* State utility regulators, including those in Colorado, are increasingly changing how business is done. The century-old business plan for utilities, with rates based on investments in big power plants and lines, is not working well now. Demand is slowing with increased energy efficiency and rooftop solar. [The Denver Post]
Energy Systems Integration Facility at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colorado. (Photo by Dennis Schroeder / NREL)
* German energy utility RWE disclosed it was in talks with an unnamed Gulf investor, raising hopes that it could receive fresh funds and emerge from a crisis that has saddled it with EUR31 billion (33.6 billion) of debt. The 117-year-old German group is desperately looking for ways to reinvent its business model. [Gulf Business News]
* Nigeria's integrated information and communication technology company, Omatek Ventures Plc, commissioned a solar solution factory to produce solar off-grid, on-grid inverters, batteries, solar panels as well as LED bulbs. It hopes to reduce electric power consumption in Nigeria by as a much as 85%. [Leadership Newspapers]
* The US Trade and Development Agency has awarded a grant to the Cong Ly Construction-Trade-Tourism Company to develop a 300-MW wind power project in Vietnam. Cong Ly, a private sector firm that operates the only near-offshore wind project in Vietnam, is expanding the Bac Lieu Wind Farm. [The Maritime Executive]
* Even as the US oil industry slashes investment, pipeline operator Enbridge Energy isn't paring back its record five-year, 44 billion building program. The company's CEO said in an interview that the 50% drop in crude oil prices since June is dire for the industry, but hasn't changed the economics of pipelines. [Bakken.com]
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