WASHINGTON | Fri Mar 15, 2013 4:30pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. environmental regulators will likely delay finalizing rules to limit carbon emissions from new power plants, a measure that has been one of President Barack Obama's top strategies to fight climate change, the Washington Post reported on Friday.

The rules were proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) nearly a year ago. They are expected to be revised to set a separate standard for coal-fired plants, as opposed to natural-gas-fired plants, the newspaper said.

The administration had been expected to tackle emissions from existing power plants, which are responsible for a much larger volume of U.S. emissions, up to 40 percent, after finalizing the rules on new plants.

An administration official said the report was not accurate because the EPA was still working on the rule. The official did say that sifting through the massive volume of comments was time-consuming.

According to the EPA's regulatory tracker, the so-called greenhouse gas "New Source Performance Standard" for new power plants was projected to be finalized by the end of this month.

But EPA Administrator nominee Gina McCarthy, who was in charge of EPA rules as assistant administrator for the agency's office for air and radiation, hinted last month that finalizing the proposal may take extra time since it had received nearly 2 million comments on the rules.

McCarthy will face a Senate confirmation hearing in April, Capitol Hill sources said, and is expected to get pushback from lawmakers from states that are heavily reliant on coal.

The EPA proposal says new plants can emit no more than 1,000 pounds of carbon dioxide per megawatt-hour, a standard that effectively blocks construction of new coal-fired plants.

David Doniger, policy director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's climate and air program, said he has no evidence that the EPA plans to weaken the current proposal but warned that a deadline to finalize the rule is less than one month away.

"If they don't meet the deadline, environmental organizations will start taking the legal steps to get a court to force the deadline," he said.

He added that the EPA holds regular, informal consultations with various stakeholders including green groups and electric utilities to hear proposals for setting an emissions standard from existing power plants.

(Reporting by Timothy Gardner and Valerie Volcovici; Editing by John Wallace and Dale Hudson)

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CONWAY, Massachusetts | Thu Jan 31, 2013 1:44pm EST

CONWAY, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Rain and high winds lashed U.S. Northeast and mid-Atlantic states early on Thursday, knocking out power to more than 330,000 homes and businesses as they braced for a coming snowstorm.

Gusty winds of up to 77 miles per hour battered parts of New England and a high-wind advisory remains in effect until 6 p.m. for northern Connecticut, most of Massachusetts, and southern New Hampshire, the National Weather Service said.

Thunderstorms rolled across the Northeast early on Thursday morning, toppling trees and downing utility lines. Among the hardest hit areas were Connecticut, where about 71,000 customers had no electricity; Long Island, with about 34,000 customers out; and New Jersey, where about 27,000 customers were without power, according to utility reports.

Heavy rainfall caused several dams in Carroll County, Virginia, to overflow after "river flow increased a multiple of 10 times in just 12 hours," said a statement released by Appalachian Power.

The state of Vermont warned residents on Thursday to brace for flash flooding from the storm, with heavy rains causing ice jams in rivers. Residents of low-lying areas were advised to seek higher ground immediately if water began to rise on local rivers.

Raging winds tore the roof off of an elementary school in Fall River, Massachusetts, sending bricks and other debris crashing to the street below, local media reported. A large section of the roof of another elementary school, this one in Raynham, south of Boston, also was blown off, with some debris landing across the street. No one was reported injured.

Early morning bursts of wind and rain also caused traffic accidents. In Centerville, Massachusetts, on Cape Cod, a teenage girl crossing the street to board a school bus was seriously injured after being hit by a car in what police called a weather-related crash, local media said. In Boston, a toppled tree fell on an ambulance on its way to pick up a patient. No injuries were reported.

From Friday through the weekend, a series of storms threatens to dump snow from the Midwest to New England and the mid-Atlantic, according to meteorologist Alex Sosnowski on Accuweather.com. Slick conditions could snarl the Friday morning commute to Washington, D.C., and Baltimore, he said.

(Additional reporting by Scott DiSavino; Writing by Barbara Goldberg; Editing by Nick Zieminski and Bob Burgdorfer)

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LOS ANGELES | Wed Jan 2, 2013 8:28pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. wind industry is powering up once again after Congress extended a critical tax credit that wind companies say will save tens of thousands of domestic jobs and allow more clean energy projects to ramp up this year.

About half of the sector's 75,000 jobs in the United States had been expected to disappear if the wind production tax credit had been allowed to expire at the end of last year, according to trade group the American Wind Energy Association.

