Leading Independent Investment Research, Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar

Leading Independent Investment Research

Morningstar, Inc.

Morningstar, Inc. is a leading provider of independent investment research in North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. We offer an extensive line of products and services for individual investors, financial advisors, asset managers, and retirement plan providers and sponsors. 

Morningstar provides data on more than 500,000 investment offerings, including stocks, mutual funds, and similar vehicles, along with real-time global market data on more than 16 million equities, indexes, futures, options, commodities, and precious metals, in addition to foreign exchange and Treasury markets. Morningstar also offers investment management services through its investment advisory subsidiaries, with more than $180 billion in assets under advisement or management as of June 30, 2015. We have operations in 27 countries.

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Thematic (Sector/Industry)

United states Utilities / Thematic (Sector/Industry)

<ul><li>The drive to green power is the well-understood destructive impact of fossil fuel consumption: Investment in renewable energy is driven by the reality that the current consumption of fossil fuels, and related air pollution, water pollution, and public health costs, are unsustainable. As hundreds of millions of people push for higher living standards&mdash;and thus increased consumption of polluting resources&mdash; governments around the world are acting. With governments meeting in early December for the COP21, stronger commitments are possible. We do not expect legally binding agreements on all parties to emerge from the talks.</li><li>With policy support, high investment is set to continue: Though some governments have throttled back support following inefficient overbuild, the trend points upward in the largest markets, primarily the United States and China, and key new markets in emerging economies like India, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, and others. With more players chasing development, and lower absolute subsidies in many cases, we think renewable energy investment returns may fall.</li><li>Ormat is our favorite way to play renewable energy generation capacity: Even though we think the stock is currently modestly overvalued, Ormat Technologies&mdash;a narrow-moat pure-play geothermal developer&mdash;is the only independent power producer with an economic moat. It has a long and impressive growth runway well beyond our five-year explicit forecast, and its baseload geothermal generation has a major operational advantage over intermittent solar and wind.</li><li>Renewable energy growth was one factor in our recent midcycle power price cuts: We recently cut our midcycle outlook for Texas power markets by 20%, primarily because of the state's huge pipeline of renewable energy projects that we expect to go into service during the next three to five years. There are more than 24.5 GW of active generation requests under review for new-build wind generation through 2020, including 11 GW in the next two years, with the state's primary grid operator, ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.</li></ul>Analysts: Mark Barnett, Travis Miller, Andy Bischoff CFA &amp; Charles Fishman, CFA

The drive to green power is the well-understood destructive impact of fossil fuel consumption: Investment in renewable energy is driven by the reality that the current consumption of fossil fuels, and related air pollution, water pollution, and public health costs, are unsustainable. As hundreds of millions of people push for higher living standards&mdash;and thus increased consumption of polluting resources&mdash; governments around the world are acting. With governments meeting in early December for the COP21, stronger commitments are possible. We do not expect legally binding agreements on all parties to emerge from the talks.With policy support, high investment is set to continue: Though some governments have throttled back support following inefficient overbuild, the trend points upward in the largest markets, primarily the United States and China, and key new markets in emerging economies like India, Mexico, South Africa, Turkey, and others. With more players chasing development, and lower absolute subsidies in many cases, we think renewable energy investment returns may fall.Ormat is our favorite way to play renewable energy generation capacity: Even though we think the stock is currently modestly overvalued, Ormat Technologies&mdash;a narrow-moat pure-play geothermal developer&mdash;is the only independent power producer with an economic moat. It has a long and impressive growth runway well beyond our five-year explicit forecast, and its baseload geothermal generation has a major operational advantage over intermittent solar and wind.Renewable energy growth was one factor in our recent midcycle power price cuts: We recently cut our midcycle outlook for Texas power markets by 20%, primarily because of the state's huge pipeline of renewable energy projects that we expect to go into service during the next three to five years. There are more than 24.5 GW of active generation requests under review for new-build wind generation through 2020, including 11 GW in the next two years, with the state's primary grid operator, ERCOT, or the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.Analysts: Mark Barnett, Travis Miller, Andy Bischoff CFA &amp; Charles Fishman, CFA

Brookfield Infrastructure Partners L.P. (BIP US)

Huaneng Power International Inc (Adr) (HNP US)

Zhejiang Zheneng Electric Power A (600023 CH)

Public Service Enterprise Group Inc (PEG US)

Why the Renewable Energy Boom Has Legs