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Energy developer Tenaska Inc. has worked since 2007 to win legislative backing for a next-generation coal-fueled power plant southeast of Springfield. A key selling point was that the project would give a lift to the downstate coal-mining industry.
But Tenaska has failed to get a bill pushed through the General Assembly in the face of opposition from a coalition of business and environmental interests.
Now, with the clock ticking on another legislative session, the company is taking a new tack: It’s proposing to proposing to ditch coal for natural gas.
The new strategy, which has yet to be formalized, is part concession to political reality and part acknowledgement of the U.S. shale gas revolution that’s upended energy markets.
“We thought about it a long time and made a proposal that meets all of the objections that have been raised,” said Bart Ford, a Tenaska vice president.
As originally envisioned, the project would have transformed Illinois coal into a synthetic gas and burned that gas to produce electricity. The technology would allow much of the carbon dioxide and other pollutants from coal to be stripped out before combustion.
Under the new proposal, hatched during a meeting in Springfield earlier this week, Tenaska would move ahead only with the part of the plant that would burn natural gas for electricity. It could seek to add the coal-gasification unit later if market conditions warrant, Ford said.
Whatever the outcome in Springfield, Tenaska’s strategy shift is the latest evidence of the seismic shift taking place in energy markets.
Horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing technologies that opened up more of the country to natural gas drilling and vastly expanded domestic natural gas production has had a huge impact on the price of the fuel, which remains at around $2.50 per thousand cubic feet — the lowest level since 2002.
The drop in gas prices has led utilities to increasingly embrace natural gas at the expense of coal and made projects to convert coal into gas, which were already a tough sell to policy makers and lenders, practically impossible.
With natural gas at $2.50, “coal gasification doesn’t make sense,” said Ed Rubin, a professor in engineering and public policy department at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. For the foreseeable future, “gas is going to the fuel of choice”
Tenaska’s proposed modification would shave off about two thirds of the project’s original $3.5 billion price tag. That would limit the impact on average residential utility customers to about 60 cents a month.
The proposal being floated in Springfield would also cap rate increases for commercial utility customers at one-tenth cent per kilowatt-hour. Previously filed legislation to advance Tenaska’s coal-gasification plant offered no such guarantees.
Tenaska says the project would not only create thousands of jobs, it would help offset what are projected to be significant electricity price increases in coming years.
There’s already evidence that electricity prices in northern Illinois will jump considerably beginning in 2014 as older, less efficient coal plants are mothballed because they can’t compete economically in an era of cheap natural gas and tougher environmental regulations.
But despite an outlook for higher power prices, Tenaska says it still needs legislation that would require utilities to buy the plant’s output for the next 30 years. That’s because Wall Street otherwise won’t finance a large new power plant in a deregulated state like Illinois unless it has a long-term agreement to sell the output. And such agreements aren’t possible with Illinois’ power procurement rules.
The Citizens Utility Board, a Chicago-based consumer group, supported previous legislation to advance the coal gasification plant because it capped maximum rate increases for residential customers and small businesses.
Jim Chilsen, a CUB spokesman, said the group is still reviewing Tenaska’s modified proposal, and that its support generally hinges on a cap on any rate increases.
The STOP Coalition — a group that includes power generator Exelon Corp., business and environmental interests that galvanized to fight the Taylorville project legislation — issued a statement indicating it hasn’t yet formed a position on Tenaska’s new proposal.
“When details of the proposal emerge, we will look at it with the goal of ensuring customers aren’t subject to unnecessary rate increases,” the group said.
Ford doesn’t necessarily believe opponents will change their stance. But he said it’s important to show legislators that the company responded to all of the objections in an effort to form consensus.
He also said it’s important for Tenaska to get the legislation approved before the legislative session ends on May 31. The company is close to an agreement needed to interconnect with the power grid and already has an air permit needed to move forward.
“The clock is ticking,” he said.
Only a few years ago, Illinois was positioned for the first wave of coal gasification plants, including Tenaska’s Taylorville Energy Center.
Peabody Energy Corp., the world’s largest private-sector coal producer, announced efforts in 2005 to pursue a coal-gasification project in Illinois with ArcLight Capital Partners in response to what it deemed “scarce U.S. natural gas” supplies.
