Solving The Crisis In Unscheduled Power
While NAESB and NERC struggle over the issue, North America steadily drifts toward unreliability.
How should power flowing between NERC-certified balancing authorities be priced? The author proposes a formula.
Law & Lawyers
Long-Term Power Contracts: The Art Of The Deal
Long-Term Cooperative Supplier Relationships
The authors examine a “laddered” approach to pricing, whereby a wholesale supplier, instead of locking in to a long-term contract for 100 percent of current load, would be more secure financially with only one or a few staggered, partial commitments over time.
Global Warming: The Gathering Storm
Russia resurrects the Kyoto Protocol and the prospect of either mandatory CO2 emissions cuts for U.S. utilities, or the start of a global trade war.
Once an opponent of the Kyoto Protocol, Russia is set to ratify it later this year. Will the growing alliance between Russia and the EU force the United States to satisfy the terms of Kyoto?
MISO: Building The Perfect Beast
Seams, holes, and historic precedent challenge the Midwest ISO's evolution.
As it addresses problems that contributed to last August’s blackout, the Midwest ISO struggles with staffing, “grandfathered” service agreements, and integration issues.
People
People for August 2004.
Positions filled at FERC, Colorado PUC, CMS Energy, and others.
Coal: Paying a King's Ransom
What's causing price volatility, and will it last?
The long period of sub-full-cost pricing in the 1990s caused great rationalization in the coal industry, leaving a much healthier and sensible market. One consequence of this is that the floor price for coal in most regions has risen about 25 percent in the last few years. With natural gas prices expected to remain high for some time, those coal markets where ready capacity is at current demand levels will see steadily high prices.
A Year After the Blackout: On a Collision Course With History?
Grid reliability is still at risk unless the industry quickly takes action.
The blackout highlighted the growing threat of dynamic voltage problems. Technical solutions to this problem are readily available, but creative regulatory approaches are needed. Here is a case where the timeworn precept, “follow the money,” offers a winning solution for the entire array of power system stakeholders.
RTOs: The Creditworthiness Conundrum
IOUs, RTOs duke it out over standardization.
Have regional transmission operators (RTOs) and independent system operators (ISOs) asked for excessive levels of credit from customers? The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) must face that difficult question as it investigates whether to institute a rulemaking on credit-related issues for service provided by ISOs, RTOs, and transmission providers.
After FERC’s Market Power Ruling: New Money Into Gen Sector
Will financiers dominate the market?
The recent approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) of its "interim" market power screen and policies on investor-owned utilities (IOU) affiliate transactions is changing the market dynamics for buying and selling generation assets. Yet, while the market test has drawn plenty of comments and complaints, the long-term effects are still uncertain.
A Gas Crisis, or Not?
The conclusions made by the NPC gas study raise more questions than they answer.
The National Petroleum Council’s study on future U.S. gas supplies raises more questions than it answers. Before the industry acts on the study’s recommendations, it should re-examine the study’s many shortcomings.