CenterPoint Energy has completed the sale of its natural gas distribution systems in Louisiana and Mississippi to Delta Utilities for $1.2 billion, the companies announced Tuesday. Sale proceeds will “support the efficient funding of what we believe is one of the most tangible long-term growth plans in the industry,” CenterPoint President and CEO Jason Wells said in a statement. “We will continue to optimize the funding of our capital investments to support safety, reliability and resiliency for the benefit of our customers and communities.” CenterPoint now has electric transmission and distribution, power generation and natural gas distribution operations that serve approximately 7 million customers in Indiana, Minnesota, Ohio and Texas. Assets sold to Delta include approximately 12,000 miles of main pipeline serving approximately 380,000 metered customers. “Completing this acquisition furthers our vision to establish modern, multi-state natural gas utilities that build stronger, more resilient communities,” Delta CEO Tim Poché said in a statement. Delta is an affiliate of private equity firm Bernhard Capital Partners. Delta is also in the final stages of acquiring Entergy’s two regulated natural gas local distribution companies in New Orleans and Baton Rouge, with the sale expected to close this summer, the company said. Entergy Louisiana’s gas business serves approximately 95,000 homes and businesses in the Baton Rouge area, and Entergy New Orleans’ gas business serves approximately 109,000 homes and businesses in New Orleans, the utility said in a February announcement of the deal. While private equity firms have been known to squeeze profit from companies before reselling, Poché told the Shreveport-Bossier City Advocate that the gas system acquisition “is not a short-term investment at all.” “We’re very attracted to natural gas, in the resiliency that it has as a very significant transition fuel within our country,” he said. For CenterPoint, the utility said in 2024 that the

Dive Brief: PacifiCorp expects to procure through requests for proposals about 2,400 MW of solar, 2,270 MW of wind, 1,680 MW of four-hour storage and 510 MW of 100-hour iron air battery storage by the end of 2030, according to the utility company’s integrated resource plan, filed with state regulators on Monday. By the end of this year, PacifiCorp also plans to finalize a 500-MW agreement to buy electricity from TerraPower’s Natrium advanced nuclear project in Wyoming, which is set to be operating by the end of 2031, the utility company said. The cost of the project is confidential. Also, if, as expected, the Biden administration’s greenhouse gas emissions rule for power plants doesn’t take effect, PacifiCorp plans to continue operating some coal-fired generation it had previously expected to retire. The plan calls for converting 562 MW of coal-fired generation to gas, exiting 386 MW of minority-owned coal-fired capacity, and adding carbon capture equipment to two coal-fired units at the Jim Bridger power plant in Wyoming that total 700 MW. Dive Insight: PacifiCorp utilities serve about 2 million customers in California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming. The IRP, filed every two years with stakeholder input, provides a roadmap for supplying power to those customers over the next 20 years. The utility owns or contracts for about 5,150 MW of wind, 4,530 MW of coal, 3,850 MW of gas, 3,620 MW of solar coupled with 550 MW of storage, 1,200 MW of hydroelectric capacity and 525 MW of stand-alone storage, according to the IRP. Under its resource plan, PacifiCorp expects that coal- and gas-fired generation will account for 16% and 10% of its energy mix in 2031, down from 35% and 19% this year, respectively. Wind and solar will make up 32% and 25%, up from 24% and 10%, respectively, in

Dive Brief: Pacific Gas & Electric intends to award up to $43 million in grants for community microgrid projects in Northern California, the gas and electric utility said on March 26. Issued under California’s Microgrid Incentive Program, a $200 million statewide competitive grant program, the funds will support projects serving nearly 9,000 customers in Humboldt, Lake and Marin counties. Four of the projects are in tribal communities, PG&E said. Also this week, distributed energy provider Sunrun announced a “first-of-its-kind program” with PG&E to harness approximately 600 home solar-and-storage systems to provide “targeted load relief to neighborhoods identified with highly constrained electric grids,” potentially avoiding or deferring distribution grid investments. Dive Insight: In 2023, the California Public Utilities Commission approved $200 million in funding for the Microgrid Incentive Program, including $79.2 million for PG&E, $83.3 million for Southern California Edison and $17.5 million for San Diego Gas & Electric. The nine awards announced March 26 represent the first tranche of PG&E’s MIP grants, selected from a pool of 22 applicants. Applications for the second tranche open on April 3 and run through May 30, PG&E said. First-tranche projects will receive a combined $34 million for front-of-the-meter generating resources and other project costs, plus $1 million each to cover grid interconnection costs, the utility said. Eligible microgrid projects must be able to provide at least 24 consecutive hours of energy in “island mode,” interconnect on distribution lines at or below 50 kV, and have “island mode” emissions no greater than the surrounding grid, according to a PG&E fact sheet. Projects must also be located in areas vulnerable to outages due to high wildfire or earthquake risk or lower historical reliability, and serve “disadvantaged or vulnerable communities” in rural, tribal or low-income areas. The awardees will join several active microgrids in Northern and

