Utilities

  • Commodities markets summary AAP - 3 hours ago

    Oil prices sank along with the euro after the European Central Bank forecast that the eurozone would continue to contract next year and only return to growth in 2014.

  • GE sees $2.4 bn in acquisitions by year-end AFP - 11 hours ago
    GE sees $2.4 bn in acquisitions by year-end

    US industrial conglomerate General Electric expects to spend about $2.4 billion in acquisitions through the rest of the year, GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt said Wednesday. In a presentation to analysts, ...

  • GE sees $6.7 bn in acquisitions by year-end AFP - 13 hours ago
    GE sees $6.7 bn in acquisitions by year-end

    US industrial conglomerate General Electric expects to spend about $6.7 billion in acquisitions through the rest of the year, GE chief executive Jeffrey Immelt said Wednesday. In a presentation to analysts, ...

  • EU leaders face up to shale challenge AFP - 16 hours ago
    EU leaders face up to shale challenge

    EU leaders agreed Wednesday to face up to the challenge posed by the shale oil and gas revolution which has slashed US energy prices, undercutting Europe's competitive edge. "All leaders are aware ...

  • Investment in resources set to fall dramatically ABC - 17 hours ago

    The Federal Government's commodity forecaster is predicting investment in the resources sector is set to fall by more than two-thirds in the next five years. The Bureau of Resources and Energy Economics ...

  • Plans to export US natural gas stir debate AAP - 21 hours ago

    A domestic natural gas boom already has lowered US energy prices while stoking fears of environmental disaster. Now, US producers are poised to ship vast quantities of gas overseas as energy companies ...

  • EU tax fraud and energy summit opens AFP - 22 hours ago
    EU tax fraud and energy summit opens

    A European Union summit scheduled to set a year-end deadline to clamp down on tax evasion opened Wednesday with leaders seeking to recoup a trillion euros lost each year in tax fraud, while revamping the ...

  • EU leaders look to energy for growth boost AFP - Wed, May 22, 2013 6:54 AM AEST
    EU leaders look to energy for growth boost

    EU leaders, desperate to give growth a boost, target energy policy Wednesday amid concerns a US-led revolution in shale oil and gas development will reshape the global economy and leave Europe far behind. ...

  • AGL fined by ACCC over illegal door-to-door sales tactics ABC - Tue, May 21, 2013 12:17 PM AEST
    AGL fined by ACCC over illegal door-to-door sales tactics

    The energy company AGL has been ordered to pay $1.56 million for using illegal door-to-door sales tactics, while the marketing company that carried out the sales, CPM Australia, has been ordered to pay ...

  • European power firms sound alarm over energy policy AFP - Tue, May 21, 2013 11:40 AM AEST
    European power firms sound alarm over energy policy

    French group GDF Suez led an attack by eight leading European power companies on EU energy policy on Tuesday, saying it had "failed" and was destroying parts of the sector. In what he described ...

  • Goldman Sachs to invest in Japan green energy AFP - Mon, May 20, 2013 2:46 PM AEST
    Goldman Sachs to invest in Japan green energy

    US investment banking giant Goldman Sachs said Monday it will start investing in Japanese renewable energy projects, with a reported $2.9 billion outlay over the next five years. The injection comes after ...

  • German energy shift faces headwinds AFP - Sun, May 19, 2013 2:18 PM AEST
    German energy shift faces headwinds

    Tense engineers have their eyes peeled on complex colour-coded diagrams on a wall-sized screen that makes their control room look like the inside of a spaceship. They work with a power system that would ...

  • Morocco to harness the wind in energy hunt AFP - Sat, May 18, 2013 11:19 AM AEST
    Morocco to harness the wind in energy hunt

    Morocco is ploughing ahead with a programme to boost wind energy production, particularly in the southern Tarfaya region, where Africa's largest wind farm is set to open in 2014. The kingdom, which has ...

  • Hong Kong launches first electric taxis AFP - Sat, May 18, 2013 6:49 AM AEST
    Hong Kong launches first electric taxis

    Hong Kong saw its first electric taxis hit the streets on Saturday in a step towards reducing the city's high levels of roadside pollution. The 45 bright red cars were launched by Chinese electric vehicle ...

  • Firm's exclusion from Bendigo hospital tender unlawful, court rules ABC - Fri, May 17, 2013 9:07 PM AEST

    The Federal Court has ruled the Victorian Government's exclusion of a major construction company from building the Bendigo Hospital was unlawful. The Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union (CFMEU) ...

  • China buys into power network AAP - Fri, May 17, 2013 3:01 PM AEST

    China's state-owned electricity company is set to spend about $6 billion for a major stake in Australian electricity and gas assets. The largest utilities company in the world, Sate Grid Corporation of ...

  • Status quo for solar tariff for now ABC - Thu, May 16, 2013 4:16 PM AEST

    The Tasmanian Government looks set to maintain benefits to solar panel users who feed energy back into the electricity grid. It was feared the price solar users are paid for their excess power could dramatically ...

  • US consumer prices fall 0.4% in April AFP - Thu, May 16, 2013 2:20 PM AEST
    US consumer prices fall 0.4% in April

    US consumer prices fell 0.4 percent in April, driven by a sharp fall in gasoline and other energy prices, the Labor Department said Thursday. Food prices were barely higher and core prices -- excluding ...

