Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) will install four solar panels in North Carolina in the first phase of its $50 million rooftop solar project. The four projects with a combined 4.6MW of annual capacity are expected to be completed by March 2010.   Duke Energy is focusing on green energy in the light of recent progress in the American Clean Energy and Security Act. The act stipulates stringent caps against carbon dioxide emissions. Also North Carolina 's renewable energy standard stipulates each public electric utility to generate a minimum of 12.5% of its North Carolina retail customers' electricity needs through new renewable energy sources or energy efficiency measures by fiscal 2021.  Duke Energy also has 634MW of land-based wind energy in Pennsylvania , Texas and Wyoming , another 99MW under construction and an additional 251MW of wind projects scheduled to begin operations in 2010. According to a report ...

Duke Energy Corporation (DUK) recently signed a contract with the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill to place up to three demonstration wind turbines in Pamlico Sound (North Carolina). Duke will pay for the turbines and their installation. The turbines will harness the power of ocean breezes along North Carolina’s coast. 

Duke Energy’s pilot project is based on a nine-month study completed in June 2009 by the UNC for the North Carolina General Assembly. The pilot turbine installation will facilitate utility-scale wind energy development by enabling studies to optimize measuring and predicting the wind resource, quantifying ecological impacts and demonstrating turbine performance in tropical storm conditions. 

Duke Energy has 634MW of land-based wind energy in Pennsylvania, Texas and Wyoming, another 99MW under construction and an additional 251MW of wind projects scheduled to begin operations in 2010. The company is focusing on green energy in …

Entergy Corp.’s (ETR) proposed spin-off of its Non-utility Nuclear power business has been relegated to fiscal 2010. Recently, the New York Public Service Commission’s two administrative law judges in a ruling stated their apprehension regarding the new company having the financial viability to operate three units located in the state of New York. Of this, two units are located in the Indian Point Energy Center in Westchester County and a reactor at the James A. Fitzpatrick station in Oswego County. The New York Public Service Commission expressed its apprehension that the $3.5 billion worth of long-term unsecured bonds that Entergy plans to issue for the spin-off will drag down the bond rating of the new company, affecting its financial capacity. The Commission has also relegated its next hearing to December 2009 followed by a final decision on the spin-off in January 2010. Entergy has been ...

With the announcement that it intends to build the world’s largest solar power plant, China is rapidly evolving into the world’s largest market for solar energy. And with heavy government backing, Chinese solar companies are quickly becoming global leaders.

Fast-growing industry and a reliance on coal-fired power plants turned China into the world’s largest emitter of greenhouse gas a few years ago. Clouds of smog far thicker than that of Los Angeles hang over many of its cities and much of the water is densely polluted. But that’s something the central government aims to change.

China plans to reduce energy consumption per unit of its gross domestic product (GDP) by 20% of 2005 levels by the end of next year. It’s more immediate goal is to reduce reliance on coal-fired plants to 60% of its energy production from 70%, and replace with renewable energy sources like wind and solar.

Since 2007, about 54

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Duke Energy Corp. (DUK) recently raised the size of its senior notes offering to $1 billion from the originally planned $800 million. Investors lapped up the notes due to their higher yield over US Treasury bonds. The company will use proceeds from the sale to retire commercial paper and for financing its capital expenditure.

Duke Energy issued senior notes totaling $500 million due in 2014 with a 3.95% coupon rate semi-annually and another $500 million due in 2019 with 5.05% coupon rate annually.