The Department of Energy-sponsored FutureGen project was proposed by President George W. Bush.
But “none of them have come to fruition,” said Phil Gonet, head of the Illinois Coal Association.
Gonet said Tenaska’s plan to move ahead with only part of the Taylorville project “reflects the reality” that cheap natural gas is hurting the coal industry. But he’d rather see part of the Taylorville plant built — and perhaps converted later to run on Illinois coal — than for the plant to not get built at all.
“Is it a setback for coal? yeah. But I wouldn’t call it a major setback,” Gonet said.
St. Louis-based Peabody said it still sees coal-to-gas technology as viable longer term in the U.S., but wouldn’t move any such projects to the “front burner” until natural gas move higher. The company is also optimistic about the potential to convert its coal reserves into transportation fuels, spokesman Vic Svec said.
Rubin said it remains to be seen whether the energy industry’s bet on cheap natural gas is a smart one. The country leaned heavily on natural gas a decade ago, and the plan backfired.
Meanwhile, development of technology to convert coal to gas is still advancing in other parts of the world.
“China is where the action is,” he said.
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Post-Dispatch Editor Arnie Robbins announced Friday that he will step down this month. Editorial Page Editor Gilbert Bailon will take over, becoming the paper’s eighth editor in its 134-year history.
Robbins, 59, has led the Post-Dispatch since 2005, after seven years as managing editor.
The last seven years have been a tumultuous time for the newspaper industry, including the Post-Dispatch. The paper has endured falling print circulation and several rounds of newsroom layoffs and buyouts. But it also has seen website visitors nearly double since 2007 and has been named a finalist for the industry’s top honor, the Pulitzer Prize, three times in the last four years.
Despite the economic challenges, Robbins made his mark on the paper and the St. Louis region, said publisher Kevin Mowbray.
“Arnie has done a fabulous job managing this newsroom through change, with honor and grace,” Mowbray said. “I’m really sad to see him go.”
In a speech to the newsroom Friday afternoon, Robbins stressed that he alone decided to step down, wanting “balance in my life.” He started considering it seriously on a hiking trip earlier this year.
That decision, Robbins said, comes with mixed emotions.
“I’ll miss walking around the newsroom. I won’t miss waking up at 3 a.m. and worrying about the newsroom,” he said. “We’ve been through a lot together. I’m happy, but I’m sad.”
Robbins said he has no immediate plans, that he might explore university or foundation work, and that he and his wife hope to stay in St. Louis.
Stepping into his shoes will be Bailon, 53, who has been the newspaper’s editorial page editor since late 2007. He previously spent 21 years at the Dallas Morning News, where he rose through the ranks from nightside general assignment reporter to the post of executive editor and then editor and publisher of Al Día, the paper’s Spanish-language subsidiary.
Bailon said he understands the challenges facing big metro newspapers but called their mission as vital as ever.
“We’re not going anywhere,” he said. “People want information. They want to pick up something and know they can trust it. We can provide that.”
If anything, Bailon said, the proliferation of news platforms — from print to smartphones to tablets — provides more opportunity for an organization such as the Post-Dispatch.
“I see a good future for us,” he said.
Having a top editor who thinks creatively about technology and the economics of journalism has never been more important, said Jill Geisler, who teaches newsroom leadership at the Poynter Institute, a journalism think tank in Florida.
“Being a superb journalist, that’s the starting point now,” she said. “There has to be a much deeper understanding of audience, a deeper understanding of the business side.”
Bailon brings that understanding, Mowbray said.
“I’m confident that Gilbert will continue the outstanding and exceptional work that is produced by our newsroom each and every day,” he said.
In an unrelated move, Sports Editor Reid Laymance left the Post-Dispatch on Friday. Steve Parker, deputy managing editor for news, will replace him on an interim basis while retaining oversight of Page 1. No replacement has been named for Bailon on the editorial page.
Oil prices fell Wednesday on concerns about a weakening European economy and disappointing job growth in the U.S.
Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude gave up 94 cents to end the day at $105.22 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which helps set the price of oil imported into the U.S., lost $1.46 to finish at $118.20 per barrel in London.
Prices dropped after a survey showed that Europe’s manufacturing industry is slowing down. Also, the unemployment rate in the 17 countries that use the euro rose to 10.9 percent in March. A separate report says U.S. businesses added 119,000 jobs in April, far lower than the 201,000 added in March.
