups – rushed out statements that raised wider questions about oil safety.

“This is a shallow-water platform, and that’s the key here. Since the beginning of this crisis, the Obama administration has attempted to limit the crisis to deep-water drilling and to suggest that shallow-water oil drilling is safe,” said Kieran Suckling of the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group. “I’m not in the least bit surprised that we have a big shallow-water drilling explosion right now.” Read more

rdaysog@sacbee.com Published Friday, Sep. 03, 2010

Original source: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/03/3002461/bill-seeks-to-boost-states-safeguards.html#none

In response to the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, California lawmakers are looking to strengthen the state’s oil spill prevention requirements.

An Assembly measure now before Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger would allow the state to increase fees on oil shipped into California by as much as $5.6 million.

AB 234 also requires oil companies and shippers to use precautionary containment booms for all marine oil transfers and calls for tougher safety reporting for existing offshore drilling operations.

“We cannot leave California defenseless against oil spills, especially in the wake of the Gulf Coast catastrophe,” said Assemblyman Jared Huffman, D-San Rafael, the bill’s author.  Read more

BY MARY ELLEN KLAS  Herald/Times Tallahassee Bureau

Original source: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/09/02/1805552/fpl-fights-back-asks-for-commissioner.html

In the continuing saga between Florida Power & Light and the Public Service Commission, the Juno Beach-based company filed a motion Thursday asking that Commissioner Nathan Skop remove himself from any remaining cases in which they are involved.

The motion, filed by Tallahassee attorney Barry Richard, calls Skop’s comments to the news media and his comments from the bench “increasingly more hostile and adversarial.” Skop was not reappointed to a second term after being rejected by the legislatively-controlled Public Service Nominating Council.

If Skop agrees to recuse himself, the panel will be left with four members, including PSC Chairwoman Nancy Argenziano, who was also rejected for reappointment.

The motion accuses Skop of crossing the line from an impartial judge to an adversary when he accused an FPL lawyer of “blatant disrespect” for opposing Skop’s request to bring FPL CEO Armando Olivera before the commission to explain why the company provided the commission outdated data on its nuclear costs. Read more

Sep 2 – McClatchy-Tribune Regional News – Mary Meaux The Port Arthur News, Texas

Original source: http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=16847818

Texas is a great place, just ask Gov. Rick Perry.

The air in Texas is cleaner than it was a decade ago and the state may one day lead the nation in the production of jobs, he said.

But there are a few issues that bother the governor right now — cap and trade, border protection and the drilling moratorium. Read more

mglover@sacbee.com Published Friday, Sep. 03, 2010

Original source: http://www.sacbee.com/2010/09/03/3002457/california-sees-increase-in-appliance.html

California’s Cash for Appliances program is speeding up.

More than half the federal rebate money in the program has been either paid out or is being processed, reflecting increased demand since the state expanded the program in late July.

The California Energy Commission on July 28 approved more qualifying appliances, aiming to have more people take advantage of nearly $20.3 million in rebate funds then remaining of the original $31.7 million.

As of Tuesday morning, the state said it had received 112,324 rebate applications and has $14.8 million remaining in its rebate pool. Read more

Low-income can also be environmentally friendly, with a little help.

By Tiffany Hsu, Los Angeles Times  September 3, 2010

Original source: http://www.latimes.com/news/science/environment/la-fi-urban-green-20100903,0,5290122.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews%2Fscience%2Fenvironment+%28L.A.+Times+-+Environment%29&utm_content=Google+Reader

Kendrick Harris, a high school dropout who has been homeless and jobless, has had more pressing things to worry about than the environment.

But in the last year the 22-year-old South Los Angeles resident has planted community gardens, cleaned up abandoned industrial sites and learned how to install solar panels.

“Not knowing where I was going to sleep at night, the last thing in my head was going green,” Harris said recently as he helped weatherize a 75-year-old stucco home near Lincoln Heights. “It was never something that was taught and it was never something that I did.”

Harris is one of 200 local residents taking part in an innovative program designed to help bridge a green divide. Many residents of low-income neighborhoods say they’ve been left out of the environmental movement and that clean-tech businesses are avoiding urban neighborhoods while they pitch green advances elsewhere.

“There’s a tendency to not seek out communities like these,” said Jeffrey Richardson, chief executive of solar installer Imani Energy Inc., one of the few companies that have been actively working on projects in South Los Angeles. “There’s the idea that people here don’t get it, don’t want to get it and can’t get it when it comes to green.”

That frustration has given rise to an “environmental justice” movement encouraging homegrown, grass-roots industry.  Read more

Sep 02 – The Record

Original source: http://www.energycentral.com/functional/news/news_detail.cfm?did=16836433

One of San Joaquin County’s newest schools — PG&E’s New Energy Academy — is a place where the wind blows and a low-wattage light bulb glows.

On Wednesday, a pioneering class of 28 first-year students were given a glimpse of what lies ahead at this campus devoted to green technology. They were introduced to makeshift wind turbines, solar panels and energy efficiency measures.