  • BP pushes ahead with Bight oil search ABC - Thu, May 16, 2013 11:06 AM AEST
    BP pushes ahead with Bight oil search

    Energy company BP has begun the formal application process in its planned oil search of the Great Australian Bight. It plans to explore about 300 kilometres south-west of Ceduna and 400 kilometres west ...

  • Founder to invest $100 million in red-hot Tesla AFP - Wed, May 15, 2013 9:54 PM AEST
    Founder to invest $100 million in red-hot Tesla

    Tesla Motors said Wednesday that founder Elon Musk would invest $100 million in the surging electric car maker, and that it would repay a loan from the US Department of Energy ahead of schedule. The California ...

  • New taxes 'flogging' mining industry: CME ABC - Wed, May 15, 2013 4:26 PM AEST
    New taxes 'flogging' mining industry: CME

    The WA Chamber of Minerals and Energy says the removal of immediate tax deductions for the mining sector are "flogging" an industry that is supporting the Australia economy. The chamber's economic ...

  • Waterloo wind farm majority stake sold ABC - Wed, May 15, 2013 9:20 AM AEST

    Energy Australia said a decision to sell 75 per cent of the ownership of its Clare Valley wind farm would help fund future renewable energy projects. Palisade Investment Partners and Northleaf Capital ...

  • Stock jump makes Tesla more valuable than Fiat AFP - Tue, May 14, 2013 8:38 PM AEST

    The rocketing stock price of electric sports car maker Tesla made it more valuable than Fiat Tuesday -- even though the Italian auto giant produces 200 times more cars than the American upstart. After ...

  • Wage claims threaten large-scale projects: Gray ABC - Tue, May 14, 2013 5:09 PM AEST
    Wage claims threaten large-scale projects: Gray

    The Federal Resources and Energy Minister Gary Gray has warned the Maritime Union that demanding excessive wages could kill large-scale projects in Australia. The comments come after reports the Maritime ...

  • Oil market in shale supply 'shock', IEA says AFP - Tue, May 14, 2013 4:16 PM AEST
    Oil market in shale supply 'shock', IEA says

    Booming oil production in North America driven by the shale energy revolution has created a global "supply shock" that is reshaping the industry, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. ...

  • IEA says oil market in 'shock' from N.America shale AFP - Tue, May 14, 2013 9:27 AM AEST
    IEA says oil market in 'shock' from N.America shale

    Booming oil production in North America driven by the shale energy revolution has created a global "supply shock" that is reshaping the industry, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. ...

  • IEA says oil market in shale supply 'shock' AFP - Tue, May 14, 2013 8:34 AM AEST
    IEA says oil market in shale supply 'shock'

    Booming oil production in North America brought on by the shale energy revolution has created a global "supply shock" that is reshaping the industry, the International Energy Agency said on Tuesday. ...

  • Albert Frere to sell one bn euros in GDF Suez shares AFP - Mon, May 13, 2013 9:44 PM AEST
    Albert Frere to sell one bn euros in GDF Suez shares

    Belgian industrial holding company Bruxelles Lambert (GBL), owned by billionaire tycoon Albert Frere, on Monday began selling shares worth around one billion euros in French energy group GDF Suez. "Bruxelles ...

  • GDF Suez reveals sale of Brazil dam stake to Mitsui AFP - Mon, May 13, 2013 11:46 AM AEST
    GDF Suez reveals sale of Brazil dam stake to Mitsui

    French energy group GDF Suez is to sell a stake of 20 percent in a giant dam being built in Brazil to Japanese group Mitsui & Co to reduce debt, GDF Suez said on Monday. The French group said that the ...

  • Rocky road for electric car market AFP - Sun, May 12, 2013 7:34 AM AEST
    Rocky road for electric car market

    The road has gotten bumpier for electric cars, with Coda Automotive, one of what had been a promising crop of electric car startups, filing for bankruptcy protection this month. High-end electric car maker ...

  • Electric car maker Tesla posts first profit AFP - Wed, May 8, 2013 10:10 PM AEST
    Electric car maker Tesla posts first profit

    Tesla Motors said Wednesday it posted its first-ever quarterly profit as the electric carmaker beat its own forecasts and surprised market analysts. The California-based firm said it earned a profit of ...

  • ArcelorMittal chief urges Europe to cut energy costs AFP - Wed, May 8, 2013 2:43 PM AEST
    ArcelorMittal chief urges Europe to cut energy costs

    The head of steelmaking giant ArcelorMittal on Wednesday called on European decision-makers to cut the costs of energy prices to make the steel sector more competitive as the group faces another tough ...

  • US jobs, energy gains help lift economy AAP - Mon, May 6, 2013 9:59 AM AEST

    A stronger-than-expected April rebound in job creation and recent dramatic discoveries of vast US oil and gas reserves are helping to lift the American economy out its long funk. The economic good news ...

  • Surging US oil production strains distribution system AFP - Sat, May 4, 2013 5:03 PM AEST
    Surging US oil production strains distribution system

    Surging oil production has put the United States on track toward greater energy independence, pushing US reserves to their highest levels in 30 years. But analysts say bottlenecks in the distribution system ...

  • Rise of 2.1pc sought for SA power ABC - Fri, May 3, 2013 10:55 AM AEST

    Rising network costs could add an extra $41 to the average annual power bill in South Australia. Electricity distributor SA Power Networks has applied to the Australian Energy Regulator for a 2.1 per cent ...