Face-Off: The Nuclear Non-Starter
Persistent economic and political issues continue to prevent the expansion of nuclear power.
Cost
Perspective
Emotions have run high in the SMD/RTO debate. It's time for cooler heads to prevail.
Perspective
It is hard tyo foresee abandoning the discounted cash flow method relied upon so heavily for the past couple of decades.
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."
Commission Watch
FERC faces a growing chorus of rebellion on earnings incentives.
FERC faces a growing chorus of rebellion on earnings incentives.
"If I may say, today, we the states are the chosen ones." That was Virginia utility commissioner Hullihen ("Hulli") W. Moore, speaking on the phone in January with Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chairman Pat Wood and other federal and state regulators, trying to untangle the business of transmission reform.
America's Canadian Problem
U.S.-Canada electricity trade is shrinking, and some American companies may be left without their megawatts for the summer.
DCF Utility Valuation: Still the Gold Standard?
Today's volatile markets upset the discounted cash flow model, and others.
DCF Utility Valuation: Still the Gold Standard?
Commission Watch
State regulators redouble their deregulation efforts-or abandon them altogether.
Retail Energy in 2002: A Regulatory About-face
State regulators redouble their deregulation efforts-or abandon them altogether.
The past year was a phenomenal one for state public utility regulators.
A historical confluence of events, including the catastrophic failure of the move to deregulate California electric markets and a nationwide epidemic of corporate financial scandals, led in large part by energy trading firms, helps to explain the developments.
Technology Corridor
Will state budget shortfalls threaten tax credits and subsidies?
Green Generation Feels the Squeeze
IT Security: Who's Investing In What?
Regulatory and market forces put the pressure on information technology to perform.
Regulatory and market forces put the pressure on information technology to perform.
Technology isn't in the driver's seat at some energy companies, but it's not as if those companies have reverted to using typewriters, carbons and rotary dial phones. In fact, it's beyond dispute that information technology (IT), in particular, can improve business performance-and nothing is more important to energy companies right now. But with slashed budgets and collapsing credit ratings, how should energy companies spend their precious IT dollars?
Capping Emissions: How Low Should We Go?
Investigating where environmental efficiency and good public policy intersect.
Investigating where environmental efficiency and good public policy intersect.
More than a decade after adopting the first national cap-and-trade approach to regulating pollution from electricity generators, Congress is considering another round of cap-and-trade regulations on a number of gases emitted by electricity generators.