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Electricity Expert Scotto: U.S. Power Rates to Double Over Next 5 Years Due Primarily To Lack of Supply (text and audio)
Energy Tech Stocks
Leading Wall Street electric utility analyst Dan Scotto predicted U.S. electric rates will double within five years due primarily to lack of supply. The increase will be on top of a 25% rate rise Americans have had to endure over the last few years, he said.

In Part 2 of his exclusive four-part interview with EnergyTechStocks.com, Scotto said virtually all regions of the U.S. will see rates double, the exception being California, which he said has already experienced much of the increase still to be felt by the rest of America.

Scotto said that, just as global oil supplies aren’t keeping up with skyrocketing demand, power plants aren’t being built fast enough in the U.S. to keep up with rising electrical demand. Moreover, just as aging oil wells become less productive, America’s power plants are becoming less efficient as many near the end of their economic life.
(24 July 2008)

How Coal Shortages in China Will Spark More Foreign Takeovers of U.S. Assets
Jason Simpkins, Money Morning
The recent buyout of Alpha Natural Resources Inc. (ANR) by Cleveland Cliffs Inc. (CLF) could ignite more than $50 billion worth of M&A deals in the U.S. coal industry over the next few years as Mainland China rushes to solve a major energy shortfall.

"In the next 12 months there will be an unprecedented amount of both domestic and cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Wilbur Ross, chairman of International Coal Group Inc. (ICO), told Bloomberg News. "U.S. reserves are undervalued relative to those in the rest of the world."
(21 July 2008)
Contributor GB writes:
This is a very important article. If we thought the Dubai Ports deal or CNOOC's bid for Unocal caused a ruckus, wait until China tries to buy U.S. coal companies. If we think our electric bills are high now, what will they be when China, if successful in its buyout attempts, starts shipping out U.S. coal to feed its power plants? Sharon Astyk's prediction, that we will have to start leaving our utility companies, may come true sooner than we think...

Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars (video)
SnagFilms

Fighting Goliath: Texas Coal Wars | 2008 | 34 min

From the outset FIGHTING GOLIATH: TEXAS COAL WARS was intended to serve as a tool for raising awareness, inspiring action, and creating a meaningful dialogue about how to overcome one of the greatest threats to public health contributors to global warming faced by the U.S.-conventional coal-fired power plants. FIGHTING GOLIATH follows the story of farmers, ranchers and Mayors fighting against the construction of 18 new coal-burning power plants in Texas. TXU Corp. withdrew eight of the 11 permit applications shortly before the case went to court, when it was announced that shareholders would sell the utility to private equity firms. The film was produced by the Redford Center at the Sundance Preserve and Alpheus Media, and directed by Mat Hames and George Sledge.
(July 2008)
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A Difficult Road Awaits For Energy Conservation
Neil King Jr., Wall Street Journal
Soaring gasoline prices, angst in Washington, economic malaise, fears of far worse to come -- the U.S. has been through the energy wringer before, and even managed to ease the pain through conservation.

The last time the country was clobbered, 1979-1983, Americans cut way back on driving, bought far fewer and smaller cars and dramatically reduced the use of oil. It's natural to assume that we can do it again.

But conserving our way out of this crunch won't be so easy. Here are five key reasons why.

1. The easy stuff is done.

The cuts in oil use made ...
(22 July 2008)