C-PACE financing can make energy efficiency upgrades more affordable – if it’s available
UTILITY DIVE. JAN. 13, 2025.
The first phase of the 630-acre Black Desert Resort near Zion National Parkin Ivins, Utah, features a resort hotel, spa, golf course, roughly 1,000 condos, and 190,000 square feet of commercial space, including shops and restaurants. A mechanism called Commercial Property Assessed Clean Energy, or C-PACE, financing came in handy to instal energy-efficient HVAC systems and insulation, earthquake mitigation and…READ MORE.
What Trump’s energy plans could mean for commercial building operators
FACILITIES DIVE. NOV. 11, 2024
With President-elect Donald Trump set to take office and Republicans to gain control of the U.S. Senate in January, real estate and operators wonder whether the incoming administration’s emphasis on fossil fuels could stall recent progress in building energy efficiency and sustainability. While organizations like the U.S. Green Building Council have pushed for expanded tax credits for energy-efficient building retrofits, Trump’s Agenda 47 and the Heritage Foundation-led Project 2025 prioritize…READ MORE.
Skilled trades talent shortages abound despite jobs’ insulation from AI threats
FACILITIES DIVE. MAY 30, 2024.
Nearly 90% of skilled tradespeople surveyed by Angi report that they are either very satisfied or somewhat satisfied with their jobs, according to the company’s 2024 Skilled Trades Report, released May 21. This data point indicates that job satisfaction has increased since 2021, when 83% surveyed by the maintenance, repair and renovation services company stated being either somewhat or extremely satisfied in their choice of work. The skilled trades are also resilient to artificial intelligence disruption, according to… READ MORE.
US East Coast floating wind farm offers springboard for growth
REUTERS. JUNE 2023
The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) started an environmental assessment of the first utility-scale floating wind farm in the United States.
The 144 MW project, located 20 nautical miles off the coast of Maine, will be developed by Aqua Ventus, a partnership between Mitsubishi subsidiary Diamond Offshore Wind and German energy group RWE Construction of the 12 wind turbines could start in…READ MORE.
Technology, sustainability and benchmarking are key to optimizing healthcare facility performance
FACILITIES DIVE. AUG. 2023
With calls to improve patient care, operational efficiency, sustainability, and financial performance, healthcare facilities managers get pulled in numerous directions at once. How can they make progress when facing so many competing demands? A trio of priorities — technology, sustainability and benchmarking — must take center stage, experts say, with the three working together to result in more efficient and cost-effective operations.
Healthcare facility managers walk a tightrope of tech, space and labor challenges
FACILITIES DIVE. AUG. 2023
Robert Melton tests emergency generators and utility power as early as 5 a.m. at Cape Fear Valley Health Systems’ facilities. Melton, who leads the organization’s maintenance activities as corporate engineer and director, said he has to make sure not to interrupt surgeries when generators are tested at least once a month. Melton is cognizant of the potential impact of losing electricity for five to seven seconds during an ongoing surgery if he does not proactively communicate with... READ MORE..
Healthcare facilities grapple with capital constraints, decarbonization challenges
FACILITIES DIVE. AUG. 2023
A hospital or outpatient care clinic often evokes a spectrum of images, from fluorescent lights and cold linoleum floors to poker-faced doctors and frazzled caregivers sipping stale coffee from styrofoam cups in waiting lounges. That stereotype differs from the reality of a ector on the cusp of change, even as it limps along the road to post-pandemic recovery. From preventing the failure of an air-conditioning unit in the middle of a critical 10-hour brain surgery to overseeing the maintenance of a hospital gift shop, healthcare facilities are at the forefront of that transformation. But they face a double whammy. READ MORE.
Demand response programs can help boost reliability, cut emissions in New York, advocates say
UTILITY DIVE. NOV. 2024
Increased participation from New York state facilities managers in demand response programs could help reduce emissions and boost electrical grid resilience, experts say. New York City alone could create up to nearly 6.7 GW of demand flexibility in the winter and 1.75 GW in the summer by implementing a demand management system alongside expected levels of electrification by 2050, according to … READ MORE.
