Exports help drive record U.S. refinery production

The amount of gasoline and other fuels produced by U.S. refineries reached a new record for October, compared with the same month in previous years, according to the American Petroleum Institute's (API) monthly statistical release. But a big part of that story was where some of that production was headed -- overseas.

U.S. refineries produced more than 9.4 million barrels of gasoline and more than 4.5 million barrels of distillates, such as diesel, in October. The gasoline figure represented a 4% increase and the distillate figure was a rise of 4.9% over the same month a year earlier, the API said.

The API also noted that U.S. petroleum exports to other countries soared by 37.6%, to more than 3.4 million barrels in October compared with the same month in 2010.

Exports of refined fuels, particularly diesel, have reached record levels, according to separate statistics compiled by the U.S. Energy Department, reaching more than 95 million barrels in August. That's an increase of more than 107% since August of 2007.

This comes at a time when gasoline prices in the U.S. are at their highest levels ever for this week in November. The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. Friday, for example, is $3.38, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report or 28.5 cents a gallon higher than the old record set in 2007.

In California, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline Friday, is $3.79 or 39.6 cents a gallon above the old mark, also set in 2007.

U.S. diesel prices are also worse than ever for this time of year. Nationally, the average price of a gallon of diesel Friday is $3.99, according to the AAA, or 58.6 cents above the old record set five years ago. In California, the average price for a gallon of diesel is $4.31 or 69.3 cents above the old mark set in 2007.

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Photo: The sprawling Conoco-Phillips oil refinery in Wilmington. The nation's refineries produced a record amount of fuel in October compared with the same month in previous years. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Oil rally cools, ending six straight weeks of gains

The latest oil rally has cooled so far today, ending six straight weeks of gains.

Any slowdown in the rebound of crude oil is welcome news to consumers, who continue to pay the highest gasoline prices on record for this time of year.

Crude oil for December delivery dropped $1.32 to $97.67 a barrel during trading on the NYMEX on Monday, ending the commodity's longest sustained rise in more than two years. Brent oil was down $2.09 to $112.07 a barrel Monday on the London-based ICE Futures Exchange.

Oil prices have rallied strongly -- up 30.3% -- since early October, when the commodity fell to its 2011 low of $74.95 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That was the same day that the European benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, fell below $100 a barrel.

Analysts said the oil rally was driven by strong demand for oil in emerging economies and by the loss of Libyan oil production during its civil war. The price of oil was down Monday, however, even though Japan posted its first economic growth since its earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.

Retail gasoline prices remained a burden on consumers.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline around the nation Monday was $3.417, up a penny from a week ago and 9.7% higher than the old record for this time of year of $3.111, which was set in 2007.

In California, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline was $3.820, down 1.8 cents from last week, but 12.5% higher than the previous record for this time of year, which was $3.395, also set in 2007.

Gasoline prices remain high, in part, because some of the nation's refiners are making more diesel and heating oil at this time of year and exporting record amounts of diesel overseas, where they can make more of a profit.

Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service in New Jersey, added that demand for gasoline in the U.S. is so low that refineries who aren't selling overseas are shutting down production or at least considering the same.

"On the Eastern half of the country, we've already seen Conoco-Phillips shut down a refinery and Sunoco may be ready to shut down another," Kloza said. "This is also going to set the stage for a big rally in gasoline prices in the Spring of 2012."

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Photo: Mohammad Rezaie changes the gas prices at his 76 gas station in Oakland, Calif. Prices remain at record highs for this time of year. Credit: Paul Sakuma / Associated Press

U.S. fuel exports hit new record in August

U.S. exports of refined fuels, particularly diesel, have surged to fresh all-time highs, helping to keep the prices of gasoline and diesel in this country at record levels for this time of year.

In 2003, U.S. refiners exported a little more than 100,000 barrels of fuel a day, primarily to Central America and South America, the federal Energy Department said. Since then, that figure has soared, reaching 656,000 barrels a day in 2010, marking a seventh straight record year. This year, export volume has moved further into record territory. It averaged 730,000 barrels a day through the first six months of the year.

In August, the latest month for which Energy Department data is available, those exports jumped again, to a record 895,000 barrels a day during one of the busiest months of the summer driving season in the U.S.

Driving the trend is strong global demand for diesel fuel.

"Increases in U.S. distillate exports began as global diesel consumption growth outpaced growth in consumption of other petroleum products over the past decade," the department said in a recent report. "According to the International Energy Agency, from 2000 through 2008 (the last year for which a complete set of global data exists), global diesel consumption increased by 23%."

Where are the exports going? The Netherlands (146,000 barrels a day) is the biggest buyer, followed by Mexico (112,000 barrels), Panama (63,000), Brazil (56,000), Colombia (54,000), France (42,000) and Peru (41,000).