"There will be a lot of activity that wouldn't have otherwise occurred," said David Burton, an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld who works on the tax aspects of financing renewable energy projects.

The extension and several other clean energy tax breaks came out of a Senate Finance Committee "tax extenders" bill in August and was included, along with a host of other business tax incentives that industries had been pushing for all year, in the deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

The tax break provides an income tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity produced by utility-scale wind turbines, helping it compete with power generated from cheap fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.

Importantly, the credit was changed to allow project developers to claim it when they begin construction, rather than only once turbines are up and running. It addresses the stop-start nature of the tax credit and takes into consideration the two years it can take to develop a wind farm.

"That's a huge difference," said Lance Markowitz, a senior vice president in the leasing and asset finance division of Union Bank, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Markowitz added that he knows of several wind projects that will go forward that likely would not have without an extension of the tax credit. However, he cautioned that the industry still faces challenges such as weak power prices and an environment in which many utilities are close to fulfilling their state mandates for renewable energy generation and therefore are no longer required to buy more clean power.

The last-minute extension has already taken a toll on the industry, according to AWEA's interim chief executive, Rob Gramlich, who said some of the industry's jobs would not be saved.

"Some of the damage was certainly done," he said.

Manufacturers like Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S, for instance, decreased their U.S. workforce in 2012 in anticipation of the tax credit expiring.

"Our order intake, like everyone else in the industry, saw a decrease in 2012," said Andrew Longeteig, a spokesman for Vestas' North American operations.

BIG HELP FOR SMALL GREEN INDUSTRIES

Allowing projects to claim the tax credit when they begin construction will be a big boon to less developed technologies like geothermal and biomass.

"They are less developed so tend to be looked at by investors as being riskier," said Michael Bernier, a senior manager at Ernst & Young who specializes in renewable energy tax credits. "Providing that certainty of 'OK, we're going to get this tax credit,' that helps you mitigate your risk."

The change could spur about $4 billion of new investment in geothermal projects, said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association.

It remains to be seen how the federal government will define projects "under construction" and able to qualify for the tax credit. A popular solar power incentive, before it expired, allowed developers to qualify if they incurred five percent of the total project costs even if actual construction had not started.

"The Obama administration was very supportive of those guidelines and will push hard for those same guidelines," said Burton.

The bill to avert the fiscal cliff also included extensions of tax credits for electric vehicle chargers for individuals and businesses and electric motorcycles.

(Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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LOS ANGELES | Wed Jan 2, 2013 8:28pm EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The U.S. wind industry is powering up once again after Congress extended a critical tax credit that wind companies say will save tens of thousands of domestic jobs and allow more clean energy projects to ramp up this year.

About half of the sector's 75,000 jobs in the United States had been expected to disappear if the wind production tax credit had been allowed to expire at the end of last year, according to trade group the American Wind Energy Association.

"There will be a lot of activity that wouldn't have otherwise occurred," said David Burton, an attorney with Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld who works on the tax aspects of financing renewable energy projects.

The extension and several other clean energy tax breaks came out of a Senate Finance Committee "tax extenders" bill in August and was included, along with a host of other business tax incentives that industries had been pushing for all year, in the deal to avert the "fiscal cliff."

The tax break provides an income tax credit of 2.2 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity produced by utility-scale wind turbines, helping it compete with power generated from cheap fossil fuels like coal and natural gas.

Importantly, the credit was changed to allow project developers to claim it when they begin construction, rather than only once turbines are up and running. It addresses the stop-start nature of the tax credit and takes into consideration the two years it can take to develop a wind farm.

"That's a huge difference," said Lance Markowitz, a senior vice president in the leasing and asset finance division of Union Bank, a unit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group.

Markowitz added that he knows of several wind projects that will go forward that likely would not have without an extension of the tax credit. However, he cautioned that the industry still faces challenges such as weak power prices and an environment in which many utilities are close to fulfilling their state mandates for renewable energy generation and therefore are no longer required to buy more clean power.

The last-minute extension has already taken a toll on the industry, according to AWEA's interim chief executive, Rob Gramlich, who said some of the industry's jobs would not be saved.

"Some of the damage was certainly done," he said.

Manufacturers like Denmark's Vestas Wind Systems A/S, for instance, decreased their U.S. workforce in 2012 in anticipation of the tax credit expiring.

"Our order intake, like everyone else in the industry, saw a decrease in 2012," said Andrew Longeteig, a spokesman for Vestas' North American operations.

