* Report calls for re-evaluation of needed reserve margin
* Advises progressive price cap increases when supply tight
* Sierra Club criticizes push for higher wholesale prices (Adds Brattle Group, NRG Energy, Panda comment)
HOUSTON, June 1 (Reuters) - The current design of the wholesale power market in Texas will not encourage needed investment in new power plants, the Brattle Group said in a report commissioned by the state electric grid operator.
Texas electric regulators and the grid agency that oversees the $34 billion deregulated wholesale market are working to encourage construction of new generation in the state, which has little ability to import power from its neighbors.
Unlike many areas of the United States, electric demand in Texas continues to grow because of the state's healthy economy.
"Electric reliability matters to all of us and we must remain focused on the central question of whether we are doing enough to guarantee an adequate power supply," said Craven Crowell, chairman of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
ERCOT, which oversees the grid for most of the state, has warned that the prospect for rolling blackouts in future years will increase as the power supply is unable to keep pace with growing demand.
Low wholesale prices and tight financial markets have stalled development of new generation in Texas even as more stringent environmental rules threaten to shut older coal- and gas-fired plants over the next few years.
"The cold hard fact is that new power plants will not be built unless power prices support that build," said Bill Nordlund, managing director of Panda Power Funds. Panda has two natural gas-fired plants primed for construction in Texas.
Last summer's protracted heat wave, which triggered record electricity demand and six emergency declarations from ERCOT, intensified the need to address the state's shrinking power reserve margin, the cushion needed to avoid blackouts.
The report by the Brattle Group, a power industry consultant, did not recommend a specific course of action to modify ERCOT's "energy-only" market, which pays generators only when they produce power, but outlined five options along with advantages and disadvantages of each.
Brattle principal Sam Newell said the energy-only market has worked well to attract generation investment in Texas, but low wholesale prices now will not encourage as many new megawatts as regulators believe are necessary to meet a 13.75 percent reserve margin in the summer when electric use soars.
Newell said Texans should reexamine that reserve target given the fact that power line problems are the cause of many more outages than supply shortages.
"You can plan on a very high level of reserves and almost never, ever have to shed load, but that would be more expensive than maintaining a lower reserve margin," Newell said on a call with reporters. "There's got to be a balance somewhere. We think it's worth re-evaluating those standards."
If the commission decides the state requires a higher reserve margin than the energy-only margin will provide, Brattle offered several potential solutions.
Options included keeping the energy-only design, but adding a market-based reserve margin; higher prices to support a target reserve margin; or a back-stop procurement process to maintain minimum acceptable reliability.
Other options included a mandatory resource adequacy requirement for companies that supply power to customers, or having a resource-adequacy requirement with a centralized forward capacity market.
While the Texas Public Utility Commission has resisted calls to create a capacity market similar to those used in other U.S. power markets, the Brattle report addressed a number of criticisms that capacity markets simply boost overall costs that benefit existing generation owners without attracting new power plants.
The PUC and ERCOT have already implemented a number of market changes, including raising the price cap on wholesale power when supplies are scarce, to encourage construction of new power plants.
"The Brattle Group's report confirms that we are moving in the right direction," said Donna Nelson, PUC chairman.
Unlike what the commission has proposed, however, the Brattle Group advised ERCOT to gradually increase the wholesale price cap to $9,000 per megawatt-hour from $3,000 MWh, reaching $9,000 only in extreme scarcity when power to customers is being curtailed. These prices would be paid by the suppliers who serve homes and businesses.
"We like scarcity prices to progress over a range instead of jumping to the cap (because) with a smoother price curve, you have better market behavior and it will work better with demand response," Newell said.
The report warned that simply increasing price caps will not attract more generation.
"Many market participants that were supportive of the commission's actions so far were wary of the prospect of raising caps much higher," the report said.
The Sierra Club criticized the report for its limited look at energy efficiency and conservation options where customers are paid to reduce power use when supplies are strained.
"Instead of using our money to build more coal and gas plants, the PUC should implement their rules proposed to raise energy efficiency goals," said Cyrus Reed, conservation director of the Lone Star Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The Brattle report said expanded demand-response programs will be needed, but that over the long-term the state will have to see new power plants built.
Reed also called on the state to increase use of renewable power, such as solar. Texas is already the No. 1 state for wind generation.
The Brattle Group noted that growth of wind power in Texas has depressed wholesale prices to the point that generators cannot justify investment in new gas-fired power plants.
John Ragan, president of NRG Energy's Gulf Coast region, complemented regulators and ERCOT for seeking "expert, external analysis of the different options Texas can implement to encourage greater resource adequacy while maintaining a strong commitment to competition and regulatory certainty."
"I am confident that we can address the issues that we face," Ragan said. (Reporting by Eileen O'Grady in Houston; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn, Tim Dobbyn, David Gregorio and Bob Burgdorfer)
Lexity Announces Support of Google Shopping - YAHOO!
Lexity, the provider of marketing apps for ecommerce, today announced that it supports Google Shopping, planned for introduction in the Fall.