Oil and natural gas demand has been declining this year in the U.S. and Europe, and it could fall further if their economies struggle. The U.S. is the world’s largest oil consumer. Europe uses nearly a fifth of the world’s oil.
Wednesday’s reports out of Europe and the U.S. show “the economic picture remains uncertain,” said Gene McGillian, a broker and oil analyst at Tradition Energy. “The European debt crisis is still ongoing, and while the U.S. appears to be improving, it’s really just muddling forward,” he said.
The Energy Department’s Energy Information Administration also reported on Wednesday that U No teletrak payday loan.S. oil supplies grew slightly more than expected last week, while demand fell nearly 2 percent. The nation’s crude inventories increased by 2.8 million barrels from the previous week, to 375.9 million barrels in storage. At the same time, gasoline supplies dropped by 2 million barrels.
The EIA report said wholesale demand for gasoline was down almost 5 percent from a year ago, as many drivers continue to be careful about how much they drive.
Retail U.S. gasoline prices fell by less than a penny on Wednesday to a national average of $3.80 per gallon, according to AAA, Wright Express and Oil Price Information service. That’s about 12 cents lower than a month ago, but the average is still above $4 a gallon in seven states and the District of Columbia.
In other energy futures trading, natural gas fell nearly 5 percent after jumping on Tuesday to the highest level in two months. Futures fell 11.8 cents to finish at $2.253 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Heating oil fell by 3.46 cents to end at $3.1425 per gallon and gasoline fell by 2.14 cents to end at $3.0757 a gallon.
Wal-Mart’s stock price dropped Monday, after bribery allegations concerning the retailer’s Mexican operations surfaced over the weekend.
Wal-Mart Stores (, Fortune 500) stock finished 4.7% lower on Monday. On Mexico City’s Bolsa Mexicana de Valores, the stock price for the company’s Mexican division, Wal-Mart de Mexico (), plunged 13%.
The world’s biggest retailer drew attention as a result of a New York Times report about alleged bribery in Mexico. The story, published Saturday online, alleged that top executives at Wal-Mart de Mexico tried to hide a widespread bribery scheme from the company’s headquarters in Bentonville, Ark.
On an earnings call Monday after the bell, Wal-Mart de Mexico CEO Scot Rank and CFO Rafael Matute didn’t address the allegations or take questions.
But John Zolidis, analyst for Buckingham Research, said that the scandal isn’t big enough to bring down the retail giant.
"Although the story gives us pause, we believe the impact on the company’s business will be minimal," wrote Zolidis in a research note. "We would use weakness to buy the stock."
He added that the most likely outcome is that Wal-Mart "pays some kind of fine. Some movement among executives occurs. We doubt there is noticeable impact on the Wal-Mart brand or on the business."
Allegations in the Times story date back to an executive’s e-mail from 2005, which reportedly details how the company paid $24 million in construction-related bribes business
After one of the fastest and steepest runups in recent memory, it’s possible gasoline prices may have peaked.
Retail gas prices fell more than half a cent Friday to a nationwide average just above $3.90 a gallon, according to AAA, continuing a decline started late last week that has shaved almost 4 cents off the price of gas.
The decline mirrors a moderate drop in crude oil prices, which account for roughly 70% of the cost of gas.
Crude prices have fallen for a few reasons, but the biggest is Iran’s decision to negotiate over its nuclear program.
Gas spending and prices by state
"All of the bad things we were really worried about don’t look like they will happen," said Kevin Lindemer, an independent energy consultant that has worked for Irving Oil and Cambridge Energy Research Associates. "If we have an uneventful summer, there’s nothing fundamental that should cause prices to go much higher."
But having an uneventful summer is still a big if.
Iran could walk out of the nuclear negotiations — beginning Saturday in Istanbul — at any time. A hurricane could hit the Gulf of Mexico. Protests could again rock the Middle East.
But barring a big event, it appears the world is adequately supplied with crude oil.
"Oil prices should fall," said Chris Lafakis, an economist at Moody’s Analytics. "That should provide a tail wind for the economy."
