Are consumer broadband over powerline (BPL) services enough to make the business case for utilities?
Should transmission owners get paid extra for distance and voltage?
And for a reasonable regulatory policy for new broadband technology.
Commission Watch
FERC Versus Bankruptcy Jurisdiction:
Two recent articles in the 1 discussed conflicts that have emerged in the last 18 months over the respective jurisdictions of bankruptcy courts under the Bankruptcy Code2 and the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) under the Federal Power Act.3 This occurs when a debtor seeks the bankruptcy court's approval under Section 365(a) of the code4 to reject a wholesale electricity sales contract that is a FERC-jurisdictional rate.
ECM
The technology behind demand-side response.
Across the country, policy-makers are working with both federal and state legislators and regulators to define policies and laws that will impact how utilities do business in the coming years. One policy receiving much attention right now may require electric utilities to offer voluntary demand-response programs to their customers. Demand-response programs allow customers to voluntarily adjust their daily energy usage in a manner that is acceptable with their needs.
How will the industry change in the future?
The utility industry of the future can be best characterized by three words: scale, synergies, and automation. Company leaders and the broader workforce will be touched by these three forces for change. We can already see glimpses of the future around us today. In response to the sweep of deregulation, many power companies no longer generate power. They have divested themselves of their generating plants, ceding that ground to independent producers to concentrate on distribution.
Interviews
For Public Utilities Fortnightly's 75th Anniversary CEO issue, the magazine looked to the horizon and asked these new captains about the planned course for their companies, and for an entire industry.
Technology Corridor
A digital grid to the home, secured via a local fiber-optic network, could position utilities to fix power and telecom together.
Before billions are spent building new transmission lines to ensure reliable electric service, North American electric utilities should evaluate whether the alternatives-controlling demand and fostering distributed generation-might be more cost-effective and broadly beneficial.
People
New Positions:
The Nuclear Energy Institute elected Stephen R. Tritch and Mark F. McGettrick to its board of directors. Tritch is Westinghouse Electric Co. president and CEO, and McGettrick is president and CEO of generation at Dominion Energy.
Paul B. Vasington, former chairman of the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Energy, joined the Analysis Group as vice president, based in the company's Boston office.
Commission Watch
Why FERC must yield to bankruptcy law.
How will regulators react if the current trickle of bankruptcies within the debt-laden merchant power sector should suddenly become a torrent? Will they encourage the necessary restrcturing of debt, or will they stand in the way?