Mobile Mindset
Meeting customers’ service expectations in the smart phone era.
Mobile data services play a vital role for utilities to better engage customers and provide vital information during outage situations.
Law & Lawyers
Digest
Siemens and Accenture joint venture on smart grid management systems; CenterPoint picks Itron for RF meter rollout; Memphis picks Elster electric, gas, and water AMI system; TransAlta acquires Wyoming wind farm from NextEra; NRG acquires Edison Mission Energy assets; Google to invest in Imperial Valley solar project; Sempra acquires Nebraska wind project; plus contracts and announcements from Babcock & Wilcox, Echelon, PJM, California ISO, and others.
Beyond the Meter
Protecting your base – while keeping options open.
The coming years will bring policy wrangling over distributed resources – what’s economic and what’s not.
People (January 2014)
Idaho Power names Darrel Anderson CEO, succeeding LaMont Keen, and also promotes Steven Keen to CFO and treasurer; DTE names Dave Meador vice chairman and chief administrative officer; former FCC Chairman William Kennard joins Duke Energy board of directors; plus executive appointments at Southern Company, Dominion, and others.
Smart Transition
Embracing a competitive and digital future for utilities.
A recent Accenture survey shows utility executives believe smart grid capabilities will transform the industry and bring competitive opportunities.
Transactions (January 2014)
Calpine acquires 1,050-MW combined-cycle plant in Texas; Allete buys AES wind farms; NextEra acquires Silver State solar project from First Solar; plus equity and debt deals involving EdF, Emera, First Wind, SunEdison, AEP, NV Energy and others, totaling $2.7 billion.
Embracing Disruption
Developing a leadership role for utilities in alternative technologies.
Faced with aging assets, rising operating costs, growing regulatory risks, and flat demand growth, utilities are challenged to remain competitive in an evolving energy market. The answer might be for utilities to establish a leadership position and pursue a more flexible mission.
Dealing With the Duck
Designing markets to accommodate variable resources.
Growth in variable resources creates an increasing need for demand response and fast-ramping generation. The right market design can bring both.
Bundled against Change
Mississippi draws a line in the sand.
"We view the [Entergy-ITC] transaction [as] an attempt to extract excess value."-Mississippi PSC
Power Breakfast
Fortnightly’s Executive Roundtable considers industry options and risks.
Fortnightly recently convened a group of senior operations executives from a variety of companies to discuss current trends in the U.S. power industry. Their comments reflect a mixed outlook on the industry’s transitionary changes.