Why are record diesel exports affecting gasoline prices? The Energy Department says surging diesel prices have "provided incentives to refiners to shift some production away from gasoline."

The result: The average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline in the U.S. today is $3.438, up 57.4 cents from a year ago, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. That's also 32.7 cents a gallon higher than the old record for this time of year, set in 2007.

In California, the average cost of a gallon of regular gasoline today is $3.839. That's 70.4 cents a gallon higher than a year ago and 47.3 cents a gallon higher than 2007's record level.

Exports of U.S. refined fuels are only expected to increase, with global demand projected to rise sharply in the coming years.

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Photo: A Conoco-Phillips oil refinery in Wilmington, Del. U.S. exports of refined fuels rose to a fresh record in August. Credit: Luis Sinco / Los Angeles Times

Biofuels, wind power show gains, but hurdles remain

Biofuels and wind power are having the biggest new impact in American power generation, according to a report released today by the U.S. Energy Department. Consumption of biofuels has risen 16-fold since 2000 and wind power use has seen an eight-fold increase during the same period.

Among renewable energy sources, only solar power is rising faster, the Energy Department said. But solar and photo-voltaic power are still the smallest contributors to the nation's energy needs, accounting for just 1% of the renewable total.

Hydroelectric power remains the biggest resource, at 31% of all renewable energy produced in the U.S., but it is not a growing resource. Wood is next, at 25%, followed by biofuels (23%), wind (11%), waste (6%), and geothermal (3%). Altogether, renewables account for 8% of U.S. energy production.

The Energy Department said that improved technology was part of the reason for the growth in electricity generation from wind power, which rose from about 6 billion kilowatt-hours in 2000 to about 95 billion kilowatt-hours in 2010. But the Energy Department also cited the importance of financial incentives in the form of federal production tax credits and grants.

The American Wind Energy Assn. is lobbying Congress to extend the tax measures amid partisan political wrangling over the issue, fearing the industry's ability to thrive without them.

Biofuels have made a huge splash recently. Earlier this month, Continental Airlines Flight 1403 made history when it landed at Chicago's O'Hare airport as the nation's first biofuel-powered revenue generating passenger flight. Alaska Airlines this week launched a round of 75 flights it said would be powered by biofuels.

But the biggest hurdle for renewables is cost. For 11 days of biofuel-powered flights, Alaska Airlines purchased 28,000 gallons of biofuel for a whopping $476,000. That works out to about $17 a gallon or about six times more than what it would have paid for regular jet fuel.

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Photo: Turbines line the hillside at First Wind's power project in Sheffield, Vt., which is ready to generate power after an eight-year planning and building process. Photo credit: Toby Talbot/AP

New geothermal maps show vast potential energy source

Geothermal energy is hardly new. There is evidence that it was used in the U.S. as early as the 1800s. In 1904, a fellow named Piero Ginori Conti opened the first geothermal plant in Larderello, Italy. It was a dry steam reservoir that was used to generate electricity.

But geothermal, like a lot of alternative energy technologies, barely registers in a nation that still depends mostly on oil and coal. Currently, there is only about 3,000 megawatts of installed geothermal energy capacity in the U.S., according to the Southern Methodist University Geothermal Laboratory. That's in a nation with a total energy generating capacity, from all sources, of 1 million megawatts.

Now, the SMU laboratory has released a new series of geothermal maps of the U.S. that show a practically limitless source of energy -- if it can be tapped.

David D. Blackwell, a geophysics professor at the lab, said the "technical potential" of what could be tapped was roughly equal to about 3 million megawatts, or three times the nation's current energy production.

"The technical potential is our best estimate of what actually might be extracted," Blackwell said. "The question is, 'Do we have the will to go ahead and try to really develop it?'"

The new maps, such as the one displayed here at a depth of 6.5 kilometers underground, show heat sources that range from a relatively cool 50 degrees Celsius (about 122 degrees Fahrenheit) to 300 degrees Celsius.

Most of the hottest spots are in the Western U.S., but SMU officials said that newer technologies for tapping geothermal sources could take advantage of cooler hot spots in West Virginia, Texas and along the Gulf Coast.

"The eastern two-thirds of the country were always dismissed in terms of geothermal potential," said Cathy Chickering, an SMU lab geothermal specialist, adding that the newer technologies could produce energy in those areas.

As an example of the new technologies, Pickering cited the Chena Hot Springs in Alaska, where geothermal energy is being produced in water that is 74 degrees Celsius. "That's significantly cooler than the temperatures people think of as necessary for generating geothermal energy. Other technologies can exploit dry heat by injecting water underground.

The maps were funded in part using by a three-year $480,000 grant from Google. They can be viewed here.

