The Effects Of Water Utility Pricing On Low Income Consumers

This study reviews ten water utilities in Florida utilizing current pricing models to determine how municipal utilities approach affordability. Water is no longer a commodity that can be taken for granted as the effects on the family budget has risen considerably in the past couple of decades. Increasing costs in capital, debt, personnel, chemicals, retrieval, and production have dramatically increased the price of water. Municipalities are faced with diminishing resources, escalating costs, and the need to consider those less fortunate when determining utility pricing. This research reviews programs available to utilities to offset the effect on capital requirements if municipalities adapt a low income friendly pricing model. Ten Florida municipalities are examined utilizing data from the 2012 Water and Wastewater Rate Study conducted for the American Water Works Association. Additionally, affordability programs for all ten municipalities are reviewed.

Keeping The Lights On With Coal Energy: A Financial Approach

Environmental, political, and economic events seem to conspire simultaneously towards the objective to erase coal-fired power plants. The most important events are: the increase of environmental regulations, the surge of natural gas as a cleaner fuel, the operative costs, the aging and the efficiency issue of the coal-fired power plants. However, the decision of the U.S.A. Supreme Court, the 29th of June 2015, suspended the regulation proposals presented by the U.S.A. Environmental Protection Agency concerning the mercury emissions of coal-fired power plants. This decision caused debate and controversy. The main objective of the sustainable approach for electricity generation is to find the blending of fuels that decrease contamination. However, the contradiction of different events in the world poses the challenge to evaluate if the XXI Century will see the end of the coal era. Could the technological breakthroughs like the Carbon Capture and Sequestration (CCS) and the development of other Clean Energy Technologies on Coal (CCT) stop this trend or, will the financial and environmental profitability of coal help it to remain in the energy mix?

Exploring Israeli Venture Capital Investing In Renewable Energy

Israel’s venture capital market is one of the largest in terms of capital investing in the world. However, in 2014, 5 of 83 independent venture capital firms located in Israel invested in renewable energy portfolio companies. The result of investing in few renewable energy firms in Israel is a continued reliance on imported fossil fuels from geographically distant nations. The importation of fossil fuels creates an added security risk in an already hostile political environment. The gap in research addressed in this paper explored factors for the small number of renewable energy firms receiving venture capital funding in Israel. The research question guiding this study was what are the factors for the small number of renewable energy firms receiving funding in Israel. The lack of renewable energy firm funding appears to be as a result of three factors. First is low return on investment. Second is regulatory uncertainty from the Israeli government. Third is the lack of knowledge of renewable energy by independent venture capitalists.

Keystone XL Pipeline

The Keystone Pipeline and everything it entails has taken over the news and the majority of North America. Most people around the United States did not know the Keystone Pipeline already existed before all of the uproar and protesting began back at the end of 2011. The part of the pipeline that does not exist is the additional expansion, the Keystone XL Pipeline, which was proposed in 2008. Since the approval of the project in March 2010, the Keystone XL Pipeline has been a problematic proposition ever since the idea was introduced by the TransCanada Energy Company. While the project was originally developed as a partnership between TransCanada and ConocoPhillips, TransCanada is now the sole owner of the Keystone Pipeline System, as TransCanada received regulatory approval on August 12, 2009 to purchase ConocoPhillips' interest. TransCanada attempted to get a permit for the new pipeline for more than three years. Since the pipeline crosses international borders, TransCanada had to obtain a Presidential Permit through the State Department for construction of the portion of the pipeline that goes from Canada to the U.S. To this day, even though a substantial amount of the project is complete, protesters are still against the idea of transporting tar sands throughout Canada and the United States to refineries in Houston, Texas so that we will have additional sources of oil and fuel to supply our needs. The paper discusses the controversy, the accounting implications, the legal implications, and local press. Pictures Included.

Venture Capital Best Practice Strategies To Reduce Economic Uncertainty In Biofuel Investing

Independent venture capital firms require actionable economic best practice strategies to reduce uncertainty when investing in biofuel firms. Biofuels derived from plant oils are a primary source of renewable fuel energy replacing petrol diesel. Investing in biofuels is fraught with high capital start-up costs and inaccurate portfolio firm valuation models lessening venture capital personnel ability to achieve higher levels of successful biofuel firm exits. The gap in literature addressed in this paper is venture capital best practice strategies to reduce economic uncertainty in biofuel firms investing are an unexplored phenomenon. Reducing and prospering from the effects economic uncertainty requires venture capital firms to implement best practice strategies. This paper provides venture capital firms with best practice strategies to reduce economic uncertainty when in investing in biofuel firms. Utilizing multiples, net present value, internal rate of return, and venture capital model for establishing a valuation price for portfolio firms are actionable economic best practice strategies addressed in this paper. The best practice strategies presented in this paper might reduce economic uncertainty, increase the number of successful exists, and encourage increased funding of biofuel energy firms, contributing to cleaner and healthier communities throughout the United States.

