People
New Positions:
Mirant's board of directors elected Robert N. Dangremond as its chief restructuring officer, following the company's Chapter 11 filing in mid-July. Dangremond is a principal with AlixPartners LLC.
Beth W. Cooper was appointed corporate treasurer of Chesapeake Utilities Corp., headquartered in Dover, Del. Cooper moves from the role of assistant treasurer for the utility.
The venerated process may get a makeover.
Like dough in the hands of a crazed pizza chef, merchant power generators have been tossed and turned in tumultuous markets over the past two years. Further uncertainties over market restructuring have pushed many merchants to the brink of despair-and beyond.
But on June 10, 2003, a glimmer of hope appeared at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), and it came from an unexpected source: Entergy Services Inc., the holding company for Entergy's regulated utilities.
The collapse of wholesale markets has utilities once again making the purchasing decisions, and taking all the risks.
If a common theme is emerging from the various policy directions across the country, it seems to be that responsibility for supply resources is moving away from open markets and back into the hands of load-serving utilities.
An evolving market demands a greater focus on power prices and required return on equity.
Valuation can be difficult even in stable markets, and executives setting their company's strategic course need to understand how the market for power projects is evolving and what may lie ahead.
Experts say that many of the new policies by the PUC and the state legislature seem to be putting the Golden State on track for more blackouts.
Although California's electricity crisis reached its worst point two years ago, utilities, consumers, and other market participants continue to fear a recurrence of the supply shortages and price spikes that added $40 billion to the cost of electricity over a horrific 13-month period.
Measuring Up to Jensen
A top investor explains what it would take for utilities to be included in one of the best-performing funds in the U.S.
Passing the standards for inclusion in the $1 billion plus Jensen Portfolio Fund is like being crowned the best-of-the-best in a given industry, analysts say.
Is a proposed solution to energy-trading woes too little too late?
The Committee of Chief Risk Officers (CCRO) representing various utilities and merchant energy companies, recently released a set of detailed guidelines to improve the image and overall practices of energy trading, but the effort misses the mark.