Perspective

The analysis shows how one could expect allowed return on equity to change as interest rates change and the resulting financial effect on endusers. The positive side of this thought process is that a continuing low interest rate environment should attenuate the effect of high commodity prices for retail users of electricity.

In addition to increasing total U.S. gas consumption to 34.7 Tcf in 2020, it would take another 11.3 Tcf/year to convert existing coal-fired U.S. steam-electric capacity to gas-fired combined-cycle units operating at the same load factor. Clearly, that is a tall order. Nevertheless, we must face the fact that there are few alternatives other than backing out coal-fired generation that would reduce global carbon emissions to a total of less than 870-990 million metric tons between 1991 and 2100. The logical endpoint will be electrification of most stationary energy uses with high-tech renewable or essentially inexhaustible energy sources, and the use of hydrogen from non-fossil-fuel sources as the dominant transportation fuel.

Two readers — President and CEO of El Paso Electric James Haines and Richard D. Cudahy, Judge for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, Chicago — respond to a letter written about Cudahy's article “The Stranded Ratepayer” (March 15, 2001, p. 26).

Restructuring has already created a badly needed new atmosphere for the industry. There is an infusion of new thinking and vigor that portends bringing the industry's performance up to the standards of the rest of the economy. We have no reason to believe that regulation would fare better in the future than in the past. Let's go forward with electric restructuring. Unfortunately, however, it's turning out to be more difficult than we expected.

President Bush's national energy policy offers no relief for summer, giving Democrats a bone to pick.

With rising power and gas prices, coal gasification in back in fashion, along with new approaches to cogeneration and combined heat and power.

$15 billion in patronage capital lies fallow, locked up in member-owned cooperatives with no way to participate in equity markets. That’s how the S&Ls looked 20 years ago, before they saw the light.

Fire up all the small, diesel-powered emergency generating units already installed on site in California. It would erase the power shortage, but it won’t happen without changing the way we think about unit dispatch.

We’ve been dumping the cost on utilities, but ground is shifting.