The company needs funds for its ongoing capital expenditures. Duke Energy is currently expanding its Cliffside Steam Plant on the border of Cleveland and Rutherford counties and a new plant at Edwardsport gasified-coal facility in Indiana. The company is also investing to control carbon dioxide emissions from its coal-based plants. This is vital in the light of recent progress in the American Clean Energy

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Entergy Corporation’s (ETR) utility subsidiary Entergy Arkansas announced yesterday that it will reduce its retail electricity rates from September 1, 2009. New Orleans-based Entergy is primarily engaged in electric power production and retail distribution operations. The company owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000MW of electricity generating capacity. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. With a cumulative capacity of 8,000MW, the company is the second largest nuclear power generator in the U.S. The curtailment in rates is for passing on the benefits of recent fall in natural gas prices to its customers. The company filed with the Arkansas Public Service Commission notifying the reduction of 0.346 cents per kilowatt-hour usage in the fuel-cost portion of electric bills to 1.206 cents.     As per company estimates this will reduce the average monthly bill of a typical residential ...

Entergy Corporation (ETR) announced fiscal second-quarter EPS of $1.23 that was just a cent short of the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.24. However year-over-year EPS fell 23 cents, the pain came from higher refueling and outages (both planned and unplanned) at its nuclear power plants.   New Orleans-based Entergy is primarily engaged in electric power production and retail distribution operations. The company owns and operates power plants with approximately 30,000MW of electricity generating capacity. Entergy delivers electricity to 2.7 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.

The company with a cumulative capacity of 8,000MW is the second largest nuclear power generator in the U.S. Entergy operates through five subsidiaries: Entergy Arkansas, Entergy Gulf States, Entergy Louisiana, Entergy Mississippi and Entergy New Orleans.   Entergy’s revenues fell 22.8% year over year to $2.5 billion in the quarter with Electricity (down 24%), Natural Gas (down 46.6%), and Competitive businesses (down

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Entergy Corp. (ETR) recently got a breather as the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved a pending half-yearly extension on its spin-off effort. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has given Entergy an additional six months to get the pending regulatory approvals in New York and Vermont and procure the required financing to spin off five nuclear plants. Earlier in May, Entergy had requested a six-month extension to tide over the hurdles.

Entergy wants to spin off the nuclear plants as a new company – Enexus Energy Corp. The nuclear plants are Pilgrim in Plymouth, Massachusetts; Vermont Yankee in Vernon, Vermont; Indian Point in Westchester County, New York; Fitzpatrick in Oswego County, New York and the Palisades plant in Covert, Michigan.

Entergy plans to finish the spin-off of its non-utility nuclear power business by end of 2009. The spin-off will leave the company with five regulated utilities and other assets in the

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State-run utility behemoth Korea Electric Power Corp. (KEP) recently reported strong results for the second quarter. The company registered net profit on account of lower fuel costs and strong Korean won. Fuel costs fell due to lower oil prices.

In the quarter, Korea Electric recorded a net profit of 240 billion won ($192.8 million) beating the consensus forecast of 461.6 billion won loss, compared with a net loss of 763.61 billion won, a year ago. Last year, the company suffered due to record escalation of feedstock costs. Korea Electric absorbed a 42% and 72% rise of LNG and coal costs, respectively, in the year-ago period.

Quarterly sales increased 7.4% year over year to 7.37 trillion won. This was boosted by higher demand coupled with two regulatory rate hikes of 4.5% and 3.9% in November 2008 and June 2009, respectively. The company registered an operating income of 233.6 billion

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On Saturday, July 11, Korea Electric Power Corporation, or KEPCO (KEP), signed a contract with the state-run Saudi Electricity Company (SEC) to build a power plant in western Saudi Arabia.  The 1,200 MW fuel-oil fired power plant deal in Rabigh was signed between KEPCO in consortium with a Saudi Arabian company, ACWA Power International.   The consortium had been selected on March 17, 2009 as the top bidder for the contract.   KEPCO is an integrated electric utility with an annual capacity of 63,529 MW.  The company owns 87.6% of the total electricity generating capacity in South Korea.   Korea Electric Power will invest $200 million in the $2.5 billion Rabigh project.  The rest of the funding will be provided by a consortium of banks led by Alinma Bank, which expects to contribute about $500 million, with other banks like HSBC (HBC), Standard Chartered, etc. chipping in ...