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Graphic: One of the SMU Geothermal Laboratory's new "temperature at depth" maps of potential new sources of energy. Credit: Courtesy of SMU Geothermal Laboratory.

 

Energy watchdog warns against reliance on fossil fuels

The Paris-based International Energy Agency warned today that world governments are locking themselves into a potentially disastrous future that depends too much on fossil fuels. The message came as the IEA released its annual World Energy Outlook.

The IEA has served as a kind of energy watchdog for industrialized nations since the 1973-74 oil crisis.

"We cannot continue to rely on insecure and environmentally unsustainable uses of energy,” said IEA Executive Director Maria van der Hoeven, adding that recent events helped illustrate the dangers, "The Fukushima nuclear accident, the turmoil in parts of the Middle East and North Africa and a sharp rebound in energy demand in 2010, which pushed CO2 emissions to a record high, highlight the urgency."

The IEA has projected a growth in world energy demand of 33% by 2035, most of it driven by China, India and emerging economies. But it also believes that the share of global energy provided by renewable sources, under current mandates, will rise from 13% currently to only 18% during the same period.

That means that the demand for oil, for example, will only continue to increase, from 87 million barrels a day in 2010 to 99 million barrels a day in 2035, the IEA said. The use of coal, the IEA predicts, will rise 65% by 2035.

“Governments need to introduce stronger measures to drive investment in efficient and low-carbon technologies," van der Hoeven said.

The IEA said the modest rise in the share of energy gained by renewables by 2035 was also predicated on a growth in government subsidies from a current $64 billion to $250 billion by 2035, a rise that is by no means certain "in this age of fiscal austerity." The IEA also noted that government subsidies of fossil fuels amounted to $409 billion in 2010.

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-- Ronald D. White

Photo: A National Transitional Council fighter patrols the Libyan Oil Refining Co. in Ras Lanuf, west of Tripoli. The Libyan civil war shut down that country's 1.6-million-barrel-a-day oil production. The unrest throughout the Middle East was a sign, says the IEA, of the peril of dependency on fossil fuels. Credit: Youssef Boudlal / Reuters

 

 

U.S., California fuel prices may reach record highs in 2012

A combination of burgeoning global demand and rising U.S. exports will leave California and national gasoline and diesel prices at such a high level by the end of the year that they could rise to all-time record highs in 2012, analysts said Monday.

Americans are currently on pace to spend a record $489 billion on gasoline in 2011 because prices have remained at high levels all year. The only year that came close to the current situation was 2008, when U.S. motorists spent about $448 billion on gasoline. But even though oil and refined fuel prices climbed to record highs in 2008, they quickly fell afterward. That is not the case this year.

"We are at the highest fuel prices ever for this time of year, even though they have dropped a bit in recent weeks," said Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst for the Oil Price Information Service in New Jersey, who made the $489-billion projection. "I think we will see prices in 2012 that will break the records set in 2008."

In the summer of 2008, the national average for a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.114, according to the U.S. Energy Department. In California, a gallon of regular gasoline reached $4.588.

The current national average is $3.407 for a gallon of regular, down from $3.443 last week, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report, which tracks closely with the Energy Department numbers. That shattered the old record for this week of the year: $3.013 a gallon, set in 2007.

In California, a gallon of regular gasoline is averaging $3.838, down slightly from $3.841 a week ago. Again, that is substantially higher than the old record for this week of the year of $3.231 a gallon set in 2007.

The primary reason for the stubbornly high prices is demand in Latin and South America, which is driving record U.S. exports of fuel to those parts of the world, particularly in the form of diesel. U.S. refiners are also making more diesel at the expense of gasoline production, Kloza said.

"Demand for gasoline is down in the U.S. by 4% compared to last year, but global demand has more than made up for that," Kloza said. "If you want to blame someone for the high prices, blame South America."

Another expert said that gasoline prices could be even worse than they are right now, given that world oil prices are again on the rise.

The European commodities trading benchmark, Brent North Sea crude, was up $2.14 during trading to $114.11 a barrel, its highest since Sept. 15. The U.S. benchmark, West Texas Intermediate crude, was up 77 cents to $95.03 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

"The national average is just one penny away from being the lowest we've seen since the start of March, even as crude oil prices have risen," said Patrick DeHaan, senior petroleum analyst for GasBuddy.com. "So it does remain surprising that average prices have moved very little."

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Chart: The AAA's rolling 12-month average for regular gasoline prices in the U.S. and California is well above 2010 levels. Prices may hit new highs in 2012, experts say. Credit: AAA Fuel Gauge Report

More green goes to green projects

Venture capitalists are pouring money into clean technology even as investors scale back funding in many other areas.