BIG HELP FOR SMALL GREEN INDUSTRIES

Allowing projects to claim the tax credit when they begin construction will be a big boon to less developed technologies like geothermal and biomass.

"They are less developed so tend to be looked at by investors as being riskier," said Michael Bernier, a senior manager at Ernst & Young who specializes in renewable energy tax credits. "Providing that certainty of 'OK, we're going to get this tax credit,' that helps you mitigate your risk."

The change could spur about $4 billion of new investment in geothermal projects, said Karl Gawell, executive director of the Geothermal Energy Association.

It remains to be seen how the federal government will define projects "under construction" and able to qualify for the tax credit. A popular solar power incentive, before it expired, allowed developers to qualify if they incurred five percent of the total project costs even if actual construction had not started.

"The Obama administration was very supportive of those guidelines and will push hard for those same guidelines," said Burton.

The bill to avert the fiscal cliff also included extensions of tax credits for electric vehicle chargers for individuals and businesses and electric motorcycles.

(Additional reporting by Valerie Volcovici in Washington; Editing by Phil Berlowitz)

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel (C) reacts during the commemoration of the new 380-kV high voltage power line between Schwerin and Hamburg, in Schwerin December 18, 2012.

BERLIN | Wed Dec 19, 2012 9:24am EST

BERLIN (Reuters) - German Chancellor Angela Merkel's cabinet agreed on Wednesday to accelerate the construction of 2,800 km of new high-voltage power lines to push forward the country's shift to renewable energy.

However, in a sign of the complexities of formulating energy policy in Europe's biggest power market, two of her ministers said they had failed to agree a common position on a proposed reform of Europe's system of permits to cut carbon emissions.

Under the nationwide grid plans, the new transmission lines will be completed within four years from a previously planned 10 years and cost about 10 billion euros ($13.21 billion).

The cabinet agreed to mainly prioritize the construction of lines to transport power from wind turbines near the coast and offshore to industrial areas in southern and western Germany.

Germany's ambitious switch to renewable power sources is the result of a major policy reversal from Merkel last year. After the Fukushima disaster in Japan, she decided to speed up the closure of nuclear plants.

One obstacle in achieving her targets, including a goal for renewable energy to account for 35 of German power production by 2020 from around 23 percent now - is the limited capacity and routing of existing grids.

In addition to the new lines, the draft law envisages expanding existing high voltage grid by about 1,500 km.

"(This agreement) shows that we are absolutely on time with our plans... This is a huge step in the expansion of the grid, a huge step for the switch to renewables," said Economy Minister Philipp Roesler.

In a bid to deal with strong local resistance to grid expansion, the planned law sets limits on the legal options opponents can pursue.

Another important contribution came from Germany's 16 federal states who signaled they would let the federal grid operator Bundesnetzagentur coordinate plans, rather than insisting on individual processing, which causes delays.

However, more needs to be done: Distribution grids that take power from high voltage networks served by big power stations and transport it to consumers must also be adapted to cope with an increasing number of wind and solar power installations.

CO2 PERMIT ROW

At a news conference to discuss progress on Germany's "green revolution", Roesler and Environment Minister Peter Altmaier said they were still at odds on EU plans to reform carbon emissions permits but vowed to talk again next year to try to find common ground.

The dispute between the ministers, who share responsibility for energy policy, has been a major factor in holding up any agreement on an EU proposal to withdraw some emissions permits from the market to stop a price slump.

Altmaier said he expected the European Commission to make a new proposal after the European Parliament had dealt with the subject in February.

"As soon as this proposal is on the table, the German government will take a view on it," said Altmaier.

Roesler also signaled a willingness to talk.

"We both have the goal that we want a well-functioning emissions certificate market," he told reporters.

Altmaier backs the EU proposed reform of the Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), a main pillar of the bloc's efforts to cut CO2 emissions, but Roesler opposes meddling in the market.

Benchmark EU carbon prices were up 1.44 percent at 7.03 euros a metric ton at about 1150 GMT. ($1 = 0.7568 euros)

(Additional reporting by Markus Wacket, Vera Eckert; Writing by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Noah Barkin and David Cowell)

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WELLINGTON | Sun Oct 14, 2012 11:20pm EDT

WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand will go ahead with its first partial sale of a state power company early next year after rejecting the idea of special concessions for indigenous people, the prime minister said on Monday, raising the prospect of a legal fight.

