Culture Shock
By 2020, nearly half the workforce will be female and non-white. Are utilities ready?
By 2020, nearly half the workforce will be female and non-white. Are utilities ready?
Law & Lawyers
Frontlines
Meeting tougher CO<sub>2</sub> emissions limits will require deep pockets.
Meeting tougher CO2 emissions limits will require deep pockets.
It's a tough problem that we have less than 22 years to solve. I had the occasion to chat with Dr. Henry R. Linden, Max McGraw Professor of Energy and Power Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology, about how the U.S. power industry must face the necessity of sharply reducing its CO2 emissions while having to increase its summer electric generating capacity from 781 GW in 2000 to 1,174 GW in 2025, according to the Energy Information Administration.
People
New Positions:
New Positions:
Virginia's State Corporation Commission (SCC) named Howard M. Spinner as director of its Division of Economics and Finance, replacing Richard J. Williams. Williams is retiring after 22 years with the commission. Spinner has been with the SCC since 1998.
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council board of directors elected Jack L. King as its chair and Ronald D. Nunnally and Tim Newton as vice chairs.
Technology Corridor
Tidal energy technology improves, but is it enough?
Tidal energy technology improves, but is it enough?
Could ocean energy be the next big thing in renewables?
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors in early May approved a pilot project, estimated at $2 million, to test technology that produces electricity from the tides in the San Francisco Bay.
The city hopes to produce 1 MW with the project and add it to the San Francisco grid by Jan. 1, 2006.
Off Peak
School plays teach efficiency, creativity, and self-confidence.
School plays teach efficiency, creativity, and self-confidence.
Bumbling Melvin Markham is a hero. He just doesn't know it. As the central character in an innovative school play, Melvin learns that everyone can save energy and the environment.
Face-Off: The Renaissance of Nuclear Power
Nuclear power is on the verge of an extraordinary expansion.
Face-Off: The Nuclear Non-Starter
Persistent economic and political issues continue to prevent the expansion of nuclear power.
Plunging Wind Into the Grid
The California ISO's intermittent resource program addresses a key market barrier to wind power: how to schedule wind energy in forward markets.
Emissions: Where Are the Traders?
Market fundamentals are driving NO<sub>X</sub> prices higher.
Market fundamentals are driving NOX prices higher.
Environmental compliance appears poised to become the biggest single driver of asset value for electric generators during the next five years.
While limits on sulfur dioxide (SO2) emissions have been achieved with relatively minor impact through the tradeable allowance program, permit systems in the future will become increasingly stringent. The NOX State Implementation Plan (SIP) Call represents just the first instance of this.
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.