Firms in the green sector raised almost $1.2 billion in the third quarter – up 73% from $684 million collected in the same period last year, according to a report released Wednesday by Ernst & Young.
The number of deals in the quarter grew to 76 from 56, according to the report, based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource.

“Confidence in cleantech investing continues despite the challenging investment market,” said Jay Spencer, a director at Ernst & Young.

It was the first time the sector had an increase in funding since the third quarter of 2008.
California pulled in an overwhelming majority of the deals and dollars.

The state lead the pack with 32 deals -- second was Massachusetts with nine. And California’s clean-tech companies received more than half of all the money raised, collecting $583 million in the quarter, up 74% from the same period last year.

Most of that money is going to Northern California, but Southern California is home to some new projects, said Mark Sogomian, a partner at Ernst & Young. He pointed, in particular, to the launch of the clean-tech business incubator in Los Angeles last month.

“It’s really setting the groundwork for early stage companies to grow and thrive here in Los Angeles,” Sogomian said, “and hopefully garner venture capital investment down the road.”

-- Angel Jennings

More Green Goes to Green Projects

Venture capitalists are pouring money into clean technology even as investors scale back funding in many other areas.

Firms in the green sector raised almost $1.2 billion in the third quarter – up 73% from $684 million collected in the same period last year, according to a report released Wednesday by Ernst & Young.
The number of deals in the quarter grew to 76 from 56, according to the report, based on data from Dow Jones VentureSource.

“Confidence in cleantech investing continues despite the challenging investment market,” said Jay Spencer, a director at Ernst & Young.

It was the first time the sector had an increase in funding since the third quarter of 2008.
California pulled in an overwhelming majority of the deals and dollars.

The state lead the pack with 32 deals -- second was Massachusetts with nine. And California’s clean-tech companies received more than half of all the money raised, collecting $583 million in the quarter, up 74% from the same period last year.

Most of that money is going to Northern California, but Southern California is home to some new projects, said Mark Sogomian, a partner at Ernst & Young. He pointed, in particular, to the launch of the clean-tech business incubator in Los Angeles last month.

“It’s really setting the groundwork for early stage companies to grow and thrive here in Los Angeles,” Sogomian said, “and hopefully garner venture capital investment down the road.”

-- Angel Jennings

Earnings report: Big 3rd-quarter profits for Occidental, Exxon-Mobil

Occidental Petroleum saw its profit rise like an old-style gusher in the third quarter, up nearly 50% to $1.77 billion compared to a year earlier, the company said Thursday. It benefited, in part, from record domestic production that helped offset losses in the Middle East.

Occidental’s $2.17 per share compared with $1.19 billion, or $1.46 per share, a year earlier. Sales also jumped 26.1% to $6.01 billion.

“The third-quarter domestic production was 436,000 barrels per day  ... [the] highest in Occidental's history,” said President and Chief Executive Stephen I. Chazen. It was a showing that easily surpassed Wall Street expectations of $1.97 per share and profit on revenue of $5.46 billion, according to FactSet.

“We weren’t expecting any production growth for Occidental. It was very highly unlikely because of its exposure to Libya,” said Fadel Gheit, senior oil analyst for Oppenheimer & Co., referring to the North African nation where production had ceased during a hard-fought civil war. “Those barrels are gone,” Gheit added.

Argus Research analyst Phil Weiss said Occidental’s production in California has also been slowed by delays in getting permits. But Weiss said that the company did well because it has positioned itself to perform profitably in almost any political situation and earnings environment.

“Occidental remains one the industry’s best-managed firms,” Weiss said.

Occidental's daily oil and gas production volumes averaged 739,000 barrels a day, compared to 706,000 in the third quarter of 2010. Domestic crude production rose by 56,000 barrels a day from such places as South Texas, the North Dakota Williston Basin and California.

The world’s biggest integrated oil firm, Exxon Mobil Corp., reported a third-quarter profit of $10.33 billion, or $2.13 a share, compared to $7.35 billion, or $1.44, a year earlier.

The results were indicative, Gheit said, of an industry enjoying substantially higher world oil prices compared to the third quarter a year ago. But sequentially, the average profit margins trailed those recorded in the second quarter when oil prices hit their peak for this year.

For the major integrated oil companies, most of the profit came in the so-called upstream segment, which includes exploration and production. Downstream segments, which include the business of refining oil into fuels like gasoline and diesel, did not perform as well.

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Photo: Occidental headquarters in Westwood. The company's earnings were boosted by record domestic oil production in the third quarter. Credit: Kevork Djansezian / Associated Press

U.S. has a long way to go to reduce reliance on fossil fuels

At 407 pages, the U.S. Energy Department's just released Annual Energy Review contains more than you'll ever want to know about the nation's power production and consumption. On the other hand, you'll never be at a loss for words, or facts, on the subject.

