Off Peak
The <i>Fortnightly</i> guide to round-trip trading.
Off Peak
July 15, 2002
Law & Lawyers
Perspective
Seven recommendations to improve TMI's nuclear plant security that have gone unheeded.
Benchmarks
Benchmarks
ByLate for dinner? Blame Enron. Go ahead. It may seem unfair to blame another for something you did wrong, but the post-Enron political climate makes it easy to do. California politicians already are hip to this strategy. But, blaming all of California's woes on Enron is less than politically honest and may have far-reaching effects on power markets.
People
Allegheny Energy announced the election of two vice presidents. , vice president for corporate development, became vice president of Allegheny Energy Inc. , deputy general counsel, became a vice president of Allegheny Energy Service Corp. Dailey joined the company in 1991, and Burke joined in 1999.
Perspective
Independent transmission companies have a role in creating public benefit in wholesale competitive electricity markets.
Collateral Damage
Credit ratings agencies put the squeeze on merchant power.
Have they gone too far? Have ratings agencies become overzealous in their efforts to rein in energy merchants? Many in the industry are coming to that belief after Aquila, one of the industry's most respected companies and leaders, announced it would exit the merchant energy trading sector in late July. It said it could no longer meet the credit requirements imposed by ratings agencies to maintain that business.
POLRized in Texas: A Duty Unresolved
The Texas method for assigning provider of last resort draws criticism from market players and consumer advocates.
The Barriers to Real-Time Pricing: Separating Fact From Fiction
Real-time pricing has been hindered by the misperception that a shift to RTP will create new types of risks, without creating benefits for utilities or customers.
Perspective
The appropriate role for ITCs is rather different-and maybe not as exciting-as the role ITC proponents seem to have in mind.
Transmission Expansion: Risk and Reward in an RTO World
Some thoughts on who should take the lead and how to set up financial incentives.
Some thoughts on who should take the lead and how to set up financial incentives.
One of the most interesting questions that arises from federal restructuring of the electric grid, with regional transmission organizations (RTOs) and a standard market design (SMD), concerns the risk of building transmission in an RTO environment.