S&P Global Market Intelligence editors' picks for the best stories for the week ended Oct. 4.
1. Solo GOP FERC nomination threatens precedent of bipartisan pairings, critics say
The Trump administration's plan to nominate Republican James Danly as a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission member without also announcing a Democratic pick for the agency will threaten "decades of precedent" on paired nominations, environmental groups and U.S. Senate Democrats said.
2. Decline in frack activity putting strain on US services companies, analysts say
An ongoing decline in drilling and completion work continues to undercut U.S. oil and gas production growth — a trend that could hurt oilfield services companies into 2020 as analysts expect producers to remain prudent in their spending. However, a declining rate of production from mature wells may help boost demand for new fracking fleets farther down the road.
3. Coal deliveries from proposed Arch-Peabody JV more than 25% of US production
A proposed joint venture between two U.S. coal heavyweights in the western U.S. will bring together a set of coal mines accounting for more than a quarter of the total coal deliveries to U.S. power plants in 2018.
4. Georgia Power executives seek to justify coal ash costs in rate case
During hearings before state regulators, Georgia Power Co. executives defended its request to recover $937 million in additional revenues, resulting in a $2.2 billion revenue requirement, with several environmental groups questioning the utility's intent to use rates to cover costs from coal ash cleanup.
5. New RWE bets big on green growth
Germany's RWE AG is about to embark on a spending spree to cement its position as one of the largest renewables utilities in the world, leveraging a complex deal to acquire a global wind and solar portfolio while starting on the long road to phasing out its legacy coal-fired fleet.
