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Fortnightly Magazine - January 2004

What's new at the Firewall

Utilities search for ways to combat viruses and spam.
Jennifer Alvey

Utilities search for ways to combat viruses and spam.

If you had to pick a couple of technologies that modern utilities can't function without, e-mail would have to top the list. Yet it usually doesn't grab the attention of executives these days nearly so much as outage management or SCADA systems.

The coming year may change that, as problems from spam and viruses reach near-epidemic proportions.

E-mail, and viruses, and spam-oh my!

Generation Reserves: The Grid Security Question

A cost-benefit study shows the value of adding synchronized generating reserves to prevent blackouts on the scale of Aug.14.
Rajat K. Deb

A cost-benefit study shows the value of adding synchronized generating reserves to prevent blackouts on the scale of Aug.14.

If nothing else, the blackout of Aug. 14 showed just how physically vulnerable the electric transmission network has become to problems that begin at a very localized level. That vulnerability stems in part of the greater volume of long-distance transactions imposed on the grid by today's power industry.

Climate Change: The Heat Is On

From reporting to trading, utilities try to meet new expectations.
Douglas W. Smith and Kyle W. Danish

From reporting to trading, utilities try to meet new expectations.

On the issue of global climate change, most utilities have devoted their attention to tracking developments in Washington, D.C., following the rising and falling fortunes of legislation that could result in federal greenhouse gas (GHG) reporting or regulatory requirements. For the most part, utilities have taken comfort in the resolutely anti-regulatory stance of the Bush administration on greenhouse gas emissions.

Mercury Rising

How will the EPA's rulemaking affect U.S. energy markets?
Stephen Becker and Craig Hart

How will the EPA's rulemaking affect U.S. energy markets?

With President Bush's Clear Skies program stalled in Congress, it is increasingly unlikely that a multi-pollutant regulatory package will receive congressional approval in the near future. In addition to providing another source of frustration for the Bush administration, the delay also forces the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to propose regulations controlling mercury emissions.

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