National Grid (LON:NG) has agreed to sell its US onshore renewables business to Brookfield Asset Management in a deal valuing the division at $1.74 billion (£1.37 billion). The deal is expected to complete by the end of September. The FTSE 100-listed energy infrastructure group, which runs much of Britain’s electricity grid, is selling off parts of its portfolio to help fund investment plans. National Grid said: “This transaction is another important step in delivering National Grid’s previously communicated strategy to focus on networks and streamline our business, as announced in May 2024.” The group said in December that it would invest £35 billion in its electricity-transmission business over the five years to March 2031 under aims to almost double the amount of energy that can be transported around the UK. It comes as part of a wider spending plan to invest about £60 billion in networks before the end of the decade, with more than £30 billion of that going to England, Scotland and Wales. As well as its move to offload National Grid Renewables in the US, the transmission giant is also selling its UK liquid natural gas asset, Grain LNG. National Grid Renewables develops, constructs, owns and runs solar, onshore wind farms and battery storage assets in the US. Recommended for you National Grid scores SF6 UK-first at London Power Tunnels project

The price of U.S. natural gas is likely being driven by a combination of both technical and fundamental drivers. That’s what Art Hogan, Chief Market Strategist at B. Riley Wealth, told Rigzone in an exclusive interview on Monday when asked why the U.S. natural gas price is dropping today. “On the fundamental side, according to AccuWeather reports, most locations this upcoming week will observe high temperatures between 10-15 degrees Fahrenheit above the historical average for late February,” Hogan said. “Technically, the movements of the natural gas futures confirm this bearish pressure as the upside seems to be capped at last week’s high at $4.476, followed by a sharp sell-off that resulted in a weekly close at $4.234 after testing the week’s low at $3.554,” he added. When asked the same question in a separate exclusive interview on Monday, Phil Flynn, a senior market analyst at the PRICE Futures Group, said, “despite the fact that we saw a major drop in natural gas inventories and the fact that we’re further below the five year average than we have been probably in almost in two years, the hope of spring is giving the market a bit of a sell off – despite the strong technical breakout of last week”. “The warmer temperatures are raising hopes that winter is coming to an end, and the demand will start to ease off and production will rise,” he added. In the interview, Flynn went on to tell Rigzone that “the key for this market will be what happens in March after the warm-up”. “There are still some forecasters that are calling for a return to arctic-like temperatures into March, and if that does happen it’s going to create an interesting dynamic for this market and the ‘flip side’ that the ability of U.S. natural gas

The U.S. Department of Energy will postpone the implementation of several appliance energy efficiency standards finalized by the Biden administration, the agency said Feb. 14. The natural gas sector hailed the decision as a win for consumer choice while efficiency advocates warn the decision could add billions to utility bills. DOE in December estimated that the stronger appliance standards would save consumers about $1 trillion and cut emissions by 2.5 billion metric tons over three decades. But Trump’s policies favor less regulation, and the Project 2025 platform created by the Heritage Foundation and shaped by numerous previous and current Trump administration officials, called for eliminating appliance standards completely. “A top priority for President Trump is lowering costs for American families,” Energy Secretary Chris Wright said in a statement. “Today’s announcement will foster consumer choice and lower prices … the people, not the government, should be choosing the home appliances and products they want at prices they can afford.” Under Biden, the DOE’s appliance efficiency program boosted the standards for more than two dozen product classes, though the implementation of those standards for some appliances are still years away. DOE’s decision this month postpones implementation of new standards for central air conditioners, clothes washers and dryers, general service lamps, walk-in coolers and freezers, gas instantaneous water heaters, commercial refrigeration equipment, and air compressors. The Energy Policy and Conservation Act says DOE must review appliance efficiency standards every six years. DOE also said it will create a new energy efficiency category for natural gas tankless water heaters, exempting them from “onerous rules.” Under Biden, the agency in December published a final rule that opponents said would essentially ban some types of water heaters. The National Association of Home Builders said it “strongly supports congressional resolutions introduced in both chambers of Congress that seek to block the Biden administration’s recent attempt