Private Equity Revisits Strategies to Avoid Failed Bids
WSJ PRO / PRIVATE EQUITY NEWS. APRIL 16, 2018
Despite a thriving buyout market last year, some U.K. and European firms are revisiting their acquisition strategies to help prevent deals from falling apart.
Private-equity buyouts boomed in 2017, rising to $127.7 billion of investment in the region, up from $109.8 billion in 2016, the highest amount in at least five years, according to.... READ MORE.
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The Fight of a Rookie BBC Journalist
MEDIUM. FEB. 20, 2018
In early 2006, I stumbled upon an incident of concern involving a differently abled twenty-two-year-old woman. I delved into an investigation of my own for a newspaper story at the time. The incident I speak of is one of many that point to an excessive, and often detrimental, emphasis on family honour as the nucleus of a moral compass that rests solely on women, regardless of their... READ MORE.
Artificial Intelligence Sees Surge in Venture, Growth Investing
THE WALL STREET JOURNAL & PRIVATE EQUITY NEWS [DOW JONES]. NOV. 13, 2017
Artificial intelligence, seen as a transformative technology across a range of industries, is attracting increasing investment in the U.K. and Europe from private-equity firms.
But those firms are often making growth or venture-type investments rather than going for full buyouts, as they put a toe in the market to... READ MORE.
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Project financing picks up steam among CapEx-shy midstream developers
- S&P GLOBAL. NOV. 4, 2016.
The midstream sector is increasingly turning to project financing for their growth plans as developers look to take capital costs off the balance sheet, a move that has been greeted warmly by banks willing to take on the risk for higher margins.
A Storm Upstate: NY Ruling on Constitution Pipeline Likely to Unleash Wrath
S&P GLOBAL. APRIL 18, 2016.
It was a prophetic feature whose predictions came true on April 22, 2016 - less than a week after this feature ran.
When a massive rainstorm hit the Catskills in June 2006, it caused severe flooding in upstate New York's Mohawk and Hudson river valleys and swept untold volumes of debris into streams and rivers. Anne Marie Garti ... watched as a seasonal stream swelled far beyond its bed and devoured her pond...
Investors in Troubled Oil & Gas Partnerships Could be Slammed with Hefty Tax Bills
S&P GLOBAL. Feb. 10, 2016.
The key issues identified in this ahead-of-the-curve explanatory feature were replicated in The New York Times on Feb. 19, 2016. The New York Times article can be viewed here.
Investors in oil and gas partnerships that include Master Limited Partnerships, or MLPs, could face serious tax troubles amid a rising number of debt cancellations, debt restructurings and bankruptcies among upstream and midstream players through 2016, lawyers said.
US National Debt - 5 Times Greater Than The Govt. Admits
NEWSWEEK/ INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES. JUNE 6, 2012
[INVESTIGATIVE STORY]
Every newborn child in the US carries a virtual debt of $253,000.
The IOU that is being laid on the doorsteps of U.S. taxpayers in the form of the national debt is far greater than most Americans realize. That's because the federal government does not report the true size of the national debt - now nearly $80 trillion.
Midstream analysts predict quiet 2017 amid regulatory limbo, tightening M&A
- S&P GLOBAL. DEC. 29, 2016. [A 2017 Midstream M&A preview].
The outlook for the midstream sector in 2017 is one of tempered optimism as the oil and gas industry benefits from strengthening commodity prices but pipelines still face regulatory hurdles, restrained M&A activity, shifting investor preferences and scrambles for capital as interest rates rise.
Energy M&A lawyers prepare for pivot to bankruptcy work as E&Ps teeter
S&P GLOBAL. MARCH 4, 2016
With a decline expected in the pace of billion-dollar acquisitions, many energy M&A lawyers are instead finding work with bankruptcy attorneys as more E&P firms restructure their books or prepare for pre-negotiated bankruptcies.
[READ MORE].
