Manpower Strategy for Mutual Aid
Superstorm Sandy showed that when it comes to manpower, resources to execute normal operations are becoming scarcer. A new strategy is required to coordinate disaster response and recovery.
Law & Lawyers
Disruption on Wall Street
Financial executives contemplate the rise of distributed resources.
In a January 2013 report, EEI said fast-growing distributed energy could undermine the utility business model. Wall Street is paying attention.
Energiewende
Nuclear fear and Germany’s headlong plunge into renewable energy.
On a recent trip to Germany to study the country’s energy policy, the phrase “energy transition,” or “energiewende” as the Germans say, was on everyone’s mind.
People (October 2013)
Duke appoints Steve Young to replace Lynn Good as CFO; CenterPoint and OGE Energy name executives for their new natural gas partnership; First Solar hires Joe Kishkill as chief commercial officer; Pepco promotes Donna Cooper to president; Cleco changes executive management team; plus announcements and appointments at KCPL, Chesapeake, UNS, FirstEnergy, and EPRI.
How to Build a Fence (and When)
A formal methodology for developing ring-fencing arrangements and setting conditions.
How can decision makers determine the appropriate degree of ring-fencing for a utility holding company? The authors propose a systematic and objective method – recognizing business and financial risks specific to the regulated utility and its affiliates.
Hidden Predictability
Mining price signals in Ontario’s electricity market.
Hourly spot prices in Ontario power markets reveal no particular pattern – that is, unless you plot the price as a monthly average.
Cross-Border Bargaining
Interregional grid planning under FERC Order 1000.
Territorial fights emerge in the interregional transmission plans proposed for compliance with FERC Order 1000.
Five Years Later
Wall Street is back in business. What’s next for utility finance?
When Lehman Brothers went bankrupt in September 2008, it marked the beginning of a financial crisis. By most accounts, the utility industry has been a picture of stability through tumultuous times. The view from Wall Street remains bullish – despite some reasons for concern.
Modeling Storm Outages
New tools for enhancing utility preparedness and response.
Sandy and other major storms have raised the bar for outage management. New modeling systems help utilities predict effects and plan their response.
What Price, Resiliency?
Evaluating the cost effectiveness of grid-hardening investments.
As with any investment, resiliency upgrades can reach a point of diminishing returns. Analyzing the costs and benefits can help guide upgrade strategies.