New Media
Edison’s Power Lines Were Under Strain 14 Hours Before Eaton Fire
New York Times – Ivan Penn and Blacki Migliozzi
“I think we have a great picture of what happened,” said Robert McCullough, principal of McCullough Research in Portland, Ore., which has been reviewing data and information about Edison, including from Whisker Labs, at The New York Times’s request. “Too many people didn’t respond quickly enough,” he added.
Hydro-Quebec cut off electricity exports on main power line into New England. What happened?
Energy consultant Robert McCullough, who tracks Hydro-Quebec’s power output, said the company and province have a straightforward decision once the spring thaw begins: Should they refill their reservoirs to normal levels with the onrush of snow melt, or release that water for quick profits? He said, “Given the trade war, they may simply choose the prudent path of refilling reservoirs and see if Trump blinks.”
How the U.S.-Canada Power Trade Helps Keep the Lights On
“Hydro-Québec has all the cards,” said Robert McCullough, a former utility executive who runs his own energy consulting firm, McCullough Research. Because of recent drought conditions, McCullough said, the utility has “lots of reservoir capacity to store power for a later period. They can simply take the spring runoff, and leave it in the reservoir, and leave New England and New York wondering, ‘What’s happened.’”
New Articles
Whither Hydro-Québec?
High above René Lévesque Boulevard in Montreal looms the redoubt of Hydro-Québec — long one of the most secretive utilities in North America. While resource plans at other utilities in Canada and the U.S. can run to thousands of pages — including detailed studies of markets, technologies, loads and transmission — Hydro-Québec’s periodic Strategic Plans have slowly but surely shrunk to a minimalist report announcing their existence, their profound popularity and their contribution to the Quebec economy.
In March, the tiniest glimmer of information was released from la
forteresse d’Hydro-Québec.
Increasing U.S. Oil Production During Ukraine Invasion
Successful oil sanctions against Russia will cause less harm to the world economy if U.S. oil production ramps up. Unfortunately, the U.S. response to high oil prices has been slow and cautious. To meet needs in Europe, the U.S. may need to consider financing support for independent wildcatters in mid-continental oil fields to accelerate U.S. oil production.
One Tomb Raider Good: Two Tomb Raiders Better
The poorly drafted New York contract will probably face many of the same problems that the similarly drafted contract with Massachusetts has had in New Hampshire and Maine. The lack of transparency creates suspicions, the lack of co-operation creates enemies, and the lack of environmental substance creates opponents. All three problems are relatively easy to solve — however, I think we will find that if one tomb raider is good, two are better is the wrong model.
New Reports
Deconstructing Trump’s Energy Tariff
On February 1, 2025, the president issued an executive order imposing tariffs on Cana-dian energy. The actual tariff language was contained in a previous executive order enti-tled “Declaring A National Energy Emergency.”[…]
The anomalous energy sources in Section 8(a) do not include solar and wind which have no fuel. In the case of “geothermal heat” and “kinetic movement of flowing water”, this is a strange construction of words that attempts to define the “fuel” for geothermal and hydroelectricity. However, they are not commodities since they are not traded, trans-portable, and relatively difficult to measure.
Comments on SB X1-2 Workshop on Maximum Gross Gasoline Refining Margin and Penalty
Restrictions to the maximum margin changes the incentives for any number of market abuses ranging from exaggerated public announcements to wash trades designed to raise the OPIS index. The management of the refineries will exercise more supervision over their California operations if they face the incentive to do so. Absent such incentives, the unexplained market events experienced over the past decade will continue.
West Coast Gasoline Price Excursions in September 2022
In September 2022, West Coast consumers saw the second highest gasoline prices in history even while global oil prices were falling.
Data from the federal Energy Information Administration and the California Energy Commission indicate that production did not decrease during the period of the high prices.
McCullough Research concludes that West Coast refineries’ explanations that unforeseen shortages cause gasoline price increases are questionable, considering that the usual practice is to build inventory to cover sales during operational shutdowns. The attached memo finds little evidence that a supply shortage caused the price spike.
Market surveillance and transparency assure efficient markets, yet the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission do not provide routine surveillance, and until the nation’s gasoline and oil markets are subject to the same procedures that are routine for all other energy markets, the West Coast is vulnerable to market manipulation.