Energy profits have hit half a trillion pounds since the energy crisis despite rising consumer bills, according to an independent analysis of company reports. Researchers at the End Fuel Poverty Coalition counted the profits declared by UK energy producers such as Shell and Equinor, as well as suppliers including British Gas and grid operators such as National Grid. Nearly half of the £500 billion of profits generated by the industry since 2020, or £207bn, were made by companies involved in the gas industry. According to Scottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack, bill payers are ‘paying the price’ for exposure to global gas markets, with renewable power likely to provide the best value for consumers. © Supplied by Scottish RenewablesScottish Renewables chief executive Claire Mack. The ceiling on energy prices, designed to protect consumers from price spikes, and enforced by energy regulator Ofgem, known as the energy price cap, rose by 6.4% this week. Trade union Unite protested against high energy prices on Tuesday, arguing that nobody should have to choose between ‘heating or eating’. Union members will campaign across 40 locations in the UK, with further protests planned in the coming two weeks. Prime minister Keir Starmer has meanwhile promised that clean power will lower energy bills, something Kemi Badenoch, leader of the Conservatives, wants to abolish – while right-wing party Reform is also trying to leverage high bills in its political campaign. Politicians have begun to engage energy companies as they seek to invest in clean technologies and lower prices. Energy secretary Ed Miliband broached talks with Centrica this month to extend the Rough gas storage facility in the North Sea beyond 2030. A spokesperson for the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) said: “We’re open to discussing proposals, just as long as it provides value for

The UK hydrogen industry is calling on the government to deliver “pragmatism” and policy certainty to help the nascent sector overcome development challenges. It comes as the UK Labour government today pledged to unveil an updated hydrogen strategy later this year. The new hydrogen strategy will build on one introduced under the previous Conservative government in 2021. Addressing the Hydrogen UK annual conference in Birmingham, industry minister Sarah Jones said the updated strategy comes following “a great deal of change” in the industry in recent years. “New evidence has emerged on costs, demand and expected operating patterns, and our understanding has evolved in time, both in terms of how we can best use hydrogen in energy systems, and how we can expect the hydrogen economy to develop over time,” Jones said. Clean power and economic growth The government believes hydrogen will play a central role in two of Labour’s “guiding missions”, Jones said, delivering its clean power by 2030 target and securing economic growth. Jones said the hydrogen strategy will set out the government’s plans to “build on the progress made in recent years and seize the opportunities ahead”. In addition, Jones said the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) will announce the successful projects within the second hydrogen allocation round (HAR2) “very shortly”. © Supplied by VoltalisPicture shows; Industry minister Sarah Jones. Royal Society of Arts. Supplied by Voltalis Date; 29/01/2025 The first allocation round (HAR1) saw 11 green hydrogen projects secure close to £2 billion in UK government funding in 2023 as part of the revenue support scheme. However, the first round fell short of securing its 250 MW capacity target, and there have been lengthy delays in securing final investment decisions from HAR1 developers. While several HAR1 developers have now signed government contracts, Jones said

It appears that the May natural gas contract is looking to establish a new post-winter trading range into the shoulder season. That’s what Eli Rubin, an energy analyst at EBW Analytics Group, said in an EBW report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Wednesday, adding that, over the next seven to 10 days, normalizing weather after a bearish March and a likely bounce in LNG feedgas intake may help reinforce technical support. “Over the next 30-45 days, however, a continued erosion of storage deficits may bias late spring NYMEX contract price risks to the downside,” Rubin warned. In the EBW report, Rubin noted that the May contract “remains volatile as the NYMEX front-month contract returned recent gains to close sub-$4.00 per million British thermal units (MMBtu) [on Tuesday] for only the fourth time since February”. “Henry Hub spot prices dipped to $3.96 amid falling LNG feedgas demand readings at Sabine Pass and Corpus Christi reaching as deep as 2.0 billion cubic feet per day below late March record highs,” Rubin said in the report. “Still, while early-month pipeline nominations remain noisy, production readings suggest weakness into April – particularly in the Permian and Haynesville – to reinforce physical support,” Rubin added. “Heating demand may also bottom tomorrow before climbing into early next week,” Rubin continued. In a separate EBW report sent to Rigzone by the EBW team on Tuesday, Rubin highlighted that, on an intraday basis, the May contract “skyrocketed as much as 52.1¢ per MMBtu from Thursday’s intraday low at $3.732 to yesterday’s intraday high at $4.253”. “Still, notwithstanding Henry Hub spot rising to $4.13 per MMBtu amid stronger daily heating demand, the NYMEX front-month returned the majority of gains yesterday afternoon,” Rubin pointed out. In that report, The EBW analyst said a bearish weather shift over the past 24 hours