Task force aims to fire up interest in utilities careers
A coming shortage of utility workers is prompting Colorado power executives and academicians to meet this week to encourage careers in utilities.
“The shortage we are forecasting in manpower throughout the industry in the next 10 years is a wide-open door for young people who want to make their mark in … the energy industry,” said Don Hurd, chief executive of Denver-based utility analyst firm E3 Consulting.
The 15-member Colorado Utility Careers Task Force meets Wednesday in Denver. On the agenda is developing funding for a professorship that would establish curricula for utility managerial and technical positions.
Utilities participating include Xcel Energy, Tri-State Generation and Transmission, Aquila Inc., Western Area Power Administration, Platte River Power Authority, and municipal utilities in Colorado Springs and Fort Collins.
Colleges involved in the task force are Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State University and the University of Colorado.
SALT LAKE CITY
Qwest users report long-distance trouble
Qwest Communications officials say some customers reported trouble placing long-distance calls Monday night.
Spokesman Vince Hancock says the outage appeared to be affecting people in most of Qwest’s 14-state coverage area from the Midwest to the West.
Hancock said customers should try calling again if they get a busy signal.
ARAPAHOE COUNTY
Colorado high on ski clubs’ trip lists
Forty-two percent of U.S. ski clubs plan to hit the slopes in Colorado during the upcoming ski season, according to an annual survey to be published next week in the Arapahoe County-based National Ski Club Newsletter.
That’s up from last year, when 34.5 percent of ski clubs said they planned to visit Colorado. Aspen, Steamboat, Telluride and Vail are the state’s top destinations, according to last month’s survey of 152 ski clubs.
BEIJING
Kazakhstan oil firm to be sold to China
China’s biggest state-owned oil firm has reached an agreement to buy a major oil producer in neighboring Kazakhstan for $4.2 billion – a victory in Beijing’s campaign to secure foreign energy supplies for its booming economy.
The acquisition of Petro Kazakh stan Inc., a Canada- based company, by a unit of China National Petroleum Corp., comes just three weeks after Hong Kong-based CNOOC Ltd. dropped its bid for Unocal Corp. following opposition from U.S. politicians.
DENVER
Ware Malcomb nets Samsonite revamp
Ware Malcomb, a national architecture, planning and interior design firm with an office in Denver, announced the firm has been awarded the Mile High Business Center project, the redevelopment of the former 100-acre Samsonite campus at 11200 E. 45th Ave.
Ware Malcomb has completed master planning for the multiphased project, which includes 1.7 million square feet of distribution buildings. The project is being developed by the Denver office of Panattoni Development Company LLC.
REDONDO BEACH, Calif.
Ball contractor’s NASA work proceeds
NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope team completed the initial step in manufacturing all the primary mirrors for the next-generation space observatory’s telescope, Northrop Grumman Corp. said Monday.
The manufacturing process is being performed by Brush Wellman Inc., Axsys Technologies Inc. and Tinsley Laboratories Inc. under contract to Northrop Grumman’s lead optical contractor, Boulder-based Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corp.
NEW YORK
Gasoline hits record average of $2.61
The retail price of gasoline continued to set a record, rising more than 6 cents last week to an average $2.61 a gallon nationwide, the Energy Department reported Monday.
Pump prices were highest on the West Coast, averaging $2.711 a gallon, and cheapest in the Rocky Mountain region, where motorists paid on average $2.546.
GOLDEN
Mining firm gets Powder River rights
Canyon Resources Corp., a Golden-based mining company, has acquired mineral rights on approximately 3,500 acres in three separate locations along the southern end of the Powder River Basin in Wyoming.
The acquisition was part of the company’s decision to reactivate its uranium exploration program started in the early 1980s.
BOULDER
VeloNews website tops its print edition
VeloNews.com website recorded its first 1 million-plus unique-visitor month in July and said the site’s advertising billings topped those of a print edition of VeloNews for the first time.
Driven by Tour de France traffic, VeloNews.com recorded some 1.1 million visitors, up 27 percent from the 860,000 in July 2004.
DES MOINES, Iowa
Maytag OKs sweeter bid by Whirlpool
Maytag Corp. accepted a sweetened $1.68 billion offer from Whirlpool Corp., ending a bidding contest with Ripplewood Holdings LLC and creating the world’s largest appliance-maker.
Maytag said in a statement it paid a $40 million fee to a group led by New York buyout firm Ripplewood to end their $1.12 billion agreement.
REDWOOD CITY, Calif.
Amazon switches photo processor
Amazon.com Inc., the world’s largest online retailer, dropped Eastman Kodak Co.’s photo processing services, switching to smaller rival Shutterfly Inc.
Photo developing, custom- printed mugs and T-shirts, online albums and photo storage are now available from Shutterfly through Amazon.com, Shutterfly said Monday.
WASHINGTON
Treasury Dept. sells $34 billion in T-bills
The Treasury Department on Monday auctioned $18 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 3.46 percent and an additional $16 billion in six-month bills at a rate of 3.69 percent.
The new discount rates understate the actual return to investors – 3.539 percent for three-month bills, with a $10,000 bill selling for $9,911.58, and 3.812 percent for a six-month bill selling for $9,813.45.
