Frontlines
Frontlines
Battle of Dunkirk
Utilities rush to save their last tenuous hold over the power plants they so smugly sold off.
People
Benchmarks
News Digest
News Digest
Off Peak
Off Peak
November 15, 2000
Rx for IOUs: Slim Down
To an industry whose mantra of late has been "diversify and conquer," a prominent utilities consultant has some startling advice: Slim down and focus on your core strengths.
Point, Click, and Beware: What Utilities Should Know About the Uniform Computer Information Transactions Act
How the new law can threaten system security—and bolster the case for open source software.
Neither this Agreement, nor any rights hereunder, may be assigned by operation of law or otherwise, in whole in part, by Client without the prior, written permission of [the software provider]. Any sale of more than fifty percent (50 percent) of the common voting stock of, or other right to control, Client shall be deemed an assignment. Any purported assignment without such permission shall be void.
Internet Mavericks: Still Working Out of the Garage?
e-Commerce is consolidating, but there's room for the little guys too.
e-Commerce is consolidating, but there's room for the little guys too.
Thomas Edison built the electric utility industry virtually from scratch out of his workshop, so can Internet mavericks do the same for e-commerce? Or has the moment passed for the garage startups, leaving it to the big utilitiesor better yet, the large conglomerates and multi-company joint venturesto attract capital and introduce the new ideas?
Price Spike Reality: Debunking the Myth of Failed Markets
The data is in. Market power fails as an explanatory variable for episodes of high prices.
The data is in. Market power fails as an explanatory variable for episodes of high prices.
The past summer represented a key turning point in our understanding of deregulated wholesale power markets. Until then, it was possible to find major North American markets that lacked any experience with severe price spikes. Now that immunity is denied. Price spikes in California and other Western markets mean that the last regions bucking the trend have fallen in line.
Wild Prices Out West: What Can Be Done?
The problems stem from a lack of incentives for long-term, fixed-price contracts.
The problems stem from a lack of incentives for long-term, fixed-price contracts.
The end of summer found energy regulators working overtime in California to appease an angry public that had seen electric bills double and triple in some parts of the state.
Frontlines
Frontlines
Federalism At Work
Excerpts from the field hearing conducted by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on wholesale power markets in California.
San Diego, California, Tuesday, Sept. 12, 2000, 9 a.m.