As tensions ease with Iran, markets become less fearful of a major disruption in oil supplies. Iran, after all, has repeatedly threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world’s oil passes.
But there are other factors pushing down oil prices as well.
Saudi Arabia: Assurances from Saudi Arabia that the country stands ready to cover any loss of oil from Iran due to tightening sanctions appears to have calmed markets.
The economy: A weaker jobs report from the United Sates last week and growing fears of a slowdown in China are tempering demand projections. High prices and better fuel efficiency in the United States have also been cutting into demand payday loans guaranteed no fax.
Pipeline reversal: Pipeline operator Enbridge plans to reverse the flow of a pipeline in the U.S. Midwest.
The pipeline currently brings oil from the Gulf of Mexico to Cushing, Okla., where there is a bottleneck of supplies. Reversing that flow will add another 400,000 barrels a day to global oil markets.
Return of offline supplies: On Thursday, the International Energy Agency said it expects some of the 1.1 million barrels of oil a day that’s currently offline from places such as Canada, the North Sea, and South Sudan will return to world markets in the second half of the year. IEA expects an additional 700,000 barrels a day in oil production from non-OPEC countries in 2012.
IEA also notes that OPEC production is at 3-1/2-year highs.
"Amid rising actual OPEC production, and a sizeable implied build in global stocks, prices have subsequently eased," the agency said in its report. "For now at least, the earlier tide of remorseless market tightening looks to have turned."
Caution ahead: However, all analysts warn that the situation can turn quickly, and some remain skeptical that Iran will stay out of the headlines throughout the summer.
"The odds of a military conflict are higher than what’s being discounted today," said Robert McNally of the Rapidan Group, an energy consultancy. "I think the market is relatively complacent."
Gasoline prices could also rise as the industry switches over from winter gas to cleaner summer blends.
Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, noted that the switch currently underway in the Chicago region led to a 40 cent spike in prices there.
Despite the recent dip in gas prices nationally, Kloza is sticking to his earlier prediction for a national average of $4.25 a gallon by Memorial Day — which would be a new record high.
In a rare show of unity, Iran and the world’s big powers on Saturday hailed their first nuclear meeting in more than a year as a key step toward further negotiations meant to ease international fears that Tehran may weaponize its nuclear program.
The one concrete reflection of progress was an agreement to meet again on May 23 in Baghdad, a venue put forward by Iran.
But huge hurdles still lie in the way of a common understanding of what Iran should do to end suspicions of its nuclear activities. Those barriers may prove insurmountable considering the differences between Tehran and the six nations trying to persuade it to compromise on its nuclear efforts.
Since revelations surfaced 10 years ago that it was secretly building a uranium enrichment program, Tehran has argued it has a right to enrichment to create reactor fuel under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, and insisted it will never use that ability to create the fissile core of a nuclear warhead.
But the United States and other countries accuse Iran of repeatedly violating the treaty, and Tehran continues to expand enrichment despite four sets of U.N. Security Council resolutions and other penalties imposed by the U.S., Europe and others. Adding to concerns, it now is enriching uranium to levels closer to the grade needed for nuclear weapons in an underground bunker that could be impervious to attack.
The talks in Istanbul on Saturday saw the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France and Germany sitting at the same table with Iran. Knowing the road ahead is tough, both sides focused on what they said was the positive tone of the talks, in contrast to the previous round 14 months ago.
That last session broke up with no progress after Iranian negotiators refused to even consider discussing enrichment
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who formally led the talks on behalf of the six powers, called the meeting “constructive and useful.”
She expressed the hope they will lead to “a sustained process of serious dialogue, where we can take urgent practical steps to build confidence and lead on to compliance by Iran with all its international obligations.”
Iranian chief negotiator Saeed Jalili said the talks made “some progress.” But he acknowledged “some points of difference.”
“What we saw today in the talks was the interest of the other party in the talks and cooperation, which is considered positive,” he told reporters.
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said the talks were “the first steps” toward the six-nation push to find “a peaceful, negotiated solution to the (Iran) nuclear issue.”
“Today’s talks were a first step towards that objective, but there is still a long way to go.”
Both Jalili and Ashton said there was agreement to move slowly and be guided by reciprocity _ meaning that Iran stood to benefit from easing fears about its enrichment program by unspecified rewards from the other side.
