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A lot of crazy stuff happening in the energy world right now: a thread.
One big one is the impact of quarantine on load. In ERCOT, they are seeing modeling errors get wider every day
And Italy & France are also seeing modeling defying load drops - 18% for the former
New York City daily demand is way down (although apparently not making a statewide impact yet) and CAISO is down, although not as dramatically as NYC
Speaking of CAISO, while curtailments were already high due to more renewables: the load drop has sustained that trend (>10x y/y for Jan) via @greentechmedia
While that is all going on, utilities haven't had a tough time accessing capital: $15B in credit lines/bonds tapped - in March! And at such prices- NextEra at 237.5 bps over treasuries. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-utilities-line-14-billion-160915814.html
Also, oil prices went negative in certain corners of the market
Speaking of low oil prices: WoodMac forecasts a 43% drop in EV demand this year. But the big trend to electrification may be ok -- VW says a yearlong slump won't slow their shift to EVs.
Low oil prices have had a surprising upside for clean energy, though! Read this amazing thread from @TimMLatimer on the relationship between oil prices and geothermal development costs. https://twitter.com/TimMLatimer/status/1244641415419899910
Also crazy: how LNG is getting thrown into two-pronged turmoil as major importers deal with outbreaks -- and oil prices collapse driving competition as a marginal fuel. https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2020/03/27/the-oil-price-collapse-could-reshape-global-natural-gas-markets/
Also, could the our real climate champion wind up being... the Fed? By putting Blackrock in charge of directing funds -- this is the Blackrock who just committed to ESG in a big way -- we may see this capital all invested via a climate lens. https://www.ft.com/content/f9c7e4de-6e25-11ea-89df-41bea055720b
Maybe more added later, but FIN for now
