Insight Consulting has partnered with representatives of Roshka, DeWulf & Patten - a Phoenix law firm, and Desert Mountain Analytical Services - an Arizona regulatory accounting and financial analysis firm, to produce regular newsletters ...

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A Million Jobs from Natural Gas?

Renewable Energy Articles, Abridged

Subsidies in Electricity

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Across the world, investors are coming to terms with a fundamental and persistent problem in economics - while risk can be priced, uncertainty cannot. The scale of this challenge is vast; and the failure of our political leaders to even apprehend the impact of their decisions not to act is only making the problem worse.<< MORE >>

By now, everyone has read about Solyndra's bankruptcy which will cost U.S. taxpayers $535 million (the Obama Administration pushed the Department of Energy to provide Solyndra with loan guarantees that are now the the ... << MORE >>

Here is a very brief overview of what Insight believes are the highlights (though, to be sure, every entity in the energy world will have a different view of what the "highlights" are - Insight is focused on U.S. electric utilities and therefore our highlights reflect that perspective.)
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Insight is proud to co-sponor a conference on Natural Gas' Future: Fracking, Water Concerns, Regulatory Issues, and Market Drivers.

Speakers include: American Gas Association President Dave McCurdy, American Clean Water Alliance President Ben Grumbles, FERC Commissioner Marc Spitzer, Pennsylvania PUC Chairman Robert Powelson, California ... << MORE >>

In the January 2011 edition of Public Utilities Reports, Steven Anderson looked at the backlash against the smart grid.

In "Saving The Smart Grid", Mr. Anderson makes the following observations:

"[T]he past year has seenremarkable pushback against smart grid initiatives ... << MORE >>

Arizona is trying to achieve something that has stopped economists and resource managers for centuries - managing a valuable commodity without using price signals, and delivering a utility service without funding the investments required for that service. << MORE >>

As Insight noted when the Stimulus Bill came out - there aren't many people who can manage multi-billion projects with short timeframes. Our belief that the money wouldn't and couldn't be spent in a timely or efficient manner continues to be affirmed.<< MORE >>

In 2009, we warned that the move to a "Smart Grid" would run into public backlash from overpromising and overmarketing the benefits on customers. Make no mistake, the U.S. needs a massive upgrade in its energy system - new generation, more and more efficient transmission, improved control systems - for too long we have ignored the backbone of our economy, energy. But as we wrote in 2009, utilities and regulators who overhype the benefits will face public scorn when people realize that new and better energy infrastructure isn't cheaper.<< MORE >>

Recently, Insight Consulting was asked to present an overview of James Bonbright's seminal work on utility regulation, "Principles of Public Utility Rates". << MORE >>

The U.S. has long been reliant on its ability to produce low-cost energy and water. Globalization, weather issues, and emissions concerns, combined with increases in energy consumption and the urbanization of formerly agricultural lands have shifted the energy-water nexus. Today, many scientists and economists believe that the energy-water nexus will force the U.S. to change the ways in which we use energy to pump, treat, and distribute water; and how we rely on water to develop energy sources and to produce electricity. This post will share presentations, articles, and briefings on this challenging topic.<< MORE >>

The world is awash with articles, papers, and presentations on carbon issues.  Most of them are predictable after reading the author's c.v. << MORE >>

Jon Stewart's Daily Show took a long look at the political history of promises to "free the U.S. of its reliance on foreign oil." << MORE >>

Cap & Trade remains a debated issue in the U.S. Insight took a look at some of the major issues and costs in Cap & Trade.<< MORE >>

1,200 sustainability experts worldwide weigh in on the looming challenge of water scarcity - and the major shifts in policy, business models and regulation it will bring about. And a worldwide poll of 15,000 finds that water scarcity and water pollution are the top environmental concerns in the world - which makes sense since water is not only tangible, but existentially important.<< MORE >>

Recently, Paul Walker of Insight Consulting spoke at the Water Resources Research Center at the University of Arizona.  He addressed the question of whether conservation and renewable energy implementation are possible through reliance on individual consumers' actions and efforts.  His presentation is attached. ... << MORE >>

Two things we know about Arizona: One, we need affordable electricity to survive and prosper in the Arizona desert; and two, we have limited water resources. In this post, we will begin looking at this complicated relationship by assessing how much water we use to generate electricity in our State. << MORE >>

Energy Biz Insider had an excellent article looking at ARRA Money for Energy Projects this past August [2209]. In “Riding the Federal Funding Wave”, Energy Biz summarized the spending: “The Administration’s $787 billion economic stimulus package provides some $65 billion in grants and tax credits for an array of energy projects. These funds turn the Department of Energy, other federal agencies and state governments into an ATM machine for the industry – if they know which buttons to push… << MORE >>

Basic facts and figures about Arizona's water supplies, uses, and opportunities for increased water sustainability.<< MORE >>

We are going to present these two article summaries without comment, not because we don't think the issue is important, but because we think the arguments on both side are persuasive. << MORE >>

In June, we wrote that two issues confronted the Stimulus Bill, one was the obvious issue - the effect of such borrowing and spending on debt and monetary value, the second was in our words, "the difficulty of arranging all this financing". So it was with great interest that we read, "Tracking the Stimulus", in the August 28, 2009 energyBiz insider. According to Ken Silverstein, Editor-In-Chief of the insider, of the $787 billion allocated under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 ("ARRA"), about $154 billion has been committed. And of that $154 billion, much of it has still not been spent.<< MORE >>

In 2008, the Scripps Institute released a bombshell report that asked whether Lake Mead, which supplies Colorado River water to Las Vegas and feeds into the lakes that supply Arizona, would run dry. The water community in the Southwest was rocked by the report and many water managers questioned Scripps' approach – Scripps apparently took that criticism to heart and released a second paper in April 2009, which reviewed the issue and in particular looked into how the Colorado River system would be managed to cope with Colorado River supply shortages. << MORE >>

Australia and Arizona are dry, warm lands, each home to cities with over one million residents. Both face droughts exacerbated by population growth in water-scarce areas. In Australia, a 15% decline in precipitation over the past five years has led to an ongoing catastrophe -Arizona leaders are currently assessing their state's risk from a similar change in rainfall. << MORE >>

The American $780 billion stimulus package is now well on its way to not only stimulating the economy and increasing the national debt, it is also reshaping our infrastructure. Other countries, most importantly China, are following suit. The Chinese plan to spend over $580 billion on infrastructure with projects ranging from roads to power projects to housing. Russia has announced $1.1 trillion in spending. Japan plans $447 billion, Europe $205 billion, and Latin America $45 billion. Serious issues will soon arise from this unprecedented spending spree, first and foremost is the financing itself, second is the effect of such borrowing on the long-term budget of the borrowing countries. << MORE >>