Mountain View, Calif (PRWEB) June 01, 2012
Lexity, a provider of marketing apps for ecommerce, today announced that it supports Google Shopping, planned for introduction this Fall.“The changes to Google Shopping will provide a better user experience that will help our merchants succeed in this evolving world,” said Amit Kumar, CEO of Lexity. “We have already been providing both Google Product Search and Product Listing ads to our small to medium size merchant clients. We welcome the merging of these two separate products into one unified program.”
Lexity enables merchants to deliver superior results from Google advertising while minimizing the time spent managing these campaigns. With Google Shopping, Lexity will automatically manage the bidding for its merchants and provide them with a simple reporting interface, without requiring them to become AdWords experts. Today, Lexity manages Product Listing Ads using a similar fully automated system.
Lexity was one of the early adopters of Google Product APIs and was featured in Google I/O last year.
About Lexity
Lexity offers a versatile suite of marketing apps for ecommerce, enabling simple and affordable online advertising for small and medium-sized businesses. Founded in 2009, Lexity is backed by Spark Capital, True Ventures and Dave McClure’s 500 Startups. Lexity is headquartered in Mountain View, and has a presence in Bangalore, India. For more information, visit lexity.com, Twitter (@lxty), and Facebook (facebook.com/goLexity).
For more media information, contact:
Lisa Hendrickson
516-767-8390
lisapr(at)optonline(dot)net
Amelia Lin
Lexity
650-961-2785
Email Information
Drivers won't benefit from falling oil prices - Citywire.co.uk
The price of oil fell below the $100 a barrel mark on Friday for the first time since last October, but a weaker pound means drivers won’t save a penny at the pumps.
A barrel of Brent crude fell to $98, down from $120 a barrel last month.
The 2p saving drivers should see at the pumps as a result of lower oil prices, however, has been 'knocked out' because the pound has fallen in value by 4% since the middle of May, the AA explained.
'Had the pound remained worth $1.61 instead of around $1.53 now, further falls in the NW Europe wholesale price of petrol (taking it below $1000 a tonne for the first time since January) would have saved drivers a further 2p a litre,' the AA said.
Meanwhile, retailers have also yet to pass on the full 10p a litre saving from previous falls in wholesale prices to drivers.
Drivers have seen a saving of just seven and a half pence per litre at the pumps, Luke Bosdet of the AA explained. So while a weaker pound means they will not benefit from the most recent drop in wholesale prices, they are still owed a two and a half pence saving from the wholesale price falls seen since mid-April.
Yesterday the average price of petrol in the UK stood at 134.92p a litre, down from the record high of 142.8p seen in April. The cost of diesel, meanwhile, has fallen from 147.93p to 140.52p.
Earlier this week, the government warned fuel companies that they were being given 'one last chance' to improve transparency in the market.
Retailers have long been accused of responding to increases in wholesale prices much more quickly than price falls – prices shoot up like a rocket and fall like a feather, said Bosdet.
Transport secretary Justine Greening has now ordered retailers to set up a code of practice that allows drivers to monitor changes in petrol and diesel prices. If they don't, the government has said it will implement legislation.
Retailers claim that the industry does not understand the complex pricing mechanism, said Bosdet. Yet this fall in the price of oil is a perfect example of why greater transparency in the market would benefit suppliers as well as drivers.
On the one hand transparency would show drivers that a quarter of the savings from the original fall in wholesale prices was yet to be reflected at the pump, while on the other retailers and suppliers accused of pocketing the benefits of falling oil prices, would be able to defend themselves as to why a weaker pound means there will be no added savings.
New York takes a dismal FOURTH place in list of best U.S. cities for shopping - and you'll never guess the top three - Daily Mail
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It is regarded as the fashion capital of the world by many and yet New York has taken a dismal fourth place in a list of America's best cities for shopping.
The news will no doubt come as shock to the thousands of New Yorkers who consider the bustling metropolis to be by far the most sartorially sophisticated city in the country.
But according to a survey conducted by Travel + Leisure magazine, when it comes to a general consumer experience, New Orleans, Santa Fe and Charleston have superior stores.
Not so fashionable now: New York took fourth place in Travel + Leisure's list of best U.S. cities for shopping behind New Orleans, Santa Fe and Charleston
The travel publication asked readers to rate 35 U.S. cities with scores between one and five across categories such as nightlife, culture, people, quality of life and shopping.
The shopping category was divided into subcategories of luxury stores, independent boutiques, antiques markets, flea markets and interior design stores and the results subsequently combined for an overall score.
Bottom of the list was Orlando, Salt Lake City and Anchorage, the latter having also earned itself last place in the Best Dressed stakes.
Though New York took the number one spot in the luxury store sub-division followed by Chicago and Los Angeles, it failed to perform when it came to the other types of retail locale.
Despite the perennially trendy downtown area with its plethora of boutiques jam packed with fashionistas, not to mention Brooklyn's hipster contribution to fashion, in the independent category, New York City came a surprising fourth, beaten even by Savannah, Georgia.
When the New York Daily News revealed the results of the poll to nursing student Josh Belier, he exclaimed: 'New Orleans? Really? I’ve never heard anyone say: "Hey, let’s take a trip to New Orleans to go shopping." Everyone comes to New York to shop.'