Iran hopes those rewards could include easing or delaying sanctions that target its main cash cow, its oil sales. Jalili acknowledged Saturday that Iran would like to avoid those penalties.
“The lifting sanctions is one of the demands by Iranian nation,” Jalili told reporters.
But a senior U.S. administration official who demanded anonymity in exchange for discussing strategy at upcoming talks said that was not on the table in the near future.
“One only expects to look at the issue when there are sufficient concrete steps taken” by Iran, she said at a post-negotiation briefing. “Dialogue is not sufficient for any sanctions relief.”
Beyond the bite of sanctions, Iran is under threat of Israeli and possibly U.S. military attack unless it makes headway in persuading the international community it is not pursuing nuclear weapons.
The U.S official said Iran’s acceptance of the need to discuss its nuclear program appeared dictated by recognition that the diplomatic “window of opportunity was closing” and that the threat of military action potentially growing.
Ashton said there was agreement by both sides that the talks should be guided by the Nonproliferation Treaty, but because Iran says it has never violated that treaty that understanding could prove to be a huge stumbling block to progress.
Top level meetings of the International Atomic Energy Agency, which tries to monitor Iran’s nuclear activities, are often dominated by inconclusive debate between Iran and its critics on whether Tehran is in compliance or has broken treaty provisions.
“Under the NPT, the right of enrichment exists for all member countries,” Jalili told reporters after the talks, suggesting his country would press that point at follow-up meetings. Ashton, in turn, told reporters that the six seek “to ensure all the obligations under the NPT are met by Iran while fully respecting Iran’s right to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.”
In its claim to comply with all NPT obligations, Iran asserts that it declares all its nuclear material and allows inspectors to monitor all nuclear facilities.
But IAEA chief Yukiya Amano has said repeatedly that because Iran does not cooperate fully with his agency it cannot guarantee that it is not hiding undeclared nuclear material that could be used for weapons. Additionally, he has spoken of compelling evidence that Iran may have worked on nuclear arms _ charges Tehran dismisses as fabrications spread by the United States and Israel.
Officially, the international community’s long-term goal remains what it was when nuclear negotiations began eight years ago _ persuading Tehran to stop all uranium enrichment and thereby relieve fears that it will use that program to create fissile warhead material.
A senior diplomat involved in the talks said, however, that influential Western nations now are increasingly coming around to the idea that Iran should be allowed to keep some enrichment activity “under the right circumstances,” sometime in the future, if all fears about possible Iranian plans to make nuclear weapons are put to rest. He demanded anonymity because his information was confidential.
Threatened last year with demolition, the historic “flying saucer” building in midtown St. Louis soon will be an emporium for $6 lattes and gourmet burritos.
Starbucks and Chipotle are near completion of leases for the former Del Taco outlet near St. Louis University. Developers plan to renovate and expand the unusually shaped building in time for the start of SLU’s fall semester.
Hany Abounader, a partner in the development, said the building, at 212 South Grand Boulevard, will serve as a southern gateway to midtown.
“It’s going to be a landmark for the SLU campus and the Grand Center area,” he said.
Preservation of the building, erected in the 1960s as a Phillips 66 gas station, represents a turnabout for the owner, Rick Yackey, who last year sought city permission to replace the structure with a conventional retail building. His effort prompted protests from preservationists and sidewalk demonstrations.
Yackey at first insisted that the saucer’s preservation made no economic sense. But after the only occupant — a Del Taco — closed last summer, Yackey said he would keep the building and hunt for new tenants. The outcry against demolition affected his decision, he said this month.
“Frankly, we got a lot of pushback from a lot of people,” he said.
Those favoring preservation said the saucer is a prized example of mid-century modern architecture. It is within a district of low-rise and high-rise residential buildings on the National Register of Historic Places.
Starbucks and Chipotle had yet to sign lease agreements but Yackey and Abounader said they are confident the two national chains will occupy the building when it opens in August or September.
A Chipotle spokesman said Thursday the company does not comment on new outlets until leases are signed. A Starbucks representative was unavailable for comment.
The developers will preserve the round concrete roof and erect a mostly glass addition on the east side of the building to house Chipotle easy pay day loans. Starbucks will use much of the original building, which will get new glass walls to reproduce the structure’s original see-through appearance. The businesses will seat about 100 people combined, plus 50 more on a patio beneath the saucer’s broad overhang. Starbucks will have a drive-thru window.