Examples abound.

Is per capita household energy consumption in the U.S. declining because of programs emphasizing efficiency? Answer: no. It has remained essentially flat for 38 years, since the Arab oil embargo of 1973.

The reasons? A long-term shift to larger homes requiring more energy has been countered by a population shift to warmer climates in the South and West, requiring less heat. Electronic devices are far more efficient, but there are also a lot more of them around the typical home than ever before.

Will the country move sharply away from fossil fuels in the coming decade? Answer: maybe. Even with mandates for greater use of renewable energy, the nation still has as very long way to go. Energy consumption by source is as follows: petroleum 37%, natural gas 25%, coal 21%, nuclear 9%, renewable energy 8%.

The breakdown on renewables: hydroelectric power 2.5%, wood 2%, biofuels 1.9%, wind 0.9%, waste 0.5%, geo-thermal 0.2%, solar/photovoltaic 0.1%.

What about U.S. energy production by share of source? It's still firmly entrenched in fossil fuels. About 22% comes from natural gas. Another 22% comes from coal. About 12% comes from crude oil. The remainder comes from nuclear (8%), biomass (4%), natural gas liquids (3%) and hydroelectric (3%). Geothermal, solar/PV and wind together amount to just 1%.

What states consume the most energy? Texas is well ahead of No. 2 California on that score. But California, by far the nation's most populous state, shines in a related category: it's fifth among states with the lowest per capita energy consumption, behind New York, Rhode Island, Hawaii and Massachusetts. Texas is among the five states with the highest per capita energy consumption.

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Photo: Solar panels cover the parking structure at the Applied Materials Inc. Maydan Technology Center in Santa Clara. Even with new mandates to increase energy from renewable sources, it still supplies only a fraction of the nation's energy needs. Credit: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg

Gasoline prices at historic highs for this time of year

The new normal for gasoline prices continues to drain the incomes of American consumers.

Over the past week, the average price of a gallon of gasoline in the U.S. stabilized, down just 1.1 cents to $3.451 a gallon, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. But that's 22% higher than the old record for this week of the year, which was an average of $2.823 a gallon set in 2007.

The financial burden in California is higher. Although the state's average for a gallon of regular gasoline was unchanged over the past week, at $3.853, that was 22.6% higher than the old record for this time of year -- $3.143 a gallon, first set in 2007 and repeated in 2010.

With the nation still poised to shatter the old record for gasoline spending of $449 billion in 2008 by shelling out as much as $491 billion this year, Phil Flynn, an analyst for PFGBest Research in Chicago, said, "It's like we just can't ever get a break. This has really been a bad year for fuel prices."

There has been some hope that the end of hostilities in Libya might quickly bring down world oil prices, said GasBuddy.com senior petroleum analyst Patrick DeHaan, "but I just don't see it happening."

Oil was rising early Monday based on hope that a solution to the European debt crisis was near. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, crude oil futures for oil for December delivery were up 46 cents to $87.86 a barrel. On the ICE Futures Exchange in London, Brent oil rose 76 cents to $110.32 a barrel.

Analysts say that world demand for refined fuels is driving U.S. gasoline prices, with the U.S. exporting record amounts of fuel. In addition, U.S. refineries are processing more diesel than usual instead of gasoline to meet that global demand.

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Photo: U.S. oil refineries are processing more diesel and less gasoline to meet rising global demand, helping to keep U.S. gas prices at record highs for this time of year. Credit: Christina House / For the Los Angeles Times

California drops to No. 2 in energy efficiency rankings

The American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy's latest assessment of the states, released Thursday, showed California edged out of first place for the first time in the five years that the rankings have been conducted.

The council's State Energy Efficiency Scorecard showed Massachusetts in the top spot, edging out California with a score of 45.5 out of a possible 50 points. California had 44 points, then there was a drop to New York in third with a score of 38, followed by Oregon (37.5). Washington, Vermont and Rhode Island were next with identical scores of 34.

The scores were based on weighted criteria that gave more credit to states that offered utility and public benefits funds and also had the best efficiency programs and policies (20 points possible). That was followed in importance by transportation, building energy codes and state government initiatives.

California finished first or second in every category except the one gauging appliance efficiency standards.

ACEEE representatives said the report card showed that many states were taking the problem of energy efficiency seriously in spite of a sour economy and severe budget constraints.

“Energy efficiency is America’s abundant, untapped energy resource and the states continue to press forward to reap its economic and environmental benefits,” said ACEEE Executive Director Steven Nadel.
“The message here is that energy efficiency is a pragmatic, bipartisan solution that political leaders from both sides of the aisle can support. As they have over the past decades, states continue to provide the leadership needed to forge an energy-efficient economy, which reduces energy costs, spurs job growth, and benefits the environment,” Nadel added.

