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California: Beginning Anew

The 2002 rhetoric sounds like pro-electric competition, but is it too little, too late?

In its recent efforts to tie up the loose ends left from the California Crisis, is the state setting itself up for a sequel, California Crisis II: A Not So Beautiful Market?
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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People (Feb 15, 2002)

Dan Boverman has been appointed vice president and CFO for Celerity Energy. SEMCO Energy appointed John E. Schneider as CFO. Constellation Energy has announced several personnel changes. And others ...
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The King is Dead! Long Live the King!

Enron's fall finds FERC toying with cost-based rates. But let's temper the nostalgia.

Enron may not be dead, but its death rattle is certainly being heard loud and clear. If Enron ever was king, will the new king be a scion that also is an aggressive advocate of deregulation? Or, will it be an aged consort, who yearns to return to the "just and reasonable" standard for rate regulation?
Byline: 

William A. Mogel

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People (Feb 1, 2002)

National Fuel Gas Co. elected Philip C. Ackerman to chairman of the board. Roy McAllister has joined Mirant as senior vice president, external affairs. Chesapeake Utilities Corp. appointed three new members to its board of directors. And others ...
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FERC's California Caps: Just Smoke and Mirrors?

Industry experts debate whether so-called “price mitigation measures” miraculously solved the California crisis.

Wholesale electricity prices are lower in California than they were last May, before FERC implemented price caps. But there is widespread disagreement over whether the caps were the cause of the lower prices, or merely coincidental with other downward pressures.
Byline: 

Jennifer Alvey

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People (Jan. 15, 2002)

Richard L. Rudman has been named to the new position of executive vice president at the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI). Rudman joined EPRI in 1973, and was named COO in 1996. And others ...
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Pat Packs a Punch

FERC's new chairman runs roughshod over a reeling industry.

By a vote of 3-1, FERC had crowned the Midwest Independent System Operator—MISO—as belle of the ball. In so doing, it scorned the proposed Alliance Regional Transmission Organization.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

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Who’s Minding The Grid?

Some argue that gas pipelines might substitute … but … nothing will do away with the need for more transmission.

Our nation’s transmission infrastructure is increasingly unable to meet new demands for power created by rapidly changing electricity markets. Although reliability protocols ensure against catastrophic failure, there is ample evidence today that the grid is too congested.
Byline: 

Thomas R. Kuhn

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Waiting to Exhale

Courts Deliberate on the Fate of Order 2000: The transmission industry may have to wait even longer for a final decision on challenges to Order 2000 if FERC gets its way.

Though the D.C. Circuit Court could very well add to the delay in resolving some thorny issues of Order 2000, it appears that the court has essentially given the challengers a partial victory, even before a decision is rendered.
Byline: 

Jennifer Alvey

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Making Markets Work: How ISO Rules Still Cause Problems

How obscured spot prices, unhedgeable basis differentials, unreliable and financially insecure clearing practices inhibit market liquidity.

To date there has been little clarity as to how the physical and financial markets would work together to eliminate the need for continued price regulation, as FERC has proposed.
Byline: 

Becky Kilbourne and Robert Maxant

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