Wednesday, January 28, 2015

"A Warren Buffett Utility Looks to Beat Tax Expiration"

With the new congress in place it's time to start watching for "Political Capitalism" 2015-style.
President Obama has been the best friend Wall Street-and Silicon Valley- ever had. How this trend plays out against the backdrop of a Republican Senate and House should bring us some significant opportunities.

From Roll Call:
Berkshire Hathaway’s Nevada utility company NV Energy is doubling down on efforts to boost its renewable generation resources in order to ensure that projects qualify for tax incentives.

The company announced this week that it would be seeking bids for 200 megawatts of renewable projects within a month, following an order from the Nevada Public Utilities Commission that urged the company to move faster because of uncertainty over incentives like the investment tax credit which will be reduced at the end of 2016. The company originally had requested bids for half that capacity this year with the expectation it would ask for an additional 100 megawatts for next year.

To comply with Nevada’s requirement for utilities to rely on 25 percent renewable energy resources, NV Energy touts 1 gigawatt of capacity from geothermal, solar, hydro facilities and wind facilities as well as biomass, methane and waste-heat recovery projects.

Spanish company Abengoa said last week it could not move forward with a solar project in California without greater certainty about the investment tax credit.
And remember, There was a reason for the choice of the first winner of the Climateer "Our Hero" award back in April 2007:
The 26th Secretary of War, the Democrat and Republican (!) Senator from Pennsylvania, Simon Cameron:
Our Hero
Simon Cameron
"The honest politician is one who 
when he is bought, will stay bought."