Maori groups have threatened legal action over the decision, which could stall a three to five-year program worth up to NZ$7 billion ($5.6 billion) to sell minority stakes in three power companies, a coal miner, and the national airline, to help to cut debt and return the budget to surplus by 2015.

Prime Minister John Key said his center-right government would proceed with the sale of a minority stake in Mighty River Power MRIPW.UL between March and June next year, regardless of the threat of legal action.

"That's entirely a matter for them. From the government's perspective, it would not be unexpected," he said in a statement.

The government is aiming to sell a stake in a second power company, either Genesis Energy or Meridian Energy, by the end of next year. The two sales could be worth more than NZ$3 billion.

The government put the planned Mighty River stake sale on hold last month to consult with indigenous Maori tribes on options to recognize their interests in water resources.

Key said the government had rejected a suggestion from an advisory tribunal that Maori should get special rights over the management of water resources and should be given rights ahead of other shareholders in state power companies using water for generation.

It held the view that no one group owns water, and that Maori rights in particular regions could be satisfied through other measures.

In order to sweeten public opinion about the controversial sales, the government has said it will ensure New Zealanders get a preference in share sales, limit the size of individual holdings, and offer bonus shares to locals who hold shares for at least three years.

($1 = 1.23 New Zealand dollars)

(Reporting by Gyles Beckford; Editing by Richard Pullin)

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Fri Sep 28, 2012 6:38pm EDT

n">(Reuters) - Education reform film "Won't Back Down" opened Friday to terrible reviews - and high hopes from activists who expect the movie to inspire parents everywhere to demand big changes in public schools.

The drama stars Maggie Gyllenhaal as a spirited mother who teams up with a passionate teacher to seize control of their failing neighborhood school, over the opposition of a self-serving teachers union.

Reviewers called it trite and dull, but education reformers on both the left and right have hailed the film as a potential game-changer that could aid their fight to weaken teachers' unions and inject more competition into public education.

Private foundations, nonprofit advocacy groups and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce have pumped more than $2 million into advocacy efforts tied to "Won't Back Down," including 30-second ads, promotional bookmarks, websites, private screenings and a six-month, cross-country discussion tour that will keep the film in circulation long after it leaves theaters.

Their goal: To attract new foot soldiers who will help them fight for legislation that allows parents to seize control of local schools, as dramatized in the film; eliminates tenure protections for veteran teachers; and opens the door for more competition to neighborhood schools in the form of charters, which are publicly funded but privately run.

"This movie has the potential to be one of the most transformative vehicles in the history of education reform," said Ben Austin, a longtime Democratic activist.

Austin now runs Parent Revolution, which promotes "parent trigger" laws allowing parents unhappy with struggling schools to take control, fire teachers and bring in private management.

His organization is holding 35 private screenings of "Won't Back Down" in states from Georgia to Utah to New York over the next month to rally more parents to the cause. "This movie is telling a story that's relevant to hundreds of thousands of parents across America," Austin said.

Union leaders, for their part, have slammed the movie as a propaganda film that bears little resemblance to reality.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, has called it "egregiously misleading" and complained that several scenes seemed designed for "the sole purpose of undermining people's confidence in public education, public school teachers and teacher unions."

Parent groups that support teachers' unions have organized protests outside some screenings. And they've been gleefully posting negative reviews of "Won't Back Down" on Facebook and Twitter.

PUSH FOR CHARTER SCHOOLS

So far, the reform coalition has ignored the bad reviews and pushed ahead with their marketing efforts.

The drive to capitalize on the movie grows out of lingering disappointment within the education reform community over the last major film to carry their message, the documentary "Waiting for 'Superman.'"

Produced by Walden Media, which is also behind "Won't Back Down," the documentary chronicled dysfunction in urban schools and the desperation of parents trying to find alternatives for their children.

"Waiting for 'Superman'" was well-received and widely viewed, thanks to backing by the Gates Foundation. But activists hoping for a big boost from the film were disappointed.

"We didn't feel we captured anyone," said Matt David, a consultant to Michelle Rhee, former chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools and a major figure in the reform movement. Many viewers walked out angry at the public school system, he said, but had no way to channel that emotion into action.

This time, Rhee is moving quickly to provide a channel. Her advocacy group, StudentsFirst, has bought 30-second ads to run before showings of "Won't Back Down" in 1,500 theaters and sponsored marketing efforts to drive viewers to her website.

That website has been revamped to feature an "action center" where people moved by the film can sign up to join StudentsFirst, view short videos about its agenda (including one from comedian and newly appointed board member Bill Cosby), and share their own experiences with public schools.

