"Wind Power Cards do not reduce or replace conventional electricity bills, but they offer consumers an opportunity to ensure that the energy they take from the grid is replaced with clean, renewable ...energy derived from wind power," said Quayle Hodek, chief executive of Renewable Choice Energy, a Boulder-based broker of wind- energy credits. Buying wind-power credits in commercial quantities has become popular with some businesses, including Whole Foods and Vail Resorts, both of which purchased wind credits this year to offset all of their projected power consumption.
Whitehouse Station, N.J.- based Merck said it will offer $13 a share for Sirna, representing more than a 100 percent premium over Sirna's closing price Monday of $6.45. In after-hours trading Monday, ...Sirna shares soared to as high as $12.68. Sirna officials could not be reached for comment. The Sirna acquisition complements research underway since Merck's 2001 purchase of Rosetta Inpharmatics Inc., which brought new tools for assessing genetic technologies, Merck said in a statement.
The Labor Department last year terminated its contract with Accenture LLP after state officials said two key components of Accenture's new computer system didn't work. Rick Grice, executive director ...of the Labor Department, said three options are being studied: adapting the computer code, finding other states with similar systems to acquire data, or starting from scratch.
"We will execute a strong program in the Rockies," said Mike Bridges, who will run Anadarko's expanded Wyoming operations. "We'll work to keep costs down and use technology to extract more out of the ...ground -- increasing recovery." Since the acquisitions, Anadarko has moved quickly in a complex effort to integrate the two acquired companies. Those efforts include: B Naming two senior energy- industry executives to manage its new Colorado and Wyoming holdings. On the $23.3 billion acquisition price tag: "I think we certainly got what we paid for," said Bridges, who will work out of a Denver office. "In terms of both the assets and the people we got, I think it's a good deal with a lot of upside potential." Analysts have said that the 49 percent premium Anadarko paid over the stock price of Western Gas and the 40 percent premium for Kerr-McGee were considerable, especially when natural-gas prices in the West plummeted to less than $2 per thousand cubic feet, the lowest level in more than three years, shortly after Anadarko completed the transactions. "It's too early to tell how Anadarko will handle the combined companies," said Jill Morrison, a community organizer with the Powder River Basin Resource Council. "But they know what the problems are, and we'll be watching to see how they respond." Financial analysts will be watching to see how smoothly Anadarko can integrate the operations of Western Gas and Kerr-McGee.
"It's extremely significant that the CEO of one of the nation's largest utilities is saying that we need a plan on carbon." Xcel Energy chief executive Dick Kelly said the proposal signals the ...utility's commitment to reduce carbon emissions as a way to limit global warming. "Xcel clearly is pushing faster than many other utilities are" on environmental initiatives, said Ron Binz, a Denver-based utility consultant. "Their significant reliance on wind energy in Colorado is evidence of their commitment." Minneapolis-based Xcel is Colorado's largest power provider, serving 1.5 million gas and electric customers. The utility is the nation's largest purchaser of wind power, according to the American Wind Energy Association. It also operates two nuclear power plants in Minnesota. Matt Baker, of Environment Colorado, said he sees merit in the proposal from Xcel and Norm Coleman, although he's concerned about provisions that would eliminate state regulation of carbon dioxide and that specify that carbon dioxide would not be considered a pollutant under the federal Clean Air Act.
That didn't stop Leslie Glustrom from railing at Greg Sopkin for discouraging public testimony on the Pueblo coal plant, mercury pollution from the plant and global warming. Sopkin ordered Glustrom ...evicted from the proceedings, and he then adjourned the meeting and had the commissioners vacate the hearing room until Glustrom left. Much of the testimony came from environmentalists who said the new Pueblo coal-burning plant exposes Xcel and its ratepayers to potentially high costs in the future from coal costs and possible taxes on carbon emissions.
Shell already has figured out how to melt kerogen -- the oil- like substance -- from underground shale deposits with electric heaters to produce oil from one of the world's largest potential ...petroleum sources. It is designed for a dual purpose: to keep groundwater from infiltrating Shell's oil-shale wells, and to prevent produced oil from contaminating nearby groundwater. Perfecting the technology ultimately could lead Shell to commercial production of shale oil on 40,000 acres it owns in the Piceance Basin and thousands more acres it may lease from the federal government. Commercial production is unlikely to begin until 2015.
Deer hunters and elk hunters in Rio Blanco spend about $15 million a year, placing the county in a first-place tie with neighboring Garfield County for direct spending on deer and elk hunting, ...according to an economic report from the Colorado Division of Wildlife. "This is our payday," Bryce Purkey said of the September-November hunting season. "The energy business is going to come and go, but people will always eat meat." Hunting guides Anne Marie and Gene Scritchfield of Sable Mountain Outfitters generate 80 percent of their annual revenue during hunting season by offering five-day hunting trips on horseback in the White River National Forest at a cost of $1,100-$2,800 per person. A year ago, Bernie anticipated the growing competition for lodging between hunters and the energy sector when hundreds of workers began arriving in Rio Blanco County to build the 136-mile Entrega natural gas pipeline from south of MEEKER to Wamsutter, Wyo.
The issue: Regular-grade gasoline in Colorado is 85 octane. In most of the rest of the country, regular is 87 octane. To get 87 in Colorado, motorists have to buy midgrade, which costs on average ...$2.54 a gallon, 16 cents more than regular. The nationwide average for 87 octane is $2.36. "If I put 85 octane in my cars, they just knock like crazy," said Ted Kinsman, a corporate financial trainer from Crestone. "I don't really understand how we in Colorado can consistently operate on 85." Kinsman and other octane observers can take heart that a national standards body that recommends octane levels is set to discuss Colorado's minimum octane in a December meeting. American refineries produce gasoline with octane levels ranging from 85 to 94. The lower the octane level in gasoline, the less expensive it is for refiners to produce.
The Rocky Mountain regional average price for diesel rose to a near-record $3.35 a gallon in August, and some truck stops rationed sales after the Suncor refinery in Commerce City diminished its ...diesel production as it switched refining equipment. The cleaner fuel is more costly for refiners to produce. Wholesale price increases vary regionally, from 10 cents a gallon more for the new diesel around the Gulf Coast to one-half cent a gallon in Denver, according to Suncor's Steve Douglas. "With the switch to cleaner fuel, consumers will see more fuel- efficient diesel cars, pickups and SUVs on showroom floors in the years to come," said Allen Schaeffer of the Diesel Technology Forum, a diesel advocacy group.
