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Strategy & Planning

Energy People: Julia Hamm

We talked with Julia Hamm, CEO of SEPA

Julia Hamm started at SEPA soon after college, finding the organization a natural fit for her talents. She is the brains behind one of the largest trade shows in the industry, and has emerged as one of the foremost experts on the nexus between utilities and distributed energy resources.

Byline: 

Julia Hamm, with Steve Mitnick

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The Lincoln Leader

Leadership Lyceum Podcast: A Conversation with WEC Energy Group President and CEO Allen Leverett

Allen Leverett was appointed President and CEO of WEC Energy Group in May 2016. As one of the youngest CEOs of investor-owned utilities, Leverett brings verve to industry leadership, but also a deep respect for the past. WEC Energy Group is one of the nation's premier energy companies, serving 4.4 million customers in Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan and Minnesota.
Byline: 

Allen Leverett, with Tom Linquist

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What if Elasticity is Changing?

New Risk for Electricity Sellers and Investors

A downward shift in peak usage may mean a beginning change in elasticity of demand. A more rapid and pronounced downshift in peak demand might suggest a less robust utility franchise value.
Byline: 

Leonard Hyman and William Tilles

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Helping Legislators Understand and Manage Utility Risks

Performance, Political, Customer Expectation, and Fiscal Risk

It is important to help legislators and regulators understand the utility's risk management decisions so that they can approve of the company's risk management strategies. Legislators and regulators are accustomed to thinking in terms of insuring against failures.
Byline: 

Kansas Representative Tom Sloan

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Investing in Innovation

Utilities Scaling-Up

Innovation success will require that utilities build distinct internal capabilities combined with parallel, directed future investment. However, they will supplement this activity simultaneously with external leverage through venture capitalists, start-ups, OEMs, partners and acquisitions. This formula is already being followed by a number of companies that have been leading the sector in formalizing innovation as a capability.
Byline: 

Tom Flaherty

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Nuclear Energy's Critical Illness

Continue With Failed Treatments or Pursue the Cure?

Many supporters of nuclear technology have tried to correct significant challenges on assorted issues from the public, the media, and the scientific, regulatory and political sectors. But these efforts failed; they could not acknowledge the true illness and pursue the cure. This discussion focuses on what that illness is, how the industry has treated it, how to cure it, and one way to achieve a new political and regulatory environment that can save the patient.
Byline: 

Charles Pennington and Jeffry Siegel

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Surprising Energy Requirements of the Cannabis Industry

Part I: Implications for Utilities, Regulators

The legal cannabis industry in the U.S. is experiencing rapid growth. That growth and its commensurate energy demands are placing strains on some individual utilities and local grids. In Part I, we forecast electricity demands, analyze problems resulting from the immense energy requirements, and assess some potential implications for the cannabis industry and for utilities.
Byline: 

Roger Bezdek, Michael Harshfield, Sean Tegart, Ujjval Vyas

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Nuclear Innovation Is Not an Oxymoron

EPRI Podcast: Advanced Nuclear Looks Promising

Advanced nuclear technologies are closer to reality than you might think. To make a breakthrough, they'll need to provide significant advantages over current technologies, such as operating at low pressures and very high temperatures, and including inherent safety features.
Byline: 

Aimee Mills with Tina Taylor, Andrew Sowder, and Shane Johnson

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Perpetuating the California Dream

Leadership Lyceum Podcast: A conversation with Edison International CEO Pedro Pizarro

Edison International is the publicly traded holding company for Southern California Edison, the regulated utility, and a small array of non-regulated investments, plus Edison Energy. At $11.5 billion in annual revenue, and serving 15 million customers, the company is one of the largest utilities in the country.
Byline: 

Pedro Pizarro, with Tom Linquist

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