Verizon & Vodafone Top The 5 Best M&A Deals of the Last 5 Years
- TheStreet.com, MAY 27, 2014.
Mergers can be as dicey - or as blissful - as modern-day marriages. In the aftermath of the global economic downturn, they can be especially delicate. It takes indomitable resolve and patience to create a masterful merger and begin a shared legacy. Here are the top five post-recession deals where companies got it right, despite the odds against them.
Fair-Trade Coffee Wins Over Starbucks, Keurig, but Fails Coffee Producers
- TheStreet.com, JULY 22, 2014.
While fair-trade-certified products are increasingly gaining the support of big-league brands, poor coffee growers continue to earn a pittance.
Back in the 1960s, the concept of fair-trade coffee was confined to do-gooder churches and charity shops, which believed that the poor would benefit from it. Today, fair trade wears the garb of an opportunistic culture... [READ MORE]
NASA Technology Brings Down Asthma, Allergies
- YAHOO FINANCE AND TheStreet.com. MAY 2014.
Ten-year-old Chandler from Arizona is a gifted musician whose fingers fly like feathers as they create mellifluous music on the piano. He also wants to play a flute. But his lungs won't let him. He nearly fainted when he tried it once.
Fund managers see upside in energy MLPs as stocks rebound from February bottom
S&P GLOBAL. MAY 27, 2016
Investment managers have jumped back into energy master limited partnerships after selling off positions in late 2015 and early 2016.
Midstream industry can expect continued shareholder activism in 2017
- S&P GLOBAL, DEC. 1, 2016
Activist investors are expected to be more hands-on in midstream energy companies through 2017 as they look to optimize the value of their assets in a rebounding industry environment.
Why have 26 workers in Bahrain committed suicide?
NEWSWEEK/ INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES, JULY 11, 2012
This semi-investigative story was the first in a series, which led to the release of 112 migrant workers on July 19, 2012, after being detained in Bahrain for more than six years.
Pasupathi Mariappan, 33, originally from Tamil Nadu in South India, became the twenty-sixth Indian expat to commit suicide in Bahrain this year. The blacksmith who worked at Manama-based construction giant Nass... [READ MORE]
Once Wall Street Bankers, Now Consultants
TheStreet.com. MAY 19, 2014
You're a banker and you were working on Wall Street. You were doing great until you were suddenly laid off because of what came to be known as the Great Recession of 2008. What now?
'MLP version 3.0': Leaner, more conservative partnerships on the horizon
S&P GLOBAL. JUNE 28, 2016.
The master limited partnership of the future will not look like the MLP of the past. While there is little doubt among energy and finance experts that midstream partnerships will long be a staple of the energy industry, there are rampant expectations that... [READ MORE]
Growing Spats Between Countries Leads To Need For More Cross-Border Lawyers
NEWSWEEK/ INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS TIMES. AUG. 3, 2012
The number of fresh arbitration cases filed with the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes last year reached its highest level in four decades, the ICSID said. Political turbulence and volatile market conditions stemming from the European debt crisis and the aftermath of the Arab Spring are driving a global demand for... [READ MORE]
More producers go the In bankruptcy, producers continue to try to ditch G&P contracts
S&P GLOBAL. MARCH 8, 2016
More bankrupt producers go the Sabine, Quicksilver way spelling doomsday for midstream players. Shale producer Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. is the latest to follow the footsteps of Sabine Oil & Gas LLC and Quicksilver Resources Inc., joining the bandwagon of beleaguered upstream players scrambling for relief from previous midstream commitments.
Midstream firms reassess their risk from G&P contracts with troubled producers
S&P GLOBAL. MARCH 15, 2016
Pipeline operators' legal teams are carefully reviewing their contracts with producers following a bankruptcy court decision that created questions about binding agreements. Law firms have been getting multiple requests from midstream companies to review their gathering and processing contracts and evaluate potential risks, according to... [READ MORE].
Detroit Real Estate Draws Interest from Google, JPMorgan