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Law & Lawyers

People (March 2015)

Exelon Generation named Michael J. Pacilio executive v.p. and COO; FirstEnergy made a series of leadership changes involving David J. Karafa, Steven E. Strah, Linda L. Moss, Richard S. Sweeney and Edward L. Shuttleworth; CenterPoint Energy appointed William D. Rogers, executive v.p. of finance and accounting; leadership changes at Black Hills Corporation, Consumers Energy and Duke Energy; California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) named Timothy Sullivan as interim executive director; and others; and others.

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Transactions (March 2015)

TerraForm acquired 21 U.S. distributed generation solar power plants from SunEdison; Emera closed the sale of its 49 percent interest in Northeast Wind Partners II to First Wind Holdings; Alterra Power completed its sale of its Fallon, Nevada geothermal facility to an affiliate of Cyrq Energy; Accenture agreed to acquire Structure, a provider of consulting, system integration and customized solutions and services to energy and utility clients; and others.

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Commenting on Carbon

State PUCs take on EPA and its Clean Power Plan.

Everything about the Clean Power Plan seems surreal. States complain of unfair treatment. Regulators read the proposed rule and sound warnings of a coming apocalypse.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

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Radical Candor

Making ‘Clean Coal’ More than an Oxymoron.

Are clean coal efforts likely to fail? Yes. Does that mean investing is foolish? No. Here are eight ways I think the industry should change its clean coal messaging if it wants to win over the people who matter most.
Byline: 

Peter Sandman

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The Case for Smart Grid

Funding a new infrastructure in an age of uncertainty.

The world’s electricity supply will need to triple by 2050 to keep up with demand. What follows is a look at where we are, and what may lie ahead, with a focus on the the scope of the problem, regulatory reform initiatives now underway, and how to go about rethinking the business models that might evolve.
Byline: 

Massoud Amin

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Rethinking Regulation

Not so Fast: Why the Electric Industry May be Heading in the Wrong Direction

Utility regulation will often display the power of special interests, which may only appeal to a narrow set of interests. Public officials need to step and serve the broader public.
Byline: 

Kenneth W. Costello

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Creative Disruption

Today’s technologies are causing utilities to rethink their business models.

Fifteen years into the 21st Century, the utility industry is being asked to think forward, beyond 2050. To some, that's a bit of a stretch for a mostly regulated enterprise that has been producing power and sending the electrons reliably for the last 150 years or so. To many others, though, it's past time for an evolution.
Byline: 

Ken Silverstein, Editor-in-Chief

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People (April 2015)

FirstEnergy elected Samuel L. Belcher as president and chief nuclear officer; Dayton Power and Light named Tom Raga president and CEO; PSEG announced the retirement of Thomas P. Joyce, president and chief nuclear officer; Turkish economist Dr. Fatih Birol to be executive director of the International Energy Agency; Plus board of directors appointments at Next­Era Energy, Ameren, IDACORP, PG&E and Entergy, and changes at Southern Company, Avista, PSEG Power, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and California Public Utilities Commission.
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Transactions (April 2015)

Chesapeake Utilities agreed to acquire Gatherco for $59.2 million, merging it into wholly-owned subsidiary Aspire Energy of Ohio; Canadian Solar agreed with Sharp Corp. to acquire Recurrent Energy for $265 million; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed U.S. publicly-traded company with a rate base of approximately $8.3 billion; Plus debt offerings from Williams Partners and Cheniere Energy.

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EPA, NERC and Reliability

Expect more analysis – more scenarios, more detail – as state compliance plans become better known.

As things stand today, even without the Clean Power Plan, we expect to see the retirement of more than 6 percent of North America’s generation capacity by 2030.
Byline: 

Thomas Burgess

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