Law & Lawyers

The Plague ... of Price Controls

The world goeth fast from bad to worse.

Many public voices today want the government to simply mandate lower energy prices. It is this kind of temper-tantrum-as-policy that makes the Middle Ages seem so, well, medieval, and reminds us why we got rid of kings in the first place.

Byline:

Philip M. Marston

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Isn't that Special?

TISO wins prize for expanding its payroll.

ISOs payrolls are growing—at a faster rate, it seems, than utility payrolls are shrinking.

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ICAP: A Make-Believe Market?

New England puts a price on electric reliability, but some say the charge looks more like a tax.

Does ICAP qualify as a true commercial product, traded on its own merit with a tangible value for customers?

Byline:

Bruce W. Radford

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Larceny Debunked

Reliant comes clean on profits, says California picked its own pocket.

While the media made hay chiding power producers for gouging consumers for electricity generated from gas-fired turbines, California' s system of a single market-clearing price for electricity was "delivering immense windfalls" to utilities who had no need to buy gas at all to run the power plants they still owned (or controlled through affiliates).

Byline:

PUF

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U.S. Gas Production: Can We Trust the Projections?

Government (EIA) forecasts suffer in credibility when compared with geologic assessments.

The EIA predicts that natural gas consumption will climb more than 60 percent percent over 20 years, driving U.S. production up 50-plus percent over the same period. How does that square with geologic assessments?

Byline:

Emil Attanasi

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Should Government Open the Books of the Merchant Gen Sector?

EIA Data Tracking

The EIA also wants to collect data — finances, operations, emissions, fuel consumption and costs — from non-utility generators. What’s the public interest here?

Byline:

Sheldon Bierman and David F. Stover

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It Ain't Over...'Til It's over: Retail Choice is Working, Despite the Wait for Real Competition

A case study from Maryland on electric restructuring.

A local utility exec admits that Maryland has no truly competitive power market, but claims customer choice is still a good thing.

Byline:

Sheldon Switzer

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Wind Power, Poised for Take Off?

A survey of projects and economics.

An industry advocate touts the recent rise of projects in the pipeline and forsees remarkable growth in wind farms over the next twenty years — more, perhaps, than others would concede.

Byline:

Christine Real de Azua

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