Higher Fuel Prices

Electric Coops CEO wrestles with ever-evolving factors to maintain reliability, affordability

by Talk Business & Politics staff (staff2@talkbusiness.net)

With energy prices affected by everything from oil and gas supplies to the transportation limitations to the Ukranian conflict and weather, it’s not easy to keep the lights on.

Buddy Hasten, president and CEO of the Electric Cooperatives of Arkansas, said Sunday (Jan. 15) on Talk Business & Politics that the U.S. needs an “all of the above” strategy for electricity generation and more investment in the infrastructure to deliver it.

“Every area in the world we talk about today, diversity is a good thing,” Hasten said, noting that coal plants are closing, nuclear plants are on hold, and the most rapidly developing sector of replacement fuel is gas and renewables. “If you go look at what’s being built today, primarily it’s wind and solar and those are great resources. I mean, they’re great because they don’t have a fuel cost, but they have their technical limitations. Meaning you or I don’t control where the wind blows… And then there’s just a natural, the sun rises and the sunsets.”

https://talkbusiness.net/2023/01/electric-coops-ceo-wrestles-with-ever-evolving-factors-to-maintain-reliability-affordability/

EIA says to expect ‘historically high’ energy prices through 2023

by Jeff Della Rosa (JDellaRosa@nwabj.com)

U.S. energy prices are expected to remain high through 2023 as a result of economic recovery and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).

The EIA released Tuesday (June 7) the June Short-Term Energy Outlook that shows the prices of oil, natural gas, coal and electricity will remain high through next year.

The share of renewables in U.S. electricity generation is expected to rise as a result of the high prices of natural gas and coal. Renewables are largely expected to offset the decline in coal’s share. Wind and solar generation are projected to account for more than 11% of U.S. electricity generation this summer, up from less than 10% in summer 2021. The natural gas share is projected to fall over the next two years but at a slower rate than coal.

https://talkbusiness.net/2022/06/eia-says-to-expect-historically-high-energy-prices-through-2023/