Collin Smith is a regulatory affairs manager at Leap, a company that helps distributed energy resources participate in wholesale markets. California’s electricity prices are skyrocketing. In October, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order aimed at tackling this issue, calling for the California Public Utilities Commission to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of ratepayer-funded programs and determine where program spending may be outstripping those programs’ benefits. Among the trends worth scrutinizing is the state’s increasing shift towards utility-run supply-side demand response programs. In 2015, California sub-divided its DR programs, creating a class of programs known as “supply-side DR,” or SSDR. This class of programs allowed DR aggregators to bid demand-side resources directly into California’s wholesale market and earn capacity payments through its Resource Adequacy program.  The logic was simple: both energy prices in the wholesale market and capacity prices in RA are determined by the laws of supply and demand, producing the most cost-effective pricing for these respective energy products. As a result, using these mechanisms to procure DR resources would naturally direct California’s load-serving entities to procure the least-cost options, supporting California’s longstanding goal of developing DR programs that can cost-effectively meet the needs of the grid.  Who pays the price of a program? Over the last decade, third-party DR providers, or DRPs, have begun participating directly in these markets at scale, but California also allows investor-owned utilities to participate via their own SSDR programs. However, unlike third-party DRPs, the costs for IOU-run programs are largely divorced from market dynamics. Administrative costs for third-party DRPs are covered by their balance sheets, so they cannot be higher than what those DRPs can recover from the market. By contrast, administrative costs for IOU-run programs are recovered directly from ratepayers, so their costs can be whatever the IOU says it needs to run them. These

Aberdeen-headquartered Wood (LON:WG) has confirmed it has received a fresh approach from rival firm Sidara regarding a possible takeover bid. The Dubai-based firm walked away from making an offer for Wood in August last year after months of takeover speculation. On 3 July Sidara had made a “‘final offer” in a previous bid to acquire Wood at 230p per share due to be decided by 31 July. But in August, Sidara said it opted against making an improved offer “in light of rising geopolitical risks and financial market uncertainty”. Since then, Wood’s share price has collapsed from around 200p per share to its current level of around 34.7p per share. On Monday, Wood confirmed an approach from Sidara “in relation to a possible offer for the entire issued and to be issued share capital of the company”. Under UK “put up or shut up” laws, Sidara now has until 24 March to announce a firm intention to make an offer for Wood, although the deadline can be extended. Despite a 33% rise in its share price following confirmation of the Sidara offer, the increase pushed Wood’s market capitalisation to just over £240m, well short of the approximately £1.6bn valuation Sidara had offered last year. Sidara takeover saga All three takeover bids from Sidara, also known as Dar Al-Handasah Consultants Shair and Partners, last year came in below a separate takeover bid from US firm Apollo in 2023. Wood has been the subject of continued takeover speculation in recent years as the company continues to struggle financially, posting a £754 million half-year loss in August. © DC ThomsonWood Group’s headquarters in Aberdeen. Wood chief executive Ken Gilmartin has said he is “disappointed” with the company’s finances as he continues efforts to sell off parts of the business and write down contracts

The National Governors Association will press Congress this year to pass permitting reform legislation, the group said Friday. “Permitting reform is one of those issues where both Republicans and Democrats recognize the problem, we largely agree on solutions, and Congress gets close year after year to doing something,” NGA Vice Chair Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Stitt, R, said in a press release. “But somehow it just never crosses the finish line.” The NGA launched a working group to explore issues surrounding permitting reform, infrastructure acceleration and energy resilience, with a focus on the National Environmental Policy Act, judicial review and transmission siting, the group said. Stitt and Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, D, will co-chair the working group. Governors will also focus on making sure the federal government meets its already committed obligations for federally funded projects in states, territories and commonwealths, the NGA said Saturday. “State input is key to avoid abrupt changes that create uncertainty and adversely impact the countless services we run to support infrastructure, education, health care, economic growth and disaster response in our states,” NGA Chair Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, D, said in a press release. Federal priorities for the organization include working with Congress on the “most impactful” programs for states and territories in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the CHIPS and Science Act, according to the NGA. They also include speeding infrastructure development and securing energy resilience. The United States must move faster to expand existing power plants and build new generating resources, transmission lines and gas pipelines, Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum said at the NGA’s annual meeting. Burgum contends the U.S. is heading for a “catastrophe” because baseload power plants have been prematurely closed and electric demand is increasing, partly driven by data centers for artificial intelligence. “We’ve just got