Buffett, Gates and Pickens are coming to Texas to make money

Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and T. Boone Pickens, three men who know how to make money, are coming to Texas to make even more money by investing in power generation and transmission. They see a future of increasing electricity consumption in Texas, a business climate that is favorable to wind, and a deregulated wholesale electricity market that allows prices to float higher than the areas of the state (and nation) where rates are fixed. Their investments and the high prices both strike me as good things. The investments help push cleaner power plants (such as Pickens' large-scale wind farms) onto the grid, and the high prices help create customer demand for alternative electricity sources. Wind-win.

Here's the link with the story: Buffett, Gates, Pickens May Profit From Texas Power Shortage

Oil keeps going up and up...

Oil hit a new price record today (in nominal 2007 dollars, not real inflation-adjusted dollars). You'd think by now the markets would have brought alternative supplies or fuel efficient autos to market. What's the hold-up?

We have too much gas

According to the Wall Street Journal today, Natural-Gas Producers Cut Output because we have too much gas.

Amid an abundance of natural-gas supplies and soft prices, gas producers are starting to pull the plug.

Gas prices have been dropping, and so producers are dialing back their output. Is this just the consequence of market forces working their magic (e.g. prices have been high the last few years, so demand has dropped), or an annual seasonal effect in the for which gas demand is low this time of year? Having an abundance of gas and dropping prices stands in stark contrast with oil, where prices are well over $70/barrel again (see here: Energy Prices).