The Center for Education Reform's website urges viewers to launch their own charter schools to compete with public schools. "You don't need a PhD or a teaching degree to start a school," the center's website advises. "Remember, you can do it now."

The most enduring campaign linked to the film may be the six-month "Breaking the Monopoly of Mediocrity" tour arranged by the Institute for a Competitive Workforce, an affiliate of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Drawing on a $1.2 million grant from the Daniels Fund, the group plans to stage private screenings and discussion forums for business and civic leaders in cities from Memphis, Tennessee, to El Paso, Texas, to Trenton, New Jersey.

The American Federation of Teachers is countering with its own series of town hall meetings and workshops across the country designed to present teachers - and unions - as natural allies of parents seeking to better their schools.

(Reporting By Stephanie Simon; editing by Todd Eastham)

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1 of 11. Children watch the fireworks during a ceremony marking the first anniversary of Tripoli's liberation in Tripoli, August 8, 2012.

TRIPOLI | Thu Aug 9, 2012 1:29am EDT

TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libya's ruling council handed over power to a newly elected national assembly on Wednesday in the North African country's first peaceful transition of power in its modern history but which comes amid heightened violence.

In a late-night ceremony held under tight security in Tripoli, the National Transitional Council (NTC), political arm of the opposition forces that toppled Muammar Gaddafi a year ago, handed over to the national congress, elected in July.

NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdel Jalil symbolically passed on the reins to the oldest member of the new 200-member assembly, Mohammed Ali Salim.

"The National Transitional Council hands over the constitutional duties for leading the state to the general national congress, which from now on is the sole legitimate representative of the Libyan people," Jalil said to loud cheers.

In a speech, Jalil, who announced he would retire after ending his NTC chief post, acknowledged "mistakes" had been made during an "extraordinary" transitional period and said security and disarmament issues had not been resolved in time.

The congress, whose members took an oath led by Salim, will now name a new chairman while the NTC will be disbanded. A first meeting was scheduled after the ceremony.

Large crowds gathered in Tripoli's Martyrs Square to celebrate the handover as fireworks lit up the sky.

The assembly will name a new prime minister who will pick his government, pass laws and steer Libya to full parliamentary elections after a new constitution is drafted next year.

A liberal coalition led by wartime rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril won 39 of the 80 party seats in the congress, while its Islamist rivals, the Justice and Construction Party - the political wing of the Muslim Brotherhood - won 17.

However the remaining 120 seats are in the hands of independent candidates whose allegiances are hard to pin down.

In the battle to hold sway over the assembly, where key decisions will require a two-thirds majority, Jibril's National Forces Alliance and the JCP are scrambling to form alliances with independents and smaller parties.

Some independents, distrustful of both sides, have spoken of forming their own coalition.

SECURITY PROBLEMS

Getting a grip on security in an often anarchic post-Gaddafi Libya will be the priority for the country's new rulers, Deputy Prime Minister Mustafa Abu Shagour earlier told Reuters.

The run-up to the transition has been overshadowed by several violent incidents in the past week that have shown the country's precarious stability.

These include a car bomb in Tripoli near the offices of the military police and an explosion at the empty former military intelligence offices in the eastern city of Benghazi, the cradle of the revolt against Gaddafi.

"Clearly they worry us, but at the same time we are investigating them. We are trying to find out who is behind this," Abu Shagour said. "We were able to improve security from when we started, but there's still a way to go. Security is top of the agenda for whomever will be coming into power."

The interim authorities that took over after Gaddafi's overthrow successfully led Libya to the elections. But the government has struggled to impose its authority on a myriad of armed groups who refuse to lay down their weapons.

On Sunday, security forces killed three armed men suspected of being behind seven failed bomb plots. That same day, the International Committee of the Red Cross suspended its work in Benghazi and the port city of Misrata after one of its compounds was attacked with grenades and rockets.

This followed the kidnapping of seven Iranian aid workers by armed men in Benghazi on July 31.

Still, Abu Shagour expressed optimism that the problems could be overcome. "I don't think it is going to get worse, I think things will get better as we move on. Our security forces are getting better," he said.

The date of the handover is symbolic - corresponding to 20 Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month, in the Islamic calendar. Last year, 20 Ramadan was Aug 20 - when rebels overran Tripoli, forcing Gaddafi to flee.

(Editing by Michael Roddy and Philip Barbara)

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