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People

New Oportunities:

Philip Carroll Jr. returned to ScottishPower as a non-executive director. According to the Comtex News Network, Carroll left ScottishPower earlier in 2003 to assist with the rebuilding of infrastructure in post-war Iraq.

Chesapeake Utilities hired Joe Steinmetz as its director of Internal Audit. Steinmetz served in the same position with Dover Downs Gaming & Entertainment Inc. and Dover Motorsports Inc. from 2001 to 2003 before being promoted to assisted controller.

Byline: 
Fort Worth Star-Telegram
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Benchmarks

Will the changes help or harm generators?

Benchmarks

Will the changes help or harm generators?

New rules revising the New Source Review (NSR) provision of the Clean Air Act recently were published. The action formalized a process begun several years earlier with the objective of bringing greater clarity to the rule. The new rule is aimed at allowing operators to upgrade equipment at existing power plants without triggering NSR.

Byline: 
Mark Morey
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Commission Watch

ISO New England dares to dream, again.

Commission Watch

ISO New England dares to dream, again.

ISO New England (ISO-NE) wants to become a regional transmission organization (RTO). But just the idea-prior to any official filing at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC)-has come under attack. ISO-NE is going to find rough waters ahead, despite a three-year effort aimed at a smooth transition to becoming an RTO. And now with the Oct. 31 filing of the 2,000-plus-page RTO proposal at FERC, the stage is set for these battles to be fought, again.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Business & Money

FERC's ruling on cash management programs will introduce new transparency into how utilities manage their cash.

Business & Money

FERC's ruling on cash management programs will introduce new transparency into how utilities manage their cash.

On Oct. 22, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) ruled that FERC-regulated entities must file their cash management agreements with the commission and notify the commission within 45 days after the end of each calendar quarter when their proprietary capital ratio drops below 30 percent, and when it subsequently returns to or exceeds 30 percent.

Byline: 
Richard Stavros
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Technology Corridor

Experts say utilities are pushing transmission systems to unsafe limits.

Technology Corridor

Experts say utilities are pushing transmission systems to unsafe limits.

When transmission-line rating assumptions do not match the physical realities of transmission networks, the consequences can be disastrous.

Byline: 
Tapani O. Seppa
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Generation Roundtable: Power Flux

Generators struggle to plan for the future as they cope with an unstable present.

Generators struggle to plan for the future as they cope with an unstable present.

When the acting administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Marianne Horinko, signed the EPA's "routine replacement" rule on Aug. 27, 2003, she proclaimed that the new approach to Clean Air Act regulation would "provide … power plants with the regulatory certainty they need."

Byline: 
Michael T. Burr
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New Nuclear Construction: Still on Hold

A number of factors point to expanded nuclear generation. But when?

A number of factors point to expanded nuclear generation. But when?

The role that nuclear power will play in the U.S. electricity generation mix during the coming decades has been a subject of continuing speculation. Few analysts deny the remarkably improved prospects for the existing fleet of reactors: Efficiencies realized by industry consolidation, reactor uprates, and plant license renewals have, in a period of about five years, greatly increased the market value of nuclear plants and the competitive advantage of companies that own them.

Byline: 
Neil J. Numark and Micheal O. Terry
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Perspective

Locational pricing makes the network secure, since the utilities and other market participants get 'paid' to monitor the grid.

Perspective

Locational pricing makes the network secure, since the utilities and other market participants get 'paid' to monitor the grid.

The recent pressure on the board and stakeholders of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO)-to postpone the startup of energy markets and concentrate instead on "reliability"-is truly unfortunate. It allows opponents of restructuring to continue to pose a false choice: You can have markets or you can have reliability, but never both.

Byline: 
W. Scott Miller, III
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Benchmarks

A successful initiative should reduce state dependence on volatile supplies.

Benchmarks

A successful initiative should reduce state dependence on volatile supplies.

California's Renewables Portfolio Standard (RPS) requires retail sellers of electricity to increase the relative percentage share of all such sales represented by renewable electricity by an absolute increment of at least 1 percent of additional share per year, thus achieving a releative share of at least 20 percent of all power sales by 2017.

Byline: 
Brandon Owens and Jack Ihle
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Commission Watch

FERC's AEP ruling begs the question: Can the feds bypass states that block transmission reform?

Commission Watch

FERC's AEP ruling begs the question: Can the feds bypass states that block transmission reform?

In its search for the perfect power market, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) at last has joined the battle that lately has brought state and federal regulators nearly to blows. A recent ruling puts the question squarely on the table:

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart and Bruce W. Radford
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