Constellation

The 40 Best Energy Companies

(September 2010) Capital spending and commodity prices are driving changes in financial performance. The 2010 Fortnightly 40 report shows growing success for companies with substantial unregulated assets. As the industry resumes its Big Build, regulatory relationships will determine the long-term strength of utility shareholder returns.

The Constellation Experience

Ring-fencing after the subprime meltdown.

When Électricité de France stepped in to buy Constellation Energy’s nuclear assets and help the company avoid bankruptcy, the Maryland Public Service Commission conditioned the sale on a set of ring-fencing provisions. The industry has been using such structures to protect ratepayers in complex and high-risk M&A transactions since the 1990s. The protection isn’t foolproof, however—and it can bring problematic regulatory trade-offs.

People (July 2010)

Constellation promotes Maria Korsnick to Chief Nuclear Officer; Chip Pardee becomes Exelon’s COO; plus executive changes at American Transmission, Entergy, Idaho Power, New Jersey Resources, Northwestern Energy, Piedmont Natural Gas, Pinnacle West, Spectra Energy, TVA, Williams, EPRI and more...

People (June 2010)

SueDeen Kelly joins Patton Boggs as partner; Chairman Pat Wood III elected to First Wind board; CMS names Mamatha Chamarthi as the company’s first CIO; Executive changes at Centerpoint, Constellation, Duke, FirstEnergy, TransCanada, Tres Amigas, UniSource; Black & Veatch, Navigant; EPRI, NARUC, New York ISO, and more.

Transactions (June 2010)

Calpine buys 5 GW of generating capacity from Pepco Holdings for $1.65 billion; Xcel buys two Calpine plants in Denver for $739 million; Asset acquisitions announced in April by Constellation, Kaukauna Utilities and others totaling $3 billion. 

Proving Smart-Grid Savings

Real-world projects show tangible returns.

Much is riding on successful smart-grid deployments. Experiences at several utilities demonstrate the costs and benefits of today’s automation technologies.

People (April 2010)

MidAmerican Energy Holdings announced the appointment of Michael Dunn as president of PacifiCorp Energy. NiSource Inc. announced that Jimmy D. Staton, executive v.p. and group CEO of NiSource’s gas distribution business, also will assume the added responsibility of leading the NiSource Indiana utilities, including Northern Indiana Public Service. Vectren chose Carl L. Chapman to serve as CEO. And others.

People (March 2010)

FirstEnergy announced that James G. Garanich is named v.p., tax, replacing the retired Gene Sitarz. Garanich was a tax partner with Ernst & Young. Ty R. Pine was hired as state governmental affairs manager for Ohio. Duke Energy Generation Services appointed Tony Dorazio as senior v.p. for wind development. He helped launch London-based BP Alternative Energy’s wind power business. And more...

People (February 2010)

Iberdrola USA announced that Kevin Walker joined the company as chief operating officer. Mark Lynch is named president of subsidiaries New York State Electric & Gas and Rochester Gas and Electric. Alliant Energy promoted Patricia Kampling to executive v.p., CFO and treasurer. John Larson is promoted to senior v.p.-generation, with more responsibilities involving generation-related duties. And more...

New Day for Prudence

Pre-approvals demand a new approach to managing risks and costs.

Proving the need for new infrastructure construction for energy purchases has become more complicated for utilities. State commissions reserve the right to revisit rate-base investments after the fact, even when they’ve been pre-approved.