Bloomberg: Southern Co. to Buy AGL Resources for $8 Billion in Cash
Southern Co., the third-largest U.S. utility owner, agreed to buy natural-gas distributor AGL Resources Inc. for $8 billion in cash to capitalize on growing demand for the heating and power plant fuel.
AGL Resources’ shareholders will receive $66 for each share they own, the Atlanta-based companies said in a joint statement Monday. That represents a 38 percent premium to the Aug. 21 closing price.
The transaction is the largest on record for Southern, which has been increasing gas use over coal to supply its 4.5 million electricity customers in four Southeastern states.
Oilprice: Oil Price Collapse Triggers Currency Crisis in Emerging Markets
Emerging-market currencies are getting slammed by the collapse in commodity prices, a downturn that has accelerated in recent weeks.
The health of many middle-income and emerging market economies has been predicated on relatively strong commodity prices. A whole category of countries achieved strong growth by exporting their natural resources. For example, Brazil’s impressive economic expansion since the early 2000s, and the huge number of people that were able to jump into the middle class, was made possible by exporting oil, soy, iron ore, beef, and a variety of other resources. High prices for these goods led to more growth, a strengthening of the currency, and a real estate boom in cities like Rio de Janeiro.
PV Magazine: Lowest Bid in Second German PV Tender EUR 0.01/kWh
In a response to a request from the Green Party, the German government has said that bids for the country’s second pilot solar tender for ground-mounted PV systems are between EUR 0.01 and EUR 0.1098/kWh. They are declining to comment on the unit price or average value of the bids, however.
The Alliance 90/The Greens are skeptical of whether, with the tenders, stakeholder diversity in the PV market will be maintained. In a small request to the federal government, the parliamentary group posed a number of questions in this regard.
ABC: Canberra to Run Entirely on Renewable Energy by 2025
Canberra will be powered entirely by renewable energy by 2025, the ACT government has announced.
The ACT has already committed to a target of 90 percent renewable energy within the next five years and has backed a series of large-scale wind and solar projects, both locally and interstate.
Environment Minister Simon Corbell said shifting the target to 100 percent would make Canberra a leader both nationally and abroad.
Daily News: Uber Pushes Back Against Mayor de Blasio's Claim That It Doesn't Pay Enough in Taxes
With calls for a surcharge on Uber rides to give a lift to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s bottom line, the car app is arguing it’s already a tax bonanza.
But Uber’s critics are calling out Uber’s fuzzy math.
In a letter obtained by the Daily News to Mayor de Blasio dated Monday, Uber is pushing back on criticism that the taxi app behemoth -- valued at $50 billion -- is not pulling its weight to fund mass transit.
According to Uber’s New York general manager, Josh Mohrer, the company will pay nearly $40 million from an 8.8% sales tax on rides in the first seven months of this year.