What Solar Success Looks Like
Managing the transition to a solar-powered future.
Solar energy has a bright future as part of America’s electric power industry. An orderly and beneficial transition will depend on strategic action.
Law & Lawyers
People (November 2013)
Southern Power names Chris Cummiskey chief commercial officer; Northeast Utilities appoints new executives at operating utilities; Kevin Bethel replaces Jonathan Halkyard as CFO at NV Energy; Georgia Power creates new position, v.p. of renewable development; plus personnel announcements at PG&E, Sempra, FirstEnergy, Edison International, IDACORP, and others.
All You Need to Know
Picturing utilities in a series of sobering snapshots.
Utilities are growing rate base despite static or declining demand: making customers pay more for a product they want less of.
Transactions (November 2013)
Carlyle Group acquires Red Oak plant from Energy Capital Partners; Tenaska acquires U.S. Power Generating Co.; Southern California Edison floats $1.6 billion in bonds in three tranches; Energy Trading Partners issues $1.5 billion in bonds; plus debt issues by ONEOK, Spectra Energy, TVA, MidAmerican, PECO, and Duke, totaling $9.2 billion.
Tweet, Like, and Follow
Utilities get serious about social media.
Social networks offer substantial communications value, and utilities can no longer ignore them. A successful strategy, however, requires careful management.
Anomaly or New Normal?
Regulators weigh interest rate climate and future Fed policy in setting allowed return on equity.
(November 2013) Consumer advocates argue for lower allowed utility returns, to reflect lower financing costs. Our rate case survey shows mixed regulatory responses.
Game Changers
State regulators address transformative forces.
In Fortnightly’s Regulators’ Roundtable, commissioners from Idaho, Illinois, and Minnesota consider transformative forces and the regulatory response.
Utility 2.0 and the Dynamic Microgrid
Superstorm disruption calls for a new utility architecture.
When microgrids are optimized in a smart grid, they’ll usher in a new era of utility resilience and flexibility. Get ready for dynamic microgrids.
DSM: Don’t Stop Maximizing
Useful analytics to improve program performance.
Turning interval meter data into analytics to improve program performance for demand-side management.
Nuclear Policy Half-Life
Interim steps toward solving America’s spent-fuel dilemma.
New legislation could clear the path toward a sustainable strategy for storing spent nuclear fuel. Complexities and disagreements, however, might scuttle the effort.