NPR: Tesla Clears Antitrust Hurdle in $2.6 Billion Deal for SolarCity
Tesla Motors moved a step closer in its bid to buy SolarCity after federal regulators said the $2.6 billion deal doesn't present antitrust concerns.
Tesla announced plans to purchase the solar panel installer earlier this month, and Reuters says the Federal Trade Commission quickly signed off "because the merging companies have few or no overlaps."
NPR's Jeff Brady has more on the deal.
Real Clear Energy: Will Paul Ryan Reprise Newt Gingrich on Energy Efficiency?
As we approach November 8, a bill to abolish the appliance efficiency programs at the U.S. Department of Energy illustrates that congressional candidates, including their party leaderships, need close scrutiny during this election season. It’s not just presidents who make energy policy.
The bill this year from Congressman Michael Burgess (R-Texas) would eliminate efficiency standards for appliances ranging from refrigerators to light bulbs and goes even further to end similar efforts at the state level.
California first adopted efficiency standards in 1974. The early legislative roots of national standards go back to the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 following the Arab oil embargo. None were actually finalized by the Department of Energy, however, until passage of the National Appliance Conservation Act of 1987 led to rules the following year for dishwashers, clothes washers and clothes driers.
Bloomberg: China’s Golden Concord Said to Compete for SunEdison YieldCo
Golden Concord Holdings Ltd., the Chinese clean-energy group, is seeking to acquire assets from bankrupt U.S. renewable-energy giant SunEdison Inc., people familiar with the company’s plans said.
Golden Concord is planning to bid for SunEdison’s controlling stake in TerraForm Power Inc., which owns operating power plants, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because they’re not authorized to speak publicly. That would pit Golden Concord against a planned joint offer from Canada’s biggest alternative-asset manager, Brookfield Asset Management Inc., and billionaire David Tepper’s Appaloosa Management LP hedge fund.
Energy Manager Today: Benchmarking Works, Concludes New York Study
An important study on the impact of benchmarking on big apartment and office buildings in New York City offers proof of something that can benefit energy managers everywhere: Simply providing people with insight into their energy use tends to promote efficiency.
The study -- which is posted in its entirety by Crain’s New York Business -- was conducted by New York University’s Center for Urban Science Progress (CUSP) and Urban Green, which is the New York City chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council. It examines the impact of Local Law 84 (LL84), which was promulgated in 2009. The law mandated that buildings of 50,000 square feet or more annually report energy and water consumption. The performance of these buildings then can be compared.
Climate Central: Study Finds Biofuels Worse for Climate than Gasoline
Years of number crunching that had seemed to corroborate the climate benefits of American biofuels were starkly challenged in a science journal on Thursday, with a team of scientists using a new approach to conclude that the climate would be better off without them.
Based largely on comparisons of tailpipe pollution and crop growth linked to biofuels, University of Michigan Energy Institute scientists estimated that powering an American vehicle with ethanol made from corn would have caused more carbon pollution than using gasoline during the eight years studied.
The research was financially supported by the American Petroleum Institute, which represents fossil fuel industry companies and has sued the federal government over its biofuel rules.