Later this year, America will have a new President. Who that will be is still to be determined and that lack of clarity isn’t good for the markets. Presidents who are in the final year of a second term are also often less predictable than they are in previous years. Markets don’t react as much in the final year of a president’s first term as incumbents are many times reelected. As 2017 begins, investors won’t have to guess who will be in power, however, a president’s first year in office...Continue Reading
For Immediate Release: ROCHESTER, NY- June 7, 2016– On Sunday, Rochester native Dominic Bozzelli secured his first Web.com Tour victory at the Corales Puntacana Resort and Club Championship. Bozzelli came in 24-under-par at the event which was held May 30 – June 5. This was a four-stroke victory over Roberto Diaz, Sam Ryder and Blake Adams. The win brings his rank to #6 on The 25 list. The top 25 money winners at the end of the season are automatically awarded full playing privileges on the PGA Tour in 2017....Continue Reading
There is no question that New England’s energy infrastructure is clearly constrained, lacking resources that are both reliable and cost competitive. The region has limited local natural resources and energy must be transported long distances. With the increasing amount of variable generation such as wind and solar coming online, as well as the retirement of older coal and oil-fired units, the importance of natural gas as a reliability factor will likely continue to rise. These fast-responding units are a necessity in order to balance the other somewhat unreliable systems. This...Continue Reading
Over the past few months, the natural gas market has seen high production levels and storage at a record level. Couple this with the non-existent winter thus far and we are currently in a period of natural gas and electric prices as low as we’ve seen over the past 10-15 years. With a strong El Nino predicted, a milder winter is anticipated to continue. However, as we have seen in years past, Mother Nature can surprise us at any time! When evaluating purchasing strategies for our clients, one of the...Continue Reading
Power Management was honored to be recognized last Wednesday as one of the Rochester Top 100 companies. The Rochester Business Alliance and KPMG, LLP hosted the 29th Annual event at the Joseph A. Floreano Rochester Riverside Convention Center. Ranking 44th on the list, Power Management was proud to be among other fellow recipients on the Rochester Top 100 list which ranks the fastest-growing privately held companies in the nine-county upstate New York region. The awards intend to recognize both large and small privately owned companies that have and will continue to have...Continue Reading
Earlier this week, the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) released its ninth edition of the State Energy Efficiency Scorecard. This comprehensive analysis is an annual benchmark which outlines the efforts to support energy efficiency of all 50 U.S. states and the District of Columbia. The report ranks states on their policy and program initiatives that improve energy efficiency in homes, businesses, industries, and transportation systems. The scorecard evaluates states based on six areas including: utility and public benefits, transportation, building energy codes and compliance, combined heat and power...Continue Reading
Rochester Gas and Electric (RG&E) recently implemented a new charge for utility customers in their service area. Effective September 1, 2015, this charge called the Reliability Support Services Surcharge (RSSS) will impact the delivery portion of a customer’s electric bill. NYSEG which serves many customers throughout New York State also issued a similar charge back in the spring of 2013. The need for this new charge stems from the occurrence of a number of power generation sources which have, or are expected to, come offline throughout the Northeast. RG&E has continued to...Continue Reading
There is a regulatory change currently underway for those in the PJM region that will affect the capacity market beginning in June 2016. This market reform is called Capacity Performance, and intended to strengthen reliability of the region’s power supply. Capacity markets are designed to ensure enough supply is available to meet demand during peak summer hours and severe winter weather. The new program will result in higher capacity prices; however customers will benefit from fewer expected outages and price spikes. In PJM, capacity prices are established through an auction three...Continue Reading
Over the next few days there is a good chance that we may set the peak energy demand for the year due to the expectation of high temperatures. If possible, we are recommending that customers with interval meters reduce their electricity use, especially during the hours of 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday in NYISO, ISO-NE, and PJM. Peak usage is set during the highest demand hour of the year in NY and NE, and the average of the five highest days in PJM. This determines the...Continue Reading
Solar, wind, and geothermal are all sources of renewable energy that are frequently talked about. But here’s something you might not hear about all the time- wave power. In addition to surfers and tourists being drawn to the waves in Hawaii, waves are now being tested as a source of electricity through a new Hawaii Wave Power Project. As 70% of the earth’s surface is covered in water, researchers are assessing this relatively untapped source of clean, renewable energy that the oceans could offer. Wave length, height, speed, and water density...Continue Reading
In past blog posts, we’ve touched on the definitions for and impacts of both capacity and RECs on the price of electric. Both components which help to make up the overall price of energy, have increased to a point where they now account for a substantial portion of the total cost. Over the past few months in the New England region specifically, we have seen an increase in the percentage that RECs and capacity contribute to the overall energy price. As you can see from the graphs below, in a six month period from...Continue Reading
