Business Process Outsourcing: Myth or Reality?
The utility HR department is the new battleground.
The benefits of business process outsourcing go beyond economies of scale, to economy of skills.
Strategy & Planning
Outsourcing & IT as a Strategic Option
Special ECM Section
In this quarterly ECM section, a series of articles in Fortnightly reviews the different outsourcing and IT options that are available and what utilities should consider before adopting outsourcing and IT technologies.
Coal: Paying a King's Ransom
What's causing price volatility, and will it last?
The long period of sub-full-cost pricing in the 1990s caused great rationalization in the coal industry, leaving a much healthier and sensible market. One consequence of this is that the floor price for coal in most regions has risen about 25 percent in the last few years. With natural gas prices expected to remain high for some time, those coal markets where ready capacity is at current demand levels will see steadily high prices.
Global Warming: The Gathering Storm
Russia resurrects the Kyoto Protocol and the prospect of either mandatory CO2 emissions cuts for U.S. utilities, or the start of a global trade war.
Once an opponent of the Kyoto Protocol, Russia is set to ratify it later this year. Will the growing alliance between Russia and the EU force the United States to satisfy the terms of Kyoto?
MISO: Building The Perfect Beast
Seams, holes, and historic precedent challenge the Midwest ISO's evolution.
As it addresses problems that contributed to last August’s blackout, the Midwest ISO struggles with staffing, “grandfathered” service agreements, and integration issues.
Business & Money: Fencing in the Regulated Utilities
Credit-rating linkage harms certain power companies. Ring-fencing is the best answer for regulators.
Ring-fencing may be the only regulatory device capable of leveling the playing field and forcing the holding companies to absorb the consequences of failed non-utility investments.
Perspective: Leave Green-Power Quotas to the States
Congress should not impose a federal renewable portfolio standard.
The adoption of an RPS by more than a dozen states has inspired and contributed to proposals for a federal green-power quota. Leave the green-power quotas to the states. PURPA should be amended to include an RPS among the retail policies that can be adopted or rejected by state public service commissions.
Letters to the Editor
Comments on “Back to Basics: A Starvation Diet for Utility Earnings Growth” and “Consolidating Co-ops” from the June 2004 issue.
Acceding to Succeed
How joining the EU may transform the Central and Eastern European electricity sectors
An assessment of how EU accession countries are doing in meeting the union’s energy directives, liberalizing their markets, and overcoming obstacles for private investors.
Of Blackouts and Lawsuits
Class-action claims for widespread utility service interruptions are a growing trend.
What legal exposure does a utility face as a result of losses caused by a blackout? Is that exposure limited to individual claims by disgruntled customers, or can it be litigated as a class action?