T&O Rates: Premature End to A Good Thing?
Solving the dilemma.
FERC wants to eliminate direct T&O charges while at the same time compensating exporting transmissions systems through inefficient uplift charges.
FERC
In His Own Words
A face-to-face interview with FERC Chairman Pat Wood III.
In an exclusive interview, Executive Editor Richard Stavros, talks to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III about what the commission has in store for the electric utilities industry in 2004 and beyond.
Letters to the Editor
Virginia SCC
The Virginia SCC clarifies factual inaccuracies in January 2004’s columns "Frontlines" and "Commission Watch: Grid Battle Is Joined."
Letter to the Editor
The Kentucky PSC Chair takes issue with Richard Stavros' "AEP's Gutsy Gambit," Frontlines, November 2003.
FERC Throws Down The Gauntlet
The legal battle of the century is ready to begin.
A FERC order late last year — that AEP must join the PJM grid to meet conditions of its 2000 merger with Central and Southwest Corp. — was tantamount to a declaration of war with state regulators. At the center of the issue is whether FERC has authority to pre-empt the states on development of regional transmission organizations.
Waiting to Exhale
Courts Deliberate on the Fate of Order 2000: The transmission industry may have to wait even longer for a final decision on challenges to Order 2000 if FERC gets its way.
Though the D.C. Circuit Court could very well add to the delay in resolving some thorny issues of Order 2000, it appears that the court has essentially given the challengers a partial victory, even before a decision is rendered.
Energy Trading & Marketing: The Evolution of the Deal
Energy traders and risk managers reengineered their business dealings to manage against unexpected political and financial risks posed by California and Enron in 2001.
The rules of energy market survival changed forever in 2001. California and Enron were both humbled by gyrating prices and blackouts in the Golden State, and financial misadventure dethroned the once-crowned king of energy trading. These twin events sent shockwaves through the very foundation of the energy trading and risk management establishment.
Bullish for Business
Forced consolidation of RTOs would set transmission owners free to go after profits.
Forced consolidation of RTOs would set transmission owners free to go after profits.
L.A. Loves a Loophole
There's no getting around it—price caps aren't for everyone.
A letter to Michael J. Manning at Fulbright & Jaworski, L.L.P. from FERC General Counsel Kevin P. Madden.
How Commodity Markets Drive Gas Pipeline Values
Has rate regulation become obsolete for natural gas pipelines?
On Jan. 30, FERC will hold a public conference to review the financial health of the pipeline industry. It will ask whether its regulatory framework still works; whether pipelines can still attract new capital for investment. Does rate policy threaten the financial integrity of the pipeline industry? That very question may come before the Commission. Nevertheless, FERC need not look far for an answer. If the pipeline industry should lie at risk, the cause may go no farther than the Commission itself. In fact, FERC ratemaking policy for gas transportation service now appears to jeopardize the ability of pipelines to recover costs.