There was some irony in the report. The state with the lowest ranking, North Dakota, with a mere 2.5 points out of 50, is the state with the nation's fastest growing crude oil production.

See more on the ACEEE Scorecard.

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Map: The ACEEE ranked the states in terms of their efforts to improve energy efficiency. The nation's leaders are clustered on the West Coast and in the Northeast. Credit: American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy

Solar energy jobs growing in U.S. and California, study says

One in every four solar energy jobs in the United States is held by a Californian, and growth in the clean-tech industry is burgeoning nationwide, a new study said.

In August, California had an estimated 25,575 of the 100,237 solar-related jobs nationwide, according to the National Solar Jobs Census 2011, scheduled for release Monday by the Solar Foundation, a research and education organization in Washington.

The total for California was four times greater than the runner-up, Colorado, with 6,186 solar jobs as of last summer.

California ranked first in the nation for generating electricity from both photovoltaic solar panels and concentrated solar power systems that use mirrors to focus the sun's energy to create steam to run turbines, the study said.

"This report shows that the solar industry is not only creating green jobs across California but that the industry is forecast to continue growing at a much faster pace than the overall U.S. economy," said MIchelle Kinman, a clean-energy advocate for Environment California. "California industry and policymakers have a tremendous opportunity to build on this solid foundation and make solar a centerpiece of the state's energy policy."

Nationally, employment in all parts of the solar industry -- including manufacturing, installation, residential, commercial and large-scale power generation -- grew 6.8% in the 12 months prior to August, the study said. Overall U.S. job growth was less than 1% for the same period, it said.

Growth is expected to accelerate by 24%, creating 24,000 jobs over the next year, based on a survey of solar employers.

The industry's momentum is expected to continue despite bad publicity it received from a political scandal surrounding the bankruptcy of Northern California solar panel manufacturer Solyndra. The Fremont-based company recently closed after getting a $535-million federal loan guarantee.

"We have to look beyond the failure of one company and see the tremendous success that's occurring here," said Arno Harris, the chief executive of Recurrent Energy, a San Francisco solar developer.

Solar, added David Hochschild, vice president of another Fremont solar panel maker, Solaria Corp, "is on the cusp of playing a large role in mainstream markets."

Here's the census' list of the top 10 states by the number of solar industry jobs:

1. California          25,575

2. Colorado             6,186

3. Arizona               4,786

4. Pennsylvania       4,703

5. New York            4,279

6. Florida                4,224

7. Texas                 3,346

8. Oregon                3,346

9. New Jersey           2,871

10. Massachusetts    2,395

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Gasoline prices are high for this time of year

Gasoline price relief? It may feel that way in some parts of the nation. That's certainly what should be happening in autumn, when post-summer driving is mostly confined to commutes, errands and short trips. But is it really relief? History suggests that the answer is an emphatic no.

The average price of a gallon of regular gasoline in California fell again over the last week, to $3.833, down from $3.889. It was the fourth straight week of declines, according to the AAA Fuel Gauge Report. But that is still more than 23 cents a gallon higher than it  ever has been at this time of year and 82.9 cents a gallon above than the year-ago price.

The old record for this week of the year in California was $3.601 a gallon, set in October 2008.

The national average also has fallen for four straight weeks, reaching $3.417 a gallon, down from $3.493. But the U.S. average has been higher on only one other occasion during this time of year, when it was $3.484 a gallon in October 2008. A year ago, the national average was $2.711 a gallon.

The cost of the current pain at the pump has been huge, according to Fred Rozell, director of retail prices for the Oil Price Information Service. OPIS and Wright Express are the source for the AAA Fuel Gauge Report's averages, which are gathered daily using retail receipts from more than 100,000 service stations around the U.S.

"We spent about $40.3 billion on gasoline in September of this year. That compares to $30.9 billion in September of last year. Those kinds of numbers really add up," Rozell said.

In other energy news, oil continued to tumble based on fears that Greece would default on its debt payments and put pressure on other debt-laden European economies. U.S. crude for November delivery fell $1.91 to $77.29 during trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent oil for November was down $1.75 to $101.01 a barrel on the London-based ICE Futures Exchange.

Also:

California leads the nation in reducing gasoline use

Oil lower as volitile 3rd quarter ends

Durable goods orders down in August

-- Ronald D. White

Photo: The last week's national average for gasoline, $3.417 a gallon, has been higher on only one other occasion during this time of year, when it was $3.484 a gallon in October 2008. Credit: Joshua Lott / Reuters. Graphic: The AAA rolling 12-month average for regular gasoline prices in the U.S. and California. Credit: AAA.