Multiplicative Spatio-Temporal Models for Remotely Sensed Normalized Difference Vegetation Index Data

Vegetation forecasting is closely tied to many important international concerns, including: monitoring the impacts of global climate change and energy usage, managing the consumption of natural resources, predicting the spread of invasive species, and protecting endangered species. In light of these issues, this article develops vegetation forecasting models for normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data recorded by remote sensing via satellites in East Africa. Spatio-temporal auto-regressive moving average (STARMA) is a class of models that can be used in monitoring and forecasting, but it must be modified for highly seasonal processes with temporal trends. We propose to use multiplicative STARMA models to estimate and forecast NDVI values for sub-regions that have previously been detected to have statistically significant temporal trends. For illustration, we select a few East African sub-region’s NDVI series to apply the proposed models and demonstrate the advantages over traditional modeling techniques.

Dam Policy: The Need For Global Governance

Dams have long fascinated engineers, policymakers, and citizens-at-large. No doubt the engineering and architectural details of physical construction of dams are worth study and scrutiny, but it is the human dimension that complicates dam policies. Dams can result in tremendous negative impacts on human populations. Yet, dams provide a source of renewable energy, hydroelectric power. Analyzing these issues in a global perspective offers strategies for policy makers to consider. This paper will analyze the negative impact dams have on humans, illustrate the hydroelectric push for dams and how they impact food production. Finally, global policy strategies will be offered with consideration of environmental accounting and an indication of the future of water and food.

U.S. Energy Independence With Lower Emissions

Energy Independence as well as concern for carbon emissions are policy topics that have been frequently discussed on the public stage. This paper analyzes the possibility of creating an energy portfolio that will achieve energy independence while reducing carbon emissions and how that portfolio is likely to change over time. Domestic oil, hydrogen fuels, domestic natural gas, hydropower, wind power, solar power, and nuclear power are the fuels discussed to make up the energy portfolio that will eliminate the United States dependence on foreign oil while reducing the carbon emissions generated during the production of energy.

How Much Did The Gulf Oil Spill Actually Cost British Petroleum Shareholders?

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon Drilling Platform, a British Petroleum (BP) licensed rig, exploded. Two days later the huge rig sank to thebottom of the Gulf of Mexico triggering the United States worst offshore oilspill. By April 26, investors and themarket began realizing that the costs associated with this catastrophic eventto BP could be significant and BP shares fell by over two percent. The next day BP reported its annual earningswhich showed a huge rise in profits, due in part to much higher oil prices forthe previous year and BPs common stock price increased. However, on May 6, 2010, analysts warned that the Gulf ofMexico oil spill disaster would likely cost BP over $23 billion dollars (15bn)and its shares can be expected to lag behind those of its competitors by 5% forthe lasting future. At the same time,Tony Hayward insisted the company would "bounce back" from thesetback though he could not give a timescale for when the flow of oil would behalted. This study investigated BPsstock returns using two models to determine if their stocks experiencedabnormal returns for the period April 20, 2010 through April 5, 2011. Results show that the most significant impact of the oilspill to the stock price was over the first 34 days of the event period. This study estimates a significant negativeimpact of 38% to 41% in share value for BP during this event period.

The Dynamics Of Groupthink: The Cape Coral Experience

This research provides a case study and review of Groupthink literature. Groupthink theory was originated in1972 by Irving Janis and remains an area of scholarly debate. The primaryobjective of this paper is to research the effects of Groupthink in terms of beinga positive or negative force in business. Intodays dynamic business environment, many organizations are composed ofstakeholders with different objectives and different standards of what isethically right and wrong, and all environments have become diversified. Therefore, it takes an organization whichfosters effective leader involvement to ensure that employees maintain apositive outlook toward the organization. Research indicates that groupmentality can be positive or negative depending on leader involvement. This research compares and contrasts the effects of Groupthink utilizingliterature and a case example from the City of Cape Coral, Florida.