Frontlines: Still More Blackouts?
Do-nothing regulators scare off investment, raising prospects for yet another large-scale power failure.
Let's hope the industry spends the money before Mother Nature throws her next pop quiz.
Fortnightly Magazine - March 2004
People
People for March 2004.
Positions filled at Allegheny Energy, Constellation NewEnergy, Xcel Energy, and others.
Byline:
PUF
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."
Byline:
William H. Chambliss
Integrating Coal and Wind
Strange bedfellows may provide a new supply option.
Joint coal-wind development is not a good greenhouse gas reduction strategy. If carbon limits are imposed on the U.S. electric sector at some future date, nuclear power may be the only viable option for satisfying the country's growing appetite for electricity.
Byline:
Brandon Owens
Perspective: MISO, Markets, and Common Sense
Wisconsinites don't fear 'Day 2.' But let's get the grid rights right.
The cost of rushing into poorly designed LMP-based energy markets may far exceed any purported cost increases attributable to any future delayed start-up date for certain portions of the MISO region.
Byline:
Robert M. Garvin
Total Recall: Will Competition Be Back?
California anticipates changes in energy policy under its new governor.
The Schwarzenegger administration’s detailed implementation plan is expected by the spring of 2004. Schwarzenegger is committed to restoring confidence in government and improving the business climate, and at the same time taking steps to increase and diversify California’s energy supply and improve the environment.
Byline:
Gordon P. Erspamer
Electric Reliability: The Merger Solution
Can economies of scale make the industry more stable?
Utility mergers create exceptional efficiencies, yielding average cost savings of approximately 5 to 10 percent of the combined company’s non-fuel operating expenses. These substantial untapped cost efficiencies could be harvested through more merger-friendly state regulatory policies that would enable utilities to retain these merger cost savings so long as a significant portion was channeled toward infrastructure investment.
Byline:
George W. Bilicic And Ian C. Connor
Back to the Ratebase
Utilities are absorbing distressed IPPs, and raising alarm bells in the process.
In 2003, just over 1.4 GW of unregulated generating capacity was converted into rate-based assets. At least another 5.6 GW will be converted soon. What supply procurement practices are appropriate in today’s power market?
Byline:
Michael T. Burr
Capital Reserve Margins: Hardly Adequate
A pseudonymous executive tells why the CCRO's recommendations don't pass muster.
A pseudonymous executive explains why the CCRO’s recommendations on capital adequacy don’t pass muster.
Byline:
David Anthony
Pricing Power in Whosesale Markets: A Risky Business
A Risky Business Utilities wrestle with how much to charge for their product.
The challenge of how pricing is applied can be the difference between success and a long-term decline.
Byline:
Dr. Lawrence Haar