Forecast: Sunny and Windy - House Approves Obama Climate Change Bill
29 Juin 2009 - 2:05PM
PR Newswire (US)
WASHINGTON, June 29 /PRNewswire/ -- It was a tense Friday evening
for the Obama administration as the House of Representatives voted
on the most important part of the President's green energy strategy
-- and by the narrowest of margins, 219-212, the American Clean
Energy & Security Act was approved. The wind and solar
industries, together with a broad coalition including former Vice
President Al Gore and many of America's largest corporations,
lobbied intensely for the new legislation. With success in the
House, and expected confirmation in the Senate later this summer,
burning coal and natural gas to generate electric power is about to
become much more expensive for the nation's utilities. The new
climate legislation mandates utilities buy a minimum 15% of their
energy from renewable sources. The result, part of Obama's overall
green energy agenda, will be many more wind turbines and solar
panels dotting the landscape. A host of companies, particularly
those developing and operating the wind and solar projects, have
recently been upgraded by Wall Street analysts. Jefferies and Co
published a buy rating on NRG Energy (NYSE:NRG). NRG is partnered
with oil giant BP (NYSE:BP) and just completed the first 150 MW
phase of the Sherbino wind project in Texas. When fully built
Sherbino will rival Horse Hollow - also in Texas - the world's
largest wind power facility CNBC guest analyst Francis Gaskins has
a buy on wind power company NACEL Energy (OTCBB: NCEN). NACEL has
80 MW (enough energy to serve 25,000 homes) underway in the Texas
Panhandle. Gaskins' research note says NACEL "represents a unique
opportunity for investors interested in exposure to the sector" and
puts a $4 valuation on the small-cap wind company. Analysts also
expect larger solar PV manufacturers to accelerate development of
their in-house power projects with the new legislation. Earlier
this year First Solar (NASDAQ:FSLR) bought OptiSolar's pipeline of
utility scale solar projects. Rival SunPower Corp (NASDAQ:SPWRB)
has also announced plans for solar power projects in Florida and
California. UBS analyst Stephen Chin upgraded SunPower
(NASDAQ:SPWRA) to a buy with a higher $38 price target. Before the
Bell Publishing LLC advises C.M. Biddick is a member of the
Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) CRD number 2382884.
DATASOURCE: Before the Bell Green Energy Watch CONTACT: Before the
Bell Green Energy Watch, 1-888-249-3011
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