This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThey went to work every day and built a life for themselves, put money away in a savings plan and paid their taxes. And then they got divorced or hurt on the job or sick or widowed or just plain unlucky — and found themselves in the same boat as millions of Americans who are now approaching retirement with most of the financial props knocked out from under them.As the big bulge of baby boomers head into old age, as many as half are coming face-to-face with a new American economic reality: Retirement means a descent into...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThey went to work every day and built a life for themselves, put money away in a savings plan and paid their taxes. And then they got divorced or hurt on the job or sick or widowed or just plain unlucky — and found themselves in the same boat as millions of Americans who are now approaching retirement with most of the financial props knocked out from under them.As the big bulge of baby boomers head into old age, as many as half are coming face-to-face with a new American economic reality: Retirement means a descent into...WW…

This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareThe oil price war Saudi Arabia launched against Russia sent crude prices into one of the steepest falls in history Monday, compounding depressed global demand from the coronavirus and causing casualties for oil field workers, U.S. shale drillers, investors and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that rely on oil to make their budgets add up.Moscow’s refusal to cut its oil output by a half-million barrels a day shattered the unusual three-year marriage of OPEC, led by the Saudis, and major...…This article was published more than 3 years agoCommentGift ShareThe oil price war Saudi Arabia launched against Russia sent crude prices into one of the steepest falls in history Monday, compounding depressed global demand from the coronavirus and causing casualties for oil field workers, U.S. shale drillers, investors and members of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries that rely on oil to make their budgets add up.Moscow’s refusal to cut its oil output by a half-million barrels a day shattered the unusual three-year marriage of OPEC, led by the Saudis, and major...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident-elect Joe Biden is nominating Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan who has been a strong voice for zero-emissions vehicles, as secretary of energy, two people familiar with the process said Tuesday.Granholm, 61 and currently an adjunct professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley, has argued that the United States risks being left behind by other countries if it doesn’t develop alternate energy technologies. Her pick is a clear sign that Biden wants the department to play an...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift SharePresident-elect Joe Biden is nominating Jennifer Granholm, the former governor of Michigan who has been a strong voice for zero-emissions vehicles, as secretary of energy, two people familiar with the process said Tuesday.Granholm, 61 and currently an adjunct professor of law at the University of California at Berkeley, has argued that the United States risks being left behind by other countries if it doesn’t develop alternate energy technologies. Her pick is a clear sign that Biden wants the department to play an...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Trump administration is starting to reduce royalty payments and suspend leases for oil companies drilling on federal lands, citing the coronavirus pandemic, while at the same time imposing retroactive rent on wind and solar generators.The reported number of oil and gas wells affected by the relief and suspension policies is small, but critics of the policy say they believe far more applications are pending or will be submitted.The moves are in line with the stated preferences of President Trump, who has said he does...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareThe Trump administration is starting to reduce royalty payments and suspend leases for oil companies drilling on federal lands, citing the coronavirus pandemic, while at the same time imposing retroactive rent on wind and solar generators.The reported number of oil and gas wells affected by the relief and suspension policies is small, but critics of the policy say they believe far more applications are pending or will be submitted.The moves are in line with the stated preferences of President Trump, who has said he does...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoListen6 minCommentGift ShareSteps to restore power to more than 1 million households in Louisiana and Mississippi are at least three days away for most customers, federal energy officials said Tuesday, as regional electric providers struggle to tally the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida.Even after authorities assess the damage to the Gulf Coast’s power grid, restoring service to the hardest hit areas could take as much as three weeks, utility company executives warned.Pockets of the region have shown signs of a quicker recovery....…This article was published more than 1 year agoListen6 minCommentGift ShareSteps to restore power to more than 1 million households in Louisiana and Mississippi are at least three days away for most customers, federal energy officials said Tuesday, as regional electric providers struggle to tally the devastation wrought by Hurricane Ida.Even after authorities assess the damage to the Gulf Coast’s power grid, restoring service to the hardest hit areas could take as much as three weeks, utility company executives warned.Pockets of the region have shown signs of a quicker recovery....WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareCorrection: An earlier version of this article said the Minnesota State Senate had approved a relief bill. It has yet to act on the entire bill. The article has been updated to reflect that status.When that big freeze hit Texas in February, the Lone Star State couldn’t help but share its pain.With its ill-equipped natural gas systems clocked by the cold, Texas’s exports across the Rio Grande froze up and 4.7 million customers in — more than in Texas itself. The spot price of gas jumped 30-fold as . And all the way up by...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareCorrection: An earlier version of this article said the Minnesota State Senate had approved a relief bill. It has yet to act on the entire bill. The article has been updated to reflect that status.When that big freeze hit Texas in February, the Lone Star State couldn’t help but share its pain.With its ill-equipped natural gas systems clocked by the cold, Texas’s exports across the Rio Grande froze up and 4.7 million customers in — more than in Texas itself. The spot price of gas jumped 30-fold as . And all the way up by...WW…

This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareWhen the temperature dipped to 9 degrees inside his Austin mobile home, Laron Limuel took to sleeping in his Kia Optima sedan to try to stay warm. After days without power, a burst sprinkler pipe inundated Rosemary Sepeda’s apartment, ruining her walls, furniture and rugs even as the water crystallized into ice. The February cold snap that devastated nearly all of Texas sent Emily Kathleen Cahill to the St. David’s Medical Center emergency room.Yet just eight miles from Limuel’s darkened home, Austin Energy’s Decker Creek...…This article was published more than 1 year agoCommentGift ShareWhen the temperature dipped to 9 degrees inside his Austin mobile home, Laron Limuel took to sleeping in his Kia Optima sedan to try to stay warm. After days without power, a burst sprinkler pipe inundated Rosemary Sepeda’s apartment, ruining her walls, furniture and rugs even as the water crystallized into ice. The February cold snap that devastated nearly all of Texas sent Emily Kathleen Cahill to the St. David’s Medical Center emergency room.Yet just eight miles from Limuel’s darkened home, Austin Energy’s Decker Creek...WW…

This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWhen it gets really cold, it can be hard to produce electricity, as customers in Texas and neighboring states are finding out. But it’s not impossible. Operators in Alaska, Canada, Maine, Norway and Siberia do it all the time.What has sent Texas reeling is not an engineering problem, nor is it the frozen wind turbines blamed by prominent Republicans. It is a financial structure for power generation that offers no incentives to power plant operators to prepare for winter. In the name of deregulation and free markets,...…This article was published more than 2 years agoCommentGift ShareWhen it gets really cold, it can be hard to produce electricity, as customers in Texas and neighboring states are finding out. But it’s not impossible. Operators in Alaska, Canada, Maine, Norway and Siberia do it all the time.What has sent Texas reeling is not an engineering problem, nor is it the frozen wind turbines blamed by prominent Republicans. It is a financial structure for power generation that offers no incentives to power plant operators to prepare for winter. In the name of deregulation and free markets,...WW…