Energy Memories: Bill McCollam
Headed EEI for a Dozen Years
William McCollam, Jr., the president of the Edison Electric Institute from 1978 to 1990, died peacefully on July 30.
Law & Lawyers
Off Peak: What Ernie Knew!
A crestfallen witness, a respectful commission
Public testimony was the highlight of many public utility rate increase request hearings during my years as a commissioner on the Wisconsin Public Service Commission. Rarely was a public witness cross-examined by the utility’s attorney or by the commissioners. Here’s an example of the latter.
Top 20, and Why Financial Strength Matters
The Return for Customers of the Return for Shareholders
The Top 20 ranking is limited to investor-owned electric utilities and combination electric and gas utilities with 2015 revenues of at least $1 billion.
Response to Two Articles Re: Grid Resilience
A general response to the articles by Michael Deggendorf and by Paul Afonso, Lauren Azar, Dian Grueneich, James Hoecker in our August 2016 issue
Two articles in the August 2016 issue made the irrefutable case that we need to shore up grid resilience. I can’t argue with those measures. But I’m not sure that they are getting to the root of the problem. Perhaps we need to spend more time asking whether small decentralized systems can accomplish the same end as the large systems.
Response to Cicchetti Re: Net Metering
A response to the letter by Charles Cicchetti in our April 2016 issue, which was a response to the letter by Ashley Brown in our February 2016 issue.
As Ashley Brown correctly stated in his letter, large-scale solar projects produce electricity at roughly half the cost of that produced by rooftop solar. Charlie states that customers installing rooftop solar are: “… paying to reduce dependence on greenhouse gases and to expand societal benefits ....” Not exactly.
Response to Borlick Re: Order 745
A response to the article by Robert Borlick in our July 2016 Issue
Bob Borlick took to task FERC, Charlie Cicchetti and the Supreme Court in the context of FERC Order 745. Bob’s key point is his view that “Order 745 overcompensates demand response.” Bob’s argument starts from an implicit but false premise.
Tom Fanning: Leadership Lyceum Podcast Summary
Conversation with a Prime Mover: Tom Fanning, Chairman and CEO of Southern Company
A summary of Tom Linquist's conversation with Tom Fanning, Southern Company CEO, on strategy and investment. Full podcast available.
Energy People: Bill Hederman
We talked with Bill Hederman, who has just left government service as senior advisor to the U.S. Secretary of Energy.
Through early July, Bill Hederman was senior advisor to Dr. Ernie Moniz, U.S. Secretary of Energy, and counselor to the director of energy policy and systems analysis. Bill began his career as a systems integration engineer at Bell Labs in the directorate that later developed the cell phone system.
Energy People: Adam Sieminski
We talked with Adam Sieminski, Administrator at the Energy Information Administration
Adam Sieminski became the eighth administrator of the EIA in 2012. While awaiting confirmation as EIA administrator, Sieminski served as senior director for energy and environment on the staff of the National Security Council.
Energy People: Werner Buehler
We talked with Werner Buehler, General Manager of Oregon Trail Electric Consumers Cooperative
Werner Buehler is the general manager of Oregon Trail Electric Cooperative based in Baker City, Oregon. Oregon Trail serves 23,000 members in four rural counties in eastern Oregon.