Randy Vines, a Cherokee Street businessman who helped organize the save-the-saucer effort last summer, cheered the decision to preserve the structure.
“Although most of us would have preferred local businesses, the preservation and rehabilitation of the iconic saucer has always been our primary goal,” he said. “Thanks to Rick Yackey for choosing vision over generica.”
Yackey said the $2.5 million development will produce a 4,400-square-foot building half the size of the commercial structure he had initially proposed for the site. State historic preservation tax credits will help fund the saucer project but the trick was finding suitable tenants, he said.
“We always liked the building,” Yackey said. “The problem was making it work economically.”
Fifty of the more than 17,000 Starbucks coffee shops worldwide are in the St. Louis area. The midtown Chipotle will add to the chain’s eight quick-Mexican food outlets in the region. Chipotle has more than 1,200 restaurants.
Abounader, a commercial real estate broker at Balke Brown, said he believes the reborn saucer will be a catalyst for further retail development in the immediate area. He and Yackey are marketing two nearby buildings with a total of about 9,000 square feet of space. Both are within The Flats at 374, a residential complex for 300 SLU students.
“We’ve got tons of interest from local and national retailers to take that space,” Abounader said. “We’re looking for the type of retail opportunity that can serve this community and the students.”
President Barack Obama says his call for raising taxes on millionaires is not a redistribution of wealth, but a way to free up money for crucial investments in the U.S. economy.
Pitching the so-called Buffett rule for the second straight day, Obama dismissed the notion that the plan is a gimmick. He says it is necessary in order to tackle the country’s massive deficits.
The rule is named after billionaire investor Warren Buffett, who says he pays a lower tax rate than his secretary. Obama was flanked during his remarks at the White House Wednesday by several business executives and their assistants who he says agree with the principles in the Buffett rule.
The Senate will vote on the plan next week, though it has little chance of passing Congress.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Monday banks need to have more capital at hand in order to ensure the financial system is stable.
Bernanke said regulators were taking steps to force financial institutions to hold higher capital buffers, even if they allow for a long period of implementation to prevent any market disruptions.
“We need to have higher capital, and that’s what Basel III does,” he said in response to questions at an Atlanta Fed conference, referring to the latest international effort to tighten bank oversight. “That’s essential for a stable financial system.”
Bernanke made the comments the same day that an international bank lobby group, the Institute of International Finance, urged policymakers to pause in regulating the industry.
Toughened capital standards, new liquidity requirements and rules that limit activities all restrict banks’ ability to provide businesses and households with the credit needed to lift economic growth, the IIF said in a letter to central bankers and finance ministers.
Whether big banks have sufficient levels of capital to protect against possible losses has been an ongoing source of contention. A call by the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, last year for European banks to raise up to 200 billion euros in new capital was quickly rejected by European politicians.
In his prepared remarks on Monday, Bernanke said the U.S. economy has yet to fully recover from the effects of the financial crisis, and regulators must continue to find new ways to strengthen the banking system.
“The heavy human and economic costs of the crisis underscore the importance of taking all necessary steps to avoid a repeat of the events of the past few years,” Bernanke said.
In a speech that did not touch directly on the outlook for economic growth or monetary policy, Bernanke focused on the lingering blind spots for financial authorities trying to prevent a repeat of the 2008-2009 meltdown.
He said financial stability matters had historically played second fiddle to monetary policy issues in the list of central bank priorities, but the crisis changed that.
“Financial stability policy has taken on greater prominence and is now generally considered to stand on an equal footing with monetary policy as a critical responsibility of central banks,” he said.
Bernanke said recent bank stress tests will become a regular feature of the supervisory landscape, and for that reason the latest round of tests is being reviewed to identify possible areas of improvement in “execution and communication.”
He reiterated a worry that he and other top policymakers have expressed about the continued vulnerability of money market funds.
“Additional steps to increase the resiliency of money market funds are important for the overall stability of our financial system and warrant serious consideration,” Bernanke said.
“The risk of runs … remains a concern, particularly since some of the tools that policymakers employed to stem the runs during the crisis are no longer available,” he said.
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