The cost of keeping the lights on

Power companies say they're going to spend more, which means we are going to pay more. From Marketplace, I'm Subri Ben-Asher. Power utilities plan to spend $1.4 trillion with a T-dollar over the next five years on capital projects. That is according to a new report by the Energy Nonprofit Power Lines, and that is a 21 percent increase over what utilities were planning just a year ago. Marketplace's Henriette reports that spending could drive up household utility bills. The power grid in the U.S. desperately needs updates, so that's where a lot of that $1.4 trillion in planned capital spending is going, says Charles Hois at the nonprofit power lines. A significant amount of that will be necessary just to make sure that the lights stay on as our grid becomes increasingly unreliable and the infrastructure is getting old. On top of that, many utilities are planning to add more power generation to keep up with growing electricity demand, and utilities can pass the costs of all these projects onto their customers. But first, they need permission from state regulators, often called public utility commissions. The decisions that get made by these state public utilities commissions over the next five years will make or break what actually happens to people's utility bills. As those commissions will decide just how much of a return beyond the cost of a project companies can ask for, Annie Levinson-Falk is head of the Citizens Utility Board of Minnesota, which advocates for consumers before that state's public utility commission. Utility companies are entitled to a fair return on their investments, and investors do get to make a profit on that, but it needs to be reasonable and it needs to be balanced with affordability for customers. In many cases, Levinson-Falk says, utilities can opt for less expensive ways to improve the grid, which can save ratepayers money. I'm Henry App for Marketplace. The largest U.S. banks, we're talking JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup Golden Sachs, reportedly spent a record amount of money in the first quarter on stock buybacks. This is where a company goes and buys its own shares on the open market, which can drive up the value for shareholders and it's sometimes compared to paying dividends. In total, Wall Street banks spent more than $30 billion on their own shares. The Trump administration has reportedly asked U.S. automakers to help produce weapons and military supplies as the wars in Ukraine and Iran deplete U.S. stockpiles. The Wall Street Journal broke that news and reports the conversation started before the Iran War even began. Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs. Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand, marketing tools that get your products out there, integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time from startups to scale-ups, online, in person and on the go. Shopify is made for entrepreneurs like you. Sign up for your $1 a month trial at Shopify.com slash setup. It has been a little over three months since the capture of Venezuela's former leader, Nicolas Maduro, by the United States. At the time, President Trump called on oil executives to come back to Venezuela and tap into the country's significant oil reserves. For an update on how that is going, Francisco Monaldi joins us. He's director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University's Baker Institute for Public Policy. Good morning. Good morning. What has changed in Venezuela's oil industry since the capture of Maduro? A lot of things. I mean, the first one is that Venezuela used to be exporting most of its oil about 80% to the black market in China before the U.S. blockade in December. Today, Venezuela is exporting everything to licensed markets by the U.S., mostly to the U.S., India, and some to storage in the Caribbean. All the money is being collected in a U.S. Treasury account that then some of it goes back to Venezuela. Companies are coming back to the country to see business opportunities there. What is the arrangement exactly? Is the U.S. skimming profits off of Venezuelan oil, or is it just controlling where that oil goes? What is the deal? I mean, there is a lot of opacity in how this is being managed, but the bottom line is that we don't know exactly how much money is being collected, at what price the oil is being sold, and how in the future this money is going to go back to Venezuela. Chevron is moving ahead with new agreements to expand oil projects in Venezuela. How sure can oil companies be that Venezuela is stable enough for them to invest in? I think we have to distinguish. Chevron produces 25% of Venezuela's oil, so they are an incumbent company. They are just expanding their footprint. There are a couple of other companies that have a similar situation, but the rest are companies that would have to figure out how to go back to the country to sign new deals, etc. And I think that will take some time to figure out the details for these companies to really make significant investments in the country. Global oil supply chains are being rerouted, as we speak, by the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran. Does Venezuela plug a hole in that? What is Venezuela's role? Venezuela is so far adding very little additional barris to the world market. It is sending some oil to U.S. refiners that really want this sort of heavy oil. And also President Trump has allowed India to buy a significant amount of Venezuelan oil. Remember that the Indians were told not to buy Russian oil, and then of course you had the crisis in Normus. And that means that India is having difficulty finding the imported oil that they need. And so Venezuela is helping with that. But as I mentioned in the end, the issue is, is Venezuela going to add significant number of barrels in the next few years that helps to diversify the world oil supply? And that is a question Mark still. Francisco Monaldi, is director of the Latin America Energy Program at Rice University. Thank you so much. Thank you. In New York, I'm Sabri Beneshore, and you've been listening to The Market Place Morning Report. From APM American Public Media. The economy moves fast, and when headlines turn on a dime, it is essential that you feel informed rather than overwhelmed. Hey, I'm David Brancaccio, special correspondent for Market Place, and an avid reader of The Market Place newsletter. Not that I'm partial. 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