The refrigerator is the second-biggest electricity hog in most homes, so if you want to trim your power bill, it's a great place to start. The best solution is to ditch your old one for a new, energy-efficient model, but if that isn't in your budget, here are a few options.
American companies have a golden opportunity to expand the country's top spot globally. Industry leaders meeting in New York laid out the huge opportunity but also warned that red tape and a relative scarcity of skilled personnel threaten to stifle efforts to build this clean-energy source.
Shares of energy company Dynergy fell after its shareholders rejected a $603 million takeover bid from an affiliate of The Blackstone Group, a private-equity firm. Will investors Carl Icahn or Seneca Capital bid for the Houston company?
Hitachi and General Electric's nuclear power unit will open five new sales offices around the world by the end of this year. Target markets include the U.S., Vietnam, the U.K., Spain and Poland.
When the mercury rises in the summer, electricity usage usually surges. Not so this year. Despite record heat and humidity in much of the U.S., peak electricity demand is expected to fall 2.2% from last year.
Larger government subsidies, rising electricity costs, fewer regulatory burdens and lower prices for these small systems are all converging to generate demand. More access to favorable financing may create the most powerful tailwind.
