Frontlines & Op-Ed

Frontlines

The ISO graples with the politics of scarity.

The ISO graples with the politics of scarity.

In regions that have embraced electric industry restructuring, such as New York, New England, and the mid-Atlantic states, where independent system operators (ISOs) have taken over and the standard market design (SMD) has grabbed a foothold over bulk power transactions, one fascinating question still dogs theorists and policymakers alike:

Is a power supply shortage really all that bad?

Frontlines

The United States must turn overseas for natural gas supplies, in spite of worries about energy independence.

Frontlines

The United States must turn overseas for natural gas supplies, in spite of worries about energy independence.

Frontlines

NRG's bankruptcy is challenging creditors' resolve to back merchants until power prices rebound.

NRG's bankruptcy is challenging creditors' resolve to back merchants until power prices rebound.

A common complaint in the last few months by would-be buyers of merchant assets has been that all the choice power plants have been pledged as collateral to commercial banks in order to stave off bankruptcy. That's why not many transactions have taken place, merchant asset buyers say, as everything else in the market isn't worth the price being offered.

Letters to the Editor

Amory B. Lovins: It's startling to see in the such nonsense as Andrew Rudin's "Feel-Good Electric Waste" (April 1). He argues that since more efficient use of electricity has merely reduced rather than reversed growth of kilowatt-hour consumption—because the services provided grew even faster—efficient use is bad for the environment and "has not worked." Indeed, it makes us "just waste more electricity, only more efficiently than before."