Top spot: Readers voted New Orleans the best place overall for eager consumers across a variety of sub-divisions such as luxury, boutique and antique shopping
Perhaps not any more. At least certainly not for antiques and thrift store finds. Regardless of the popularity and abundance of New York's flea markets and second hand furniture stores, the city didn't even feature in the top ten list for either category.
Again the southern cities fared far better with Houston, Texas rounding out the top ten.
And if all those chic Manhattan interiors magazines led you to believe New York was the place to go for home design think again, it came a poor eighth.
The concluding result was that over all New York only closely beat San Juan, Puerto Rico in a top ten list that featured LA, San Francisco and Philadelphia as well.
Student Anthony Colone, 29, who is about to move to New York from Delaware told the Daily News: 'That must be a mistake. That's just stupid. New York City is the shopping capital of the world.'
AMERICA'S BEST SHOPPING CITIES
1. New Orleans, Louisiana
2. Santa Fe, New Mexico
3. Charleston, South Carolina
4. New York City, New York
5. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
6. San Juan, Puerto Rico
7. Los Angeles, California
8. Savannah, Georgia
9. San Francisco, California
10. Providence, Rhode Island
AMERICA'S WORST SHOPPING CITIES
1. Anchorage, Alaska
2. Orlando, Florida
3. Salt Lake City, Utah
4. Atlanta, Georgia
5. Dallas/Forth Worth, Texas
6. Las Vegas, Nevada
7. Baltimore, Maryland
8. Phoenix/Scottsdale, Arizona
9. Washington, D.C.
10. Memphis, Tennessee
British shopping mall boss held over Qatar nursery inferno - The Sun
Tzoulios Tzouliou, 48, spent his fifth day under effective house arrest following Monday’s horror at the Villaggio Mall in capital Doha.
Flames swept through the complex trapping and killing all the toddlers in the Gympanzee Nursery.
Their four teachers and two firefighters also died.
The emergency workers were found clutching the bodies of children.
Mr Tzouliou — whose Greek Cypriot family were living in Winchmore Hill, North London — is being questioned about fire safety measures and evacuation plans in the mall.
Security guards were said to have told shoppers alerted by alarms it was safe to return inside as flames tore through the building.
Firefighters were also reported to have arrived half an hour after the alarms went off. They were not immediately told about the first floor nursery.
In all, five officials have been detained by police. The others include Iman al Kuwari, the Qatari owner of Gympanzee, and Rima Itani, Mr Tzouliou’s assistant manager.
The mall’s owner and head of security are also being quizzed.
Doha police said yesterday that Mr Tzouliou was not technically under arrest but was being “detained”. He is being held in a secure property, but not a jail.
Cool Britannia rules OK: Britain sets the fashion trends and the world follows - Daily Mirror
It’s Jubilee weekend and patriotism is sweeping the nation. When it comes to celebrating the best of British, our fashion industry has to be near the top of the list.
The industry is renowned – from the best high street shopping on the planet to our iconic design brands such as Burberry and Mulberry.
We set the trends and the rest of the world follows!
Our leading figures are global names – Alexander McQueen has never been hotter thanks, in part, to THAT royal wedding dress created by Sarah Burton, and Dame Vivienne Westwood has managed to transcend the decades, going from punk rebel to UK treasure.
Homegrown stars Kates Moss and Middleton, Alexa Chung and Victoria Beckham, have become international style icons, with the fashion pack watching their every move.
And the Queen herself knows how to rock an outfit or two. Her Maj is a fan of the dress and coat combo in block brights – from fuchsia pink to the primrose yellow Angela Kelly outfit she wore to Kate and Wills’ wedding.
She’s not a slave to fashion, but has found a style that works for her and she’s stuck to it. And she always stands out in a crowd.
She’s never without a hat to match, demure two-inch heels and a stylish handbag.
And, of course, she can rock a tiara without looking like she’s playing dress-up!
When it comes to street style, no one does it like we do – you only have to wander down any British high street to be inspired.
Unlike other nations who often play it safe (ie, dull), when it comes to fashion we’re not afraid to embrace our inner eccentric.
You only have to look at actress Tilda Swinton working an androgynous look on the red carpet in a man’s suit or Vivienne Westwood in a bustier that makes Madonna look like a shrinking violet.
Yep, we should be proud of our fashion heritage – even the Royal Mail is flying the flag for British style with a new collection of 10 stamps celebrating iconic designers past and present, including Paul Smith, Ossie Clark and Norman Hartnell, who designed the Queen’s wedding dress.
On Monday, I’ll be heading off to my local street party to celebrate and the entire family will no doubt be decked out in red, white and blue – armed with dips and nibbles (my contribution to the catering), royal masks and about 200 metres of fab Union Jack bunting to hang.
I can’t wait to start the dancing.
Cool Britannia rules OK!
I'm from NYC and I absolutely LOVE shopping here! I wouldn't say it's the best place though as I haven't really shopped anywhere else. I'd love to shop in London one day or Paris or Milan!!
- Dinnyq, NYC, US, 02/6/2012 03:27
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