Science and technology demonstrations helped jump-start the school year.

Partners in bringing the New Energy Academy to life are Pacific Gas & Electric Co., the county Office of Education and the California Department of Education.

The campus is part of Venture Academy and is situated inside the county Office of Education’s Career Technology Education Building north of Arch Road and west of Highway 99.

Dedicated to a sustainable planet, the school is one of only five sponsored by PG&E in Northern and Central California. Read more

Climate crisis has locals organizing for 10/10/10

By Kel Munger

Original source: http://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/content?oid=1594124

Local climate activist Laurie Litman set up a Facebook page, 10-10-10 Work Party Sacramento, to facilitate regional networking around 350.org’s Global Work Party or “day to celebrate climate solutions.”

It’s pretty overwhelming to think about reducing humanity’s carbon footprint when all most of us really want is to get to work on time and make it home with a few groceries for dinner. No matter how much we care about the environment, there’s a sneaking suspicion that one more car trip and one more industrially produced but quick meal won’t make that big a difference.

And it’s precisely that kind of thinking that local organizers of 10/10/10 work events are hoping to change. Dubbed a “day to celebrate climate solutions,” organizers plan to host what amounts to a global demonstration of how practical actions can cut carbon use and reduce greenhouse-gas emissions that lead to global warming.

In Sacramento, 10/10/10 organizer Laurie Litman agrees. “It’s about putting your money where your mouth is,” she told SN&R.

“We’re modeling what we believe,” said Lynne Nittler, the co-chairwoman of the 10/10/10 event committee in Davis. “We’re having a zero-waste event.”

So far, a handful of Sacramento events have registered with 350.org and been in touch with Litman, but it’s more than enough to get excited about. There’s bicycle valet parking by the Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates at the grand opening of the Crocker Art Museum’s new wing, which will make it possible for people to ride their bikes to one of the biggest—and most awaited—cultural events of the year. And there are plans for at least one (possibly more) “100-mile potluck” in town, which will showcase and share food grown within a sustainable radius. Read more

September 03, 2010   Ken Silverstein EnergyBiz Insider  Editor-in-Chief  Read Ken’s Blog

Original source: https://mail.google.com/mail/?shva=1#inbox/12ad7a48ae2f5133

New York knows the spotlight. But the heat it’s now feeling is tied directly to keeping the lights on. Transmission system operators there say that the state’s citizens consumed more electricity in July than ever before.

New York is not alone. Other regions of the country are also getting tested. It’s about how well they are able to meet the energy needs in their areas when the demand for their services is at its pinnacle. To do so, they are asking folks to conserve power or to give their utility providers the leeway to help out.

“The key to reliably meeting summer power demand is preparation,” says Stephen Whitley, head of the New York Independent System Operator. “We have reliability standards that require sufficient resources be available. New York’s power markets have cultivated new generation, transmission and demand-side resources, and our planning process looks ahead to anticipate the future energy needs of New Yorkers.”

Instead of building costly and often contentious new power plants to meet the 100 or so hours a year when energy demand is highest, utilities are turning to their customers to reduce energy usage during these peak hours. Demand response is giving commercial and industrial concerns more insight into the energy that their facilities consume. By knowing this, they can run specific applications at times of the day that are more favorable to the utilities’ rate structure.

Changes in consumption patterns could have a huge affect on the electric utility industry, which takes in annually about $224 billion. But forward looking utilities with sound balance sheets are motivated to control peak load — a force that controls their generating capacity as well as the cost of their power generation. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission estimates that demand response programs cut peak demand last year by 37 gigawatts. It says that this figure could rise to 188 gigawatts in 10 years. Read more

By TODD WOODY September 2, 2010, 5:53 pm

Original source: http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/09/02/report-says-heat-not-smart-meters-hiked-bills/?ref=energy-environment

After Pacific Gas & Electric, the giant California utility, began installing smart meters in the state’s Central Valley, the company was swamped with complaints from residents that their utility bills had increased.

But an independent review of the smart meters released Thursday found that the devices were functioning properly and attributed the high charges to a heat wave last year that coincided with their installation as well as poor customer service by P.G.&.E.

“They are accurately recording usage and throughout our evaluation we found no systemic issues,” Stacey Wood, an executive with the Structure Group, a Houston consulting company, said on Thursday at a meeting of the California Public Utilities Commission. “We did identify there were weakness in the focus on customer service.”

The utilities commission hired the Structure Group to test P.G.&.E’s smart meters and conduct a technical review.

The digital devices wirelessly transmit data on a home’s electricity and natural gas usage to utilities while allowing residents to monitor their electricity consumption in real time. Smart meters are considered a linchpin for the development of a smart power grid and tens of millions of the gadgets are set to be installed nationwide in coming years.

But the rollout has been anything but smooth in California, where nearly 10 million smart meters will be deployed.   Read more