Experts debate whether KKR's leveraged buyout of UniSource Energy is right for the industry.
Richard Stavros
Business & Money
Experts debate whether KKR's leveraged buyout of UniSource Energy is right for the industry.
"From a public policy standpoint, should a utility that provides a vital public good be owned by a private group that gains ownership by taking on a high degree of debt (risk)?"
New Positions:
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New Positions:
William O. Ball moved to the role of senior vice president of transmission planning and operations for Southern Co. He had been Southern's vice president of transmission planning, policy, and support services since March of 2002.
The Southwest Power Pool (SPP) board of directors chose Nicholas A. Brown as the organization's president and CEO. Brown has been with SPP for 18 years, most recently as senior vice president and corporate secretary.
New Positions:
We welcome submissions to People, especially those accompanied by a high-resolution color photograph. E-mail to: photos@pur.com
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New Positions:
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) appointed Thomas A. Leach to a two-year term on its Consumers Advisory Council. Leach is the business manager and financial secretary of Local Union 126, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Sizable gains return to the market.
Scott Barclay
Business & Money
Sizable gains return to the market.
With an average appreciation of 18.9 percent since we last ran SNL Financial's dividend data , SNL's safe dividend picks appeared to do well for any market. However, like the fine golden years of the late '90s for all things technology, recent months have returned sizable gains to investors of energy stocks-not what one would expect from slow growth, dividend-paying electric and gas utilities that make up the majority of the SNL Energy universe.
We prefer a more conservative approach. Hedging with weather derivatives is too unorthodox for our company.
Mark Gibbas
Common objections to weather hedging products include:
In a "like kind exchange" transaction, the IRS permits a seller to defer taxes on its inherent gain on assets being sold.
Thomas V. Glynn and J. Michael Parish
In a "like kind exchange" transaction, the IRS permits a seller to defer taxes on its inherent gain on assets being sold.
The utility community is starting to experiment with a "like kind exchange" (LKE)-a type of tax-advantaged asset acquisition and disposition transaction used extensively in connection with commercial real estate and various types of personal property, but which heretofore has not achieved widespread acceptance in the utility industry.
The real, painful reform has only just begun.
Jennifer Alvey and Lori A. Burkhart
The real, painful reform has only just begun.
It has been almost a year since Enron imploded into bankruptcy, but rather than solve problems, the event has only brought uncertainty-credit rating downgrades, a drop in investor confidence, and heightened scrutiny from the Congress, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC).
William R. Mayben
, general manager and CEO of the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) was elected chairwoman of the board of directors for the Large Public Power Council (LPPC). Schori is the first woman to serve as chair for the LPPC. She is a 23-year veteran of SMUD, and was named general manager and CEO in 1994. , president of the Nebraska Public Power District, was elected vice chairman. Both Schori and Mayben will serve two-year terms.
Plugging cyber security holes isn't as easy as everyone wants to think.
Jennifer Alvey
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