Utilities showed strong gains last year, but other industries are gaining ground.
The Dow Jones Utilities Index posted another year of solid gains in 2006. As might be expected, in connection with both the near-term and longer-term historical investor performance of the utility sector, there’s a story within the story. Further, this performance history provides a context against which the impact of both current and emerging issues can be assessed.
Developments in IT, outsourcing, customer information and customer relationship systems are challenging long-held notions on essential operations.
New developments in IT, outsourcing, customer information systems, and customer relationship management are challenging long held notions about utilities’ essential operations.
A behind-the-scenes look at what industry influencers are saying.
Understanding the downstream effects of reading and billing from a customer’s meter in a near real-time scenario will increase significantly the data throughput into current customer information systems. Can current systems handle the volume increase? Will call centers have the capacity to handle increased call volumes once customers have access to smart meters and all that they imply? In this case, would outsourcing certain information technology processes be the answer to reducing a utility’s risk and costs?
A review of total shareholder returns shows how growth and merger strategies drove performance last year.
To better understand the performance of the electric utility sector from both a short-term and long-term perspective, we examined the total shareholder return (TSR)—dividends plus change in stock price—of 58 electric companies for 2005 and for three- and five-year periods. We grouped these companies into four categories to better understand the impact of alternative strategies on investor performance: Recovering, Traditionalist, Growth, and Merger.
By opening the field to far-flung deals, PUHCA’s repeal changes the merger game.
The repeal of the 1935 Public Utility Holding Company Act has attracted a surprising amount of attention in the business and consumer press. But while some analysts predict a wave of utility M&A activity, others are more sanguine about the change.
Utilities can transform the business while managing risk.
In a survey of 305 North American utilities, 51 percent of the respondents said they either had outsourced or were planning to outsource a customer-care function in the next two years. But despite its advantages, outsourcing remains fraught with risk—the very reason that traditionally conservative utility companies have in the past shied away from letting third parties take over parts of their business.
Despite several high-profile deals, utilities remain cautious about outsourcing their key business processes.
It seems that "outsourcing" has become a dirty word among utility executives. But though left unsaid in polite conversation, the word is still on everybody's mind. They might even be doing it. They just aren't talking about it.
Exelon appointed Tom Ridge and Dr. William C. Richardson to its board of directors. NiSource Inc. has restructured its leadership team. Hydro-Québec appointed André Caillé chairman of its board of directors and Thierry Vandal as president and CEO of the company. Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) Chairman Wendell F. Holland recently was named president of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Utilities Commissioners. And others...
People
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.
People
New Positions:
Duke Energy Corp. appointed Paul Anderson as its chairman and CEO, succeeding Rick Priory, who will retire early next year. Anderson briefly worked for Duke after it merged with PanEnergy in 1997. He retired last year as managing director and CEO of BHP Billiton Ltd. in Australia.
Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham named Rosita O. Parkes chief information officer (CIO) at the Department of Energy. Parkes has served as CIO and deputy CIO at the Federal Emergency Management Agency.