Gov. Jerry Brown asks PUC to pass electric bill surcharge

 

Gov. Jerry Brown is asking his appointed members of the California Public Utilities Commission to come up with a way to continue tacking a surcharge on residential and commercial electric bills to pay for an energy efficiency program that did not get renewed by the Legislature last month.

The $400-million-a-year program is set to expire at the end of the year.

"We cannot afford to let any of these job-creating programs lapse," Brown said in a letter to PUC President Michael Peevey. The surcharges -- $1 to $2 a month on a typical residential bill -- pay for a 14-year-old levy called the Public Goods Charge. It pays for retrofitting structures to make them use less energy, for renewable energy subsidies and for research.

"I request that you take action under the commission's authority to ensure that programs like those supported by the Public Goods Charge are instituted -- and hopefully at their current levels," Brown wrote to Peevey.

The PUC will consider opening a legal and administrative proceeding on Brown's request at its Oct. 6 meeting in San Francisco, said spokeswoman Terrie D. Prosper.

"We're pursuing the fastest path to consider maintain funding levels for these programs and policies already underway," Prosper said.

Some environmentalists said they're supporting the governor's effort to revive the Public Goods Charge.

However, Sierra Club lobbyist Jim Metropulos lamented that Brown did not push earlier and more energetically to get enough bipartisan legislative support to pass the bill.

"We were disappointed that the governor put [his bill] out late, if it was one of his priorities," he said.

RELATED:

Designs on energy efficiency

State should extend energy levy

Light-bulb standards equal energy efficiency

-- Marc Lifsher

Photo: A man looks at energy efficient washing machines at a mall in Baldwin Hills. Credit: Katie Falkenberg / For The Times

California treasurer: Put renewable-energy tax exemption on hold

The head of a California panel that hands out sales tax exemptions to renewable-energy manufacturing companies wants to suspend the program in the wake of the Solyndra scandal.

State Treasurer Bill Lockyer said he will ask fellow members of the California Alternative Energy and Advanced Transportation Financing Authority at a meeting Tuesday to not approve any new applications for exemptions from paying California sales tax. The exemptions are aimed at encouraging the purchase of equipment used to make solar panels and other energy-saving projects.

The program was authorized last year by the Legislature when it passed SB 71 by Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Pacoima).

A decision on the request is not likely to be made before late October, a spokesman for Lockyer said.

"SB 71 created a tax exemption for businesses that requires a level of transparency and public accountability rarely, if ever, seen in California or anywhere else," said Lockyer in a statement released by his office. "But every government program can be improved."

He added that "in light of recent events"-- the potential loss of a $535-million federal loan guarantee to Solyndra, a bankrupt Fremont solar panel manufacturer -- "we owe it to the taxpayers to see if there is more we can do to make sure we don't give their money to companies headed for a fall or companies that take California's money and run to other states to create jobs."

Lockyer's authority had approved $37 million worth of sales tax exemptions for Solyndra, but the company only used $25.1 million to buy equipment before it closed.

The authority approved 32 sales tax exemption applications, valued at $104 million, of which $31.4 million was used, the treasurer's office said.

RELATED:

Solyndra's collapse is a tale of too much dazzle

Solyndra executives invoke rights, refuse to answer lawmakers

Obama fundraiser linked to program that aided Solyndra

-- Marc Lifsher in Sacramento

Photo: President Obama talks with Solyndra Chief Executive Chris Grommet during a visit to the company's factory in Fremont on May 26, 2010. Credit: Alex Brandon / Associated Press

Consumer Confidential: Toys R Us hiring; Wal-Mart gets sunnier

Here's your who's-on-third Thursday (I don't know) roundup of consumer news from around the Web:

--Looking for work? How about a temp job as one of Santa elves? Toys R Us says it will hire about 40,000 seasonal workers for the holidays. Beginning this week and running through November, the company is accepting applications for a range of jobs around the country. Executive vice president of human resources Dan Caspersen said that "we are proud to create tens of thousands of jobs across the country this Christmas, while providing the potential for hardworking individuals to find a permanent position with us." In previous years, the company has hired between 35,000 and 45,000 holiday workers. According to a new report from the outplacement firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas (no relation), companies are expected to hire at about the same level or less than last year's 627,600 jobs from October through December.

--Speaking of big-box retailers, Wal-Mart is going greener. The company says it will install solar-power panels at most of its California stores. A Wal-Mart spokeswoman says the company has installed rooftop panels on about 65 California stores and plans to raise that number to more than 130 -- about three-fourths of its stores in the state -- by the end of 2013. The Arkansas-based company hopes to use solar for 20% to 30% of each store's electricity needs. It says solar energy has cut its energy spending by more than $1 million. That's a lesson plenty of other businesses would be wise to heed.

