The collapse of wholesale markets has utilities once again making the purchasing decisions, and taking all the risks.
If a common theme is emerging from the various policy directions across the country, it seems to be that responsibility for supply resources is moving away from open markets and back into the hands of load-serving utilities.
The commission tacks a new name onto a familiar concept.
By now it is old news that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on April 28 back-pedaled on standard market design (SMD), even renaming it the "wholesale power market platform." But SMD is far from dead, as some had wished. Instead, it is merely toned down, bowing to political furor and regional differences.
New Positions:
Virginia's State Corporation Commission (SCC) named Howard M. Spinner as director of its Division of Economics and Finance, replacing Richard J. Williams. Williams is retiring after 22 years with the commission. Spinner has been with the SCC since 1998.
The Western Electricity Coordinating Council board of directors elected Jack L. King as its chair and Ronald D. Nunnally and Tim Newton as vice chairs.
ISO's new ICAP scheme seen as subsidy for the gen sector.
It is hard tyo foresee abandoning the discounted cash flow method relied upon so heavily for the past couple of decades.
In the Feb. 15, 2003, edition of , Jonathan Lesser says that regulators need to rethink the traditional discounted cash flow (DCF) method for finding the cost of capital, or "at the very least, regulators should no longer rely solely on the DCF to set allowed returns."
New Positions:
President Bush named Dr. Nils J. Diaz chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), succeeding Richard A. Meserve. Diaz's current NRC term expires in 2006. Diaz also is professor-emeritus of Nuclear Engineering Sciences at the University of Florida.
Pantellos named Jim Neikirk president and CEO. Neikirk spent five years at Entergy Corp. as vice president and chief procurement officer.
The market speaks but we don't listen.
Will someone please tell me: Where is the proof that the electric utility industry needs more investment in electric transmission? Is it not possible that we already have enough miles of high-voltage line?
I can scarcely turn around but see a new conference or workshop on how to encourage the electric industry to invest more in transmission infrastructure. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) leads that charge, though as a regulator it ought to stay neutral.
An evolving market demands a greater focus on power prices and required return on equity.
Valuation can be difficult even in stable markets, and executives setting their company's strategic course need to understand how the market for power projects is evolving and what may lie ahead.