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ENERGY

Gas rout not over as BofA sees prices below $2: Energy markets

The San Francisco Chronicle
Natural gas's worst start to a year since 2001 has the most accurate forecasters predicting further price declines as surging U.S. shale production threatens to overwhelm the nation's storage facilities. Prices may drop below $2 per million British thermal units for the first time since 2002 amid the prospect of stockpiles exceeding storage capacity in October, according to Bank of America Corp., Barclays Capital and Prestige Economics LLC. Inventories will probably end March at 2.15 trillion cubic feet, an all-time high for that time of year, Bank of America says.

Buffett Energy Firm to buy Illinois project in wind bet

Business Week
Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s energy business agreed to buy an 81-megawatt wind-power project from Invenergy Wind LLC to expand production in Illinois. The Bishop Hill II project, which is in construction, will use 50 General Electric Co. 1.62-megawatt turbines, according to a statement today from Omaha, Nebraska-based Berkshire’s MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. Berkshire, led by billionaire Warren Buffett, has been expanding renewable production at the energy unit, which also produces power with coal and natural gas. MidAmerican has invested about $6 billion in wind generation and built or acquired more than 3,300 megawatts of the renewable energy source in states including Iowa, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon since 2004.

Mild weather may trim energy use 20 to 60 percent in Eastern US
Bloomberg Homes and business along the U.S. East Coast may use 20 percent to 60 percent less energy for heating next week, said David Salmon, a meteorologist with Weather Derivatives. The eastern U.S. from Maine to Florida will average 6 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit (3.3 to 5.6 Celsius) above normal from Jan. 26 to Jan. 30, according to Salmon, owner of the commercial forecaster in Belton, Missouri. “National Weather Service modeling is leading all to believe that the coming week, usually the coldest of the year, will have incredibly low heating needs,” Salmon said in a note to clients.

Oil near one-week low as fuel demand slips to lowest in 10 years

Bloomberg
Oil traded near a one-week low after gasoline stockpiles rose and consumption fell to the lowest in 10 years in the U.S., the world’s biggest crude consumer. Futures were little changed in New York after slipping 0.2 percent yesterday. While crude inventories declined, gasoline use dropped to the lowest since September 2001, and supplies of the motor fuel increased to the highest level in 10 months, according to a report yesterday from the Energy Department. U.S. demand for oil products in the latest four-week period was down 7.2 percent from a year ago, according to Societe Generale SA.

ENVIRONMENTAL

EPA providing water to homes near Pennsylvania fracking site
Bloomberg
The Environmental Protection Agency will deliver water to four families in Dimock, Pennsylvania, where residents say their water has been contaminated during hydraulic fracturing by Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. The EPA will also test water at 60 homes to assess whether any residents are being exposed to hazardous substances, the agency said in a statement. “EPA is working diligently to understand the situation in Dimock and address residents’ concerns,” EPA Regional Administrator Shawn M. Garvin said in a statement. “Conducting our own sampling will help us fill information gaps.”

Pennsylvania DEP accepts public comment on oil and gas erosion control permit
The Sacramento Bee
The Department of Environmental Protection announced today it has submitted a revised version of its erosion and sediment control general permit for earth disturbance associated with oil and gas activities for publication in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, along with four other supporting documents, including a draft permit application and a policy explaining the permit requirements. DEP will accept comments on the documents from Jan. 21 to March 21, 2012. DEP revised the permit and the associated documents to incorporate recent regulatory revisions, to improve the administration of the program and to implement changes agreed to in a settlement with the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, Talisman Energy USA Inc. and Ultra Resources Inc.

The Keystone XL Pipeline explained

The San Francisco Chronicle
The Keystone XL Pipeline is dead, at least for now. On Jan. 18, President Obama announced that he would reject the construction of the pipeline largely because the deadline imposed by Congress didn't leave enough time for a thorough review. If you haven't heard of the Keystone XL Pipeline, here's what you need to know. When we think of oil drilling, we think of the pictures of an oil well gushing oil out the top like a like a large sprinkler, but most of the world's oil, 2 trillion barrels, is in the form of oil sands, or tar sands. Tar sands are a combination of oil, sand, clay, water and a material called bitumen, a heavy, black and thick oil. After a refining process, tar sands oil becomes the liquid form that we all know.

INFRASTRUCTURE

GE posts 18 percent profit decline; infrastructure shows strength
Smart Planet
General Electric reported an 18 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings as a tough economy in Europe and less-than-stellar performance by its healthcare and home appliance divisions weighed the company down. Chief executive Jeff Immelt said on an earnings call that the quarter was still a strong one for the American conglomerate — but could have been better, obviously — and GE remains well-positioned for the months ahead. “Strength” and “resilience” were among his favored descriptive words, despite $38 billion in fourth-quarter revenues.

