The New CEO's
Michael G. Morris
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.
Department of Energy
Preparing for a Nuclear Exchange
Three ways to value nuclear power plants for buyers and sellers.
Appraisers don’t make the market — they reflect it — using three approaches to help buyers and sellers of nuclear assets determine plant value.
Business & Money: Bringing Back The Greenbacks
A spate of proposed U.S. tax rule changes soon may open a window of opportunity for certain utilities.
The proposed Homeland Investment Act on Repatriation may soon open a window of opportunity for U.S. companies with unrepatriated foreign earnings. If passed, it potentially would allow U.S. utilities to bring money back into the country without harsh tax penalties, thereby freeing up capital to reinvest in assets here, pay down U.S. debt, or fund other liabilities.
The Generation Glut: When Will It End?
An analysis of the timing, location, and mix of new capacity additions that may be needed in the future.
An analysis of the timing, location, and mix of new capacity additions that may be needed in the future.
The Case Against Gas Dependence
Greater reliance on gas-fired power implies serious economic, technological, and national security risks.
Over the past two decades, the United States has, by default, come to rely on an "In Gas We Trust" energy policy. Is such a dramatic increase in the use of natural gas to generate electricity feasible without straining gas supply and infrastructure?
Technology Corridor: Bridging the Transmission Gap
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.
Perspective: MISO, Markets, and Common Sense
Wisconsinites don't fear 'Day 2.' But let's get the grid rights right.
The cost of rushing into poorly designed LMP-based energy markets may far exceed any purported cost increases attributable to any future delayed start-up date for certain portions of the MISO region.
Frontlines: Still More Blackouts?
Do-nothing regulators scare off investment, raising prospects for yet another large-scale power failure.
Let's hope the industry spends the money before Mother Nature throws her next pop quiz.
Cross-Sound Blues
Legal challenges continue for the undersea transmission line.
When the Connecticut Siting Council granted a certificate of environmental compatibility and public need approving the Cross-Sound cable in January 2002, it determined that the project would provide a public benefit and would not have an environmental impact constituting "sufficient reason to deny the application." The 330-MW transmission cable was installed beneath the seabed of Long Island Sound between Connecticut and New York in the spring of 2002, mon
Perspective
Two Cato analysts suggest a return to the past-vertical integration, but now with no state regulators.
Perspective
Two Cato analysts suggest a return to the past-vertical integration, but now with no state regulators.
The defeat of the energy bill in the Senate last year has thrown electricity restructuring back on its heels. There clearly is no consensus among politicians or academics regarding how this industry ought to be organized or how it might best be regulated. Finding our way out of this morass requires a reconsideration of how we got to this dismal point in our regulatory journey.