Business & Money
Lehman Brothers and others say upcoming rate cases and falling unregulated earnings mean some IOUs will have less to show for their effort.
Law & Lawyers
Commission Watch
Is the "pathway concept" the answer to Virginia's qualms?
Is the "pathway concept" the answer to Virginia's qualms?
PJM, at its annual meeting, announced a plan to integrate ComEd into PJM by Oct. 1, pursuant to FERC's April 1 order, despite Virginia's saying no to membership by American Electric Power (AEP) or any other jurisdictional utility, according to PJM spokesman Ray Dotter. PJM introduced the "pathway concept" as a way to work around that state while the jurisdictional issues are being fought at FERC. (May 16 was the deadline for filings at FERC on whether the integration can proceed.)
Letters to the Editor / Corrections, Clarifications
Corrections, Clarifications
To the Editor:
I read your May 15, 2003, "Frontlines" column ("Grid Glut?") and have to respectfully take issue with a couple of your thoughts.
People
New Hires:
New Hires:
Progress Energy shareholders re-elected Edwin B. Borden, James E. Bostic Jr., David L. Burner, Richard L. Daugherty, and Richard A. Nunis as Class II directors of the company. They will serve three-year terms.
Maryland Gov. Robert L. Erlich Jr. named state delegate Kenneth D. Schisler chairman of the Maryland Public Service Commission. Schisler succeeds Catherine I. Riley.
California Experiment: Dynamic Pricing for the Mass Market
Will the state launch a full-scale rollout of dynamic tariffs?
Will the state launch a full-scale rollout of dynamic tariffs?
A pilot program in California is putting dynamic pricing and advanced metering to the test.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) approved a Statewide Pricing Pilot (SPP) in March,1 at a cost of approximately $10 million, including metering, project planning, management, evaluation, and concurrent market research on non-pilot participants focused on customer preferences for rate options.2
The SPP has the following objectives:
Will the Hydrogen Economy Take Off?
Hydrogen is hot, but whether it really will fly is another story.
Predicting California Deman Response
How do customers react to hourly prices?
How do customers react to hourly prices?
As California embarks on a Statewide Pricing Pilot (SPP) for residential and small commercial (200 kW) customers, policymakers and participants in the proceedings are asking several questions:
The Coming Transmission Credit Crisis
How can transmission providers safely serve noncreditworthy customers?
Taking the Weather Option
Weather-contingent options are cheaper than other weather risk products and can be crafted to suit emissions allowance markets.
Weather-contingent options are cheaper than other weather risk products and can be crafted to suit emissions allowance markets.
Weather is a pivotal demand factor in energy consumption, but one that is difficult to predict and impossible to control. With weather-hedging tools available in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets for several years, the market has grown to $4.2 billion, with approximately 4,000 contracts traded in 2001, according to Pricewaterhouse-Coopers.
Gas Pipelines Do the Safety Dance
The industry responds to FERC's new safety regulations.
The industry responds to FERC's new safety regulations.
Utility companies are scrambling to understand and comply with the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act of 2002, which became law in December 2002. According to Daphne Magnuson, director of public relations at the American Gas Association (AGA), the act will require member companies to make significant changes during the next 10 years in how they operate.