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Fortnightly Magazine - January 2004

FERC Throws Down The Gauntlet

The legal battle of the century is ready to begin.

A FERC order late last year — that AEP must join the PJM grid to meet conditions of its 2000 merger with Central and Southwest Corp. — was tantamount to a declaration of war with state regulators. At the center of the issue is whether FERC has authority to pre-empt the states on development of regional transmission organizations.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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People

People for January 2004.

Positions filled at Southern Co., Southwest Power Pool, Avista Corp., and others.
Byline: 

PUF

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Natural Gas and California’s Renewables Portfolio Standard

A successful initiative should reduce state dependence on volatile supplies.

California will save approximately $1 billion in annual natural gas expenditures by 2015 as a result of the RPS. Our modeling efforts indicate that market clearing power prices in California are likely to remain relatively unchanged when comparing the "No RPS" to the "Full RPS" case.
Byline: 

Brandon Owens and Jack Ihle

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Commission Watch: Grid Battle Is Joined

FERC's AEP ruling begs the question: Can the feds bypass states that block transmission reform?

A recent ruling puts the question squarely on the table: Can FERC overturn orders issued by the state public utility commissions that otherwise would stand in the way of its vision of regional transmission organizations with a standard market design?
Byline: 

Lori A. Burkhart and Bruce W. Radford

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What Is a Power Plant Worth?

The consequences of exuberance are all around us.

Investors put $50 billion into new generating capacity because they expected that electricity restructuring would lead to the formation of a small number of effective, regional transmission organizations, which would make the location of a generating facility less important in the future. Based on that assumption, developers placed many plants close to a source of fuel, not close to market. For many companies, that has turned out to be a fatal mistake.
Byline: 

Edward N. Krapels

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The Utility Sector: A Wall Street Takeover?

Financial players bring credit depth to energy markets, but will they play by the rules?

The center of gravity for energy marketing and trading is moving from Houston to Wall Street. Who’s in, who’s out, and who’s testing the waters?
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

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What's New at the Firewall

Utilities search for ways to combat viruses and spam.

Spam costs utilities hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but the threat from spam quickly is becoming a security issue as well.
Byline: 

Jennifer Alvey

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