Cuomo's $15B infrastructure plan hailed, but some question funding sources
lohud.com
Gov. Andrew Cuomo is touring the state to tout a $15 billion fund that would repair the state’s crumbling infrastructure. In his budget address Tuesday, the Democratic governor laid out a plan to expedite road and bridge repairs, including a $5 billion replacement of the Tappan Zee Bridge. Construction groups and advocates for state parks are hailing the proposal and said the investments are long overdue. Some lawmakers and experts are questioning how the plan would be financed. The bridge replacement and a proposed $3 billion investment from the private sector are uncertain as Cuomo vows to make infrastructure projects a key piece of his economic-development efforts, some analysts said.

Moylan: Des Plaines to focus on infrastructure improvements in 2012
Daily Herald
Infrastructure improvements will be the focus of Des Plaines’ efforts in 2012, said Mayor Marty Moylan during his yearly address to the business community Thurs., Jan 19. Moylan highlighted the city’s accomplishments in 2011 and outlined upcoming projects during the Des Plaines Chamber of Commerce & Industry’s annual mayor’s breakfast at Manzo’s Banquets. Among the infrastructure projects planned for 2012 are a possible pedestrian underpass at the Northwest Highway S-curve and a design proposal for a Rand Road sidewalk from Golf Road to River Road. Also, a new sidewalk and path will be installed along Ballard Road between Bender Road and Good Avenue.

A spiffy green waterfront begins to take shape in DC

NRDC Switchboard
Washington, DC is finally getting a green waterfront development to be proud of. A 42-acre redevelopment along the Anacostia River, The Yards will comprise some 1.8 million square feet of office space, 400,000 square feet of retail and cultural spaces, 2,700 rental and for-sale homes, and a significant riverfront park and esplanade. With a great in-town location along a Metro line and only a few blocks from the US Capitol, and with some excellent green features, the project has been certified gold under the LEED for Neighborhood Development pilot program. It’s about time. For a city with two major rivers and miles and miles of waterfront, Washington residents have surprisingly poor access to the water.

TRANSPORTATION

Conn. transportation forum to examine funding

CBS Money Watch
Members of Connecticut's congressional delegation, public policy experts and others are gathering in Hartford to discuss the state's transportation needs and funding. Friday's event also includes presentations from Department of Transportation Commissioner James Redeker and former Commissioner Emil Frankel. Frankel, who is also a former assistant secretary for policy at the U.S. Department of Transportation, will give the keynote remarks. U.S. Rep. is expected to discuss the federal funding Connecticut has received in recent years for transportation projects. A group of state legislators and transportation advocates will also participate on a panel to discuss Connecticut's strategies for its transportation services and infrastructure, and what the state should do to improve them.

$7 million to fund transportation study group
AJC
Georgia Tech will be the hub of a network of colleges and universities that is getting $7 million to study the state's transportation infrastructure. From Savannah's port to Atlanta's airport, transportation is a strength for Georgia but also one of its challenges, Gov. Nathan Deal said when he announced the program Friday. Solutions coming from the study group could play a key role in keeping Georgia competitive in the economy, he said. The study group includes Clark Atlanta University, Georgia State University, Southern Polytechnic State University and Spelman College. Catherine Ross, the director of Georgia Tech's Center for Quality Growth and Regional Development, said an advisory panel has agreed on broad principles for the program to focus on, including global competitiveness.

McDonnell announces new transportation initiatives
The Washington Examiner
Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell announced additions to a 2012 transportation agenda that he'll try to push through the state legislature in the face of Democrats' claims that his original roads plan was "dead on arrival." The new initiatives would create a new toll agency, reform existing transportation agencies and provide funding for road maintenance. The governor wants to create the Virginia Toll Road Authority to oversee the state's toll facilities that are now operated by the Virginia Department of Transportation. McDonnell also wants to enact reforms to the Virginia Port Authority, the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority and the Washington Metropolitan Transit Authority — codifying the expanded influence Virginia fought for on those boards.

WATER / WASTEWATER

EPA announces new testing and fresh water for Dimock

Penn Live.com
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday it would conduct independent tests of well water at 60 homes in Dimock, where Cabot Oil & Gas has been accused of fouling the aquifer as it drilled for gas in the Marcellus Shale. The EPA said it will conduct tests at approximately 60 homes. It will also ensure temporary water is supplied to four homes “where data reviewed by EPA indicates that residents’ well water contains levels of contaminants that pose a health concern.” The state Department of Environmental Protection cited and fined Cabot for allowing methane to migrate into people’s water through faulty well casings, but some residents have maintained their water is also contaminated with some of the same chemicals used in the fracking process that releases the gas from the shale.

Infrastructure finance and development: The private equity solution
American Infrastructure magazine
Ask the American public sector how they expect to fund infrastructure upgrades, and the answer has historically been municipal bonds, which is the conventional wisdom. Securities Industry and Financial Markets Associates indicate that borrowing requests are $500 billion for 2011, compared to $411 billion in 2010. But yields on AAA-rated municipal bonds rose from 3.86 percent to 4.66 percent between Nov. 1 and Dec. 30, 2010 21 percent in just seven weeks. The Build America Bond program expired in 2010, ending $185 billion available to municipalities since April 2009.