Business Developments

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On Tuesday, February 12, 2013, the California Independent System Operator Corporation (“CAISO”) and PacifiCorp executed a Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) committing to jointly work toward the creation of a real-time energy imbalance market (“EIM”).  The parties identified several potential benefits from an EIM: participating in the EIM would allow PacifiCorp to quickly and accurately balance resources, efficiently meeting the needs of its transmission customers, while allowing CAISO to utilize its existing EIM system and processes to gain access to a wider array of resources.  Initially the EIM would be expanded only to include PacifiCorp, but both CAISO and PacifiCorp envision the EIM potentially including additional entities. 

On February 8, 2013, Entergy New Orleans, Inc. (“Entergy”) issued a press release announcing that it had discovered the cause of the power outage during the Super Bowl – an electrical relay device.  Entergy explained in its press release that the relay is a device designed to “protect equipment in the event of a cable failure between the switch gear and the stadium.”

On January 9, 2013, Google announced its approximately $200 million equity investment in the Spinning Spur Wind Project, a 161 megawatt, 70 turbine wind facility built by EDF Renewable Energy in Oldham County, near Amarillo, Texas.  The energy created at Spinning Spur is contracted to Southwestern Public Service Company, which primarily serves customers in Texas and New Mexico.

On December 5, 2012, the Department of Energy (“DOE”) released the results of a long-awaited study that it commissioned regarding the macroeconomic impacts of liquefied natural gas (“LNG”) exports from the U.S.  Notably, the study, conducted by NERA Economic Consulting (“NERA”), concluded that “LNG exports have net economic benefits in spite of higher domestic natural gas prices.”  The study also determined that LNG exports from the U.S. would have a relatively small impact on domestic prices, and that LNG exports from the U.S. are “not likely to affect the overall level of employment in the U.S.”

On September 5, 2012, Royal Dutch Shell plc (“Shell”) announced it would be moving forward with the Quest carbon capture and storage (“CCS”) project in the oil sands near northern Alberta, Canada (“Quest Project”).  The Quest Project will be the world’s first commercial-scale CCS project in the Canadian oil sands.  Shell will hold majority ownership in the Quest Project and will serve as the designer, builder, and operator of the CCS facility.

On July 22, 2012, NRG Energy, Inc. (“NRG”) and GenOn Energy, Inc. (“GenOn”) announced that the two companies intend to merge and operate under the name NRG Energy.  The companies claim that the merger, if completed, will create the nation’s largest competitive power generation company with approximately 47,000 MW serving the east, west, and Gulf Coast regions, and lead to $300 million in annual benefits in its first full year of operations.

On March 22, 2012, American Electric Power Company (“AEP”) officially notified PJM Interconnection LLC (“PJM”) and Southwest Power Pool, Inc. (“SPP”) of its plan to retire more than 4,600 MW of generating capacity in the their respective regions between 2012 and 2016.