-- David Lazarus

Photo: Toys R Us needs more helping hands for Santa. Credit: Classic Media

 

Solyndra execs to take 5th, refuse to testify before House panel [Updated]

 
Solyndra Inc.'s chief executive officer and chief financial officer will invoke their 5th Amendment rights and not answer questions during a Friday hearing before a House investigative committee, their attorneys said.

Attorneys for Solyndra Chief Executive Brian Harrison and W.G. “Bill” Stover, the company’s chief financial officer, sent letters to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative subcommittee Tuesday saying the two executives would not answer any questions during the hearing.

“I have advised Mr. Harrison that he should decline to answer questions put to him by this subcommittee based on his rights under the Fifth Amendment,” Harrison’s attorney, Walter F. Brown Jr., said in a letter to Rep. Clifford B. Stearns (R-Fla.), the committee’s chairman, and Rep. Diane DeGette (D-Colo.).

“This is not a decision arrived at lightly, but it is a decision dictated by current circumstances,” Brown said in the letter.

Agents with the FBI and Energy Department’s inspector general executed a search warrant at Solyndra’s Fremont headquarters on Sept. 8, two days after the company declared bankruptcy despite receiving $528 million in federal loans. The FBI and Energy Department have declined to say what prompted the investigation or who it is targeting.

Stover's attorney, Jan Nielsen Little, said in a letter to the committee that the criminal investigations prompted the decision for Stover to decline to testify. Stover still intends to appear at the hearing, Little said.

"Under these circumstances, Mr. Stover must invoke his rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," Little wrote. "It would be irresponsible for anyone in his position not to do so."

Solyndra was the first recipient of Energy Department loans under the Obama administration intended to spur economic growth and create jobs through investments in green technology. To date it is the only DOE loan recipient to cease operations.

[Updated at 2:37 p.m. Solyndra released a statement that acknowledged the executives' plans to take the Fifth, but said the company "is not aware of any wrongdoing by Solyndra officers, directors or employees in conjunction with the DOE loan guarantee or otherwise, and the company is cooperating fully with the office of the United States Attorney for the Northern District of California in its investigation." The company also said it "believes that the record will establish that Solyndra carefully followed the rules of the competitive application process, starting in December 2006 under the Bush administration and continuing under the Obama administration."]

 RELATED:

Lawmakers want to question Solyndra investors about its collapse

Solyndra: House committee grills officials over failed solar firm

Democrats say Solyndra scandal touches Republicans, too

--Stuart Pfeifer

Photo: FBI agents leave Solyndra with boxes of records during Sept. 8 search. Credit: Associated Press

Solyndra execs to take 5th, refuse to testify before House panel

 
Solyndra Inc.'s chief executive officer and chief financial officer will invoke their 5th Amendment rights and not answer questions during a Friday hearing before a House investigative committee, their attorneys said.

Attorneys for Solyndra Chief Executive Brian Harrison and W.G. “Bill” Stover, the company’s chief financial officer, sent letters to the House Energy and Commerce Committee’s investigative subcommittee Tuesday saying the two executives would not answer any questions during the hearing.

“I have advised Mr. Harrison that he should decline to answer questions put to him by this subcommittee based on his rights under the Fifth Amendment,” Harrison’s attorney, Walter F. Brown Jr., said in a letter to Rep. Clifford B. Stearns (R-Fla.), the committee’s chairman, and Rep. Diane DeGette (D-Colo.).

“This is not a decision arrived at lightly, but it is a decision dictated by current circumstances,” Brown said in the letter.

Agents with the FBI and Energy Department’s inspector general executed a search warrant at Solyndra’s Fremont headquarters on Sept. 8, two days after the company declared bankruptcy despite receiving $528 million in federal loans. The FBI and Energy Department have declined to say what prompted the investigation or who it is targeting.

Stover's attorney, Jan Nielsen Little, said in a letter to the committee that the criminal investigations prompted the decision for Stover to decline to testify. Stover still intends to appear at the hearing, Little said.

"Under these circumstances, Mr. Stover must invoke his rights under the Fifth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution," Little wrote. "It would be irresponsible for anyone in his position not to do so."

Solyndra was the first recipient of Energy Department loans under the Obama administration intended to spur economic growth and create jobs through investments in green technology. To date it is the only DOE loan recipient to cease operations.

RELATED:

Lawmakers want to question Solyndra investors about its collapse

Solyndra: House committee grills officials over failed solar firm

Democrats say Solyndra scandal touches Republicans, too

--Stuart Pfeifer

Photo: FBI agents leave Solyndra with boxes of records during Sept. 8 search Credit: Associated Press