A study conducted by Deloitte in 2012 found, “American businesses have become increasingly focused on energy consumption and its impact on their bottom-lines…more businesses recognize energy management efforts are essential to staying competitive from both a financial and a corporate image perspective.” With a number of competitive energy options today, energy management involves more than just getting the best “price”, and can also be coined with profitability if managed correctly. Implementing a well thought out energy strategy may include taking a proactive approach to monitoring the market for times that may be optimal...Continue Reading
On Tuesday April 14th, Power Management was invited to attend an awards ceremony hosted by National Grid recognizing organizations that have provided outstanding energy savings and service to their customers in 2014. Power Management received the Champion Award, which honors the Top Energy Solutions Partner in the region. Our team of energy experts saved our customers in the National Grid Western NY Region over 1.3 million kWh last year. Our achievement can be credited to Power Management’s lighting specialists who design a comprehensive solution for customers, outlining the projected annual...Continue Reading
One element that helps to determine electric pricing is a facility’s load profile. Utilities are required to have enough energy and equipment available to meet peak demand levels and thus, electricity rates are partially determined by peak demand. For this reason, a graphical representation of a facility’s energy usage over a period of time is evaluated. Load profiles are used to determine how efficiently a business uses their energy. Load profiles are unique to each facility and show the variability in a customers demand. From a cost perspective, the higher...Continue Reading
As an extension of the BuildSmart NY initiative, the cities of Albany, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers are among those competing for $20 million in funding for new energy projects. Over the past year, each of these cities in conjunction with the state, have developed individual energy plans to address ways in which they will enhance the overall quality of life through a cleaner environment. In managing these efforts they will reduce energy consumption, strengthen their cities energy infrastructure, and drive investment in clean energy and economic development. The New York Power Authority will...Continue Reading
As we mentioned in this week’s Energy News Flash the price of electricity on the Day Ahead Market has risen greatly as we continue to experience the coldest temperatures of the season thus far. Last week we saw Day Ahead electricity prices in the Northeast rise above $200 MWH. We did not see January prices rise as high as last year; however, February looks like it may be a different story as more bitter cold temperatures are forecasted and the Day Ahead Markets are awake and reacting. For those of you on...Continue Reading
Lights ON For the Super Bowl WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 04, 2015 | JOANNE SINOPOLI Whether viewing from home, or being fortunate enough to attend the game in person, you may have noticed a difference while viewing this year’s Super Bowl than in years past. And no – we’re not talking about that crazy ending! As the most-watched show in U.S. television history, Super Bowl XLIX displayed an energy technology which was a first for the big game! Although LED lights have been gaining popularity in residential and commercial spaces, it wasn’t until recently that sports...Continue Reading
Twenty-eight counties in New York State lie above the Marcellus Shale. Unlike our neighbors to the south, New York has yet to directly benefit from hydraulic fracturing of natural gas. The state of NY has a moratorium on fracking which suspends natural gas drilling in the state until safety and environmental impacts are more thoroughly understood. Likewise, several towns used zoning ordinances to ban fracking as well. A debate which has been the topic of public controversy has once again surfaced here in NY after a much awaited decision last...Continue Reading
In this week’s Power News Energy Update, we mentioned that the price of natural gas continues to remain soft. Seeing that we are in the middle of the heating season it might come as a surprise, but now is an ideal time to be looking at locking in future gas and electric pricing. Prices are almost as low as we’ve seen in the past five years and the storage levels have made a remarkable recovery from last year, coming in 2.5% below the five year average. Even if your contracts do not...Continue Reading
On June 2, 2014, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed the Clean Power Plan, a plan to cut carbon pollution from power plants. The EPA aims to reduce CO2 emissions by 26% below 2005 emission levels by 2020 and 30% by 2030. Following the release of this plan, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation ((NERC) a regulatory authority that performs evaluations of proposals that may threaten the power reliability in North America) conducted their own study of the affects it may have on the bulk power system. Specifically citing...Continue Reading
With winter once again upon us, many business and homeowners in the Northeast are wondering if we will see the elevated prices for natural gas and electric as we did last year. Venture partners Cabot Oil and Gas, Piedmont Natural Gas, Williams Partners, and WGL Holdings, Inc. have been diligently working to gain approval for a new pipeline to help address this pressing issue. Their proposed Constitution Pipeline aims to increase supply reliability and price stabilization for customers. The pipeline will be designed to connect New York’s natural gas supply with the...Continue Reading
Last month, PJM released a new online learning portal. As a Regional Transmission Organization (RTO) that “coordinates the movement of electricity through all or parts of Delaware, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia”, this user friendly website is designed to be beneficial to both customers and industry professionals looking for information about PJM Interconnection. The new center, which can be found at http://learn.pjm.com, covers a variety of topics including: the basics of electricity, innovations in energy, and...Continue Reading
