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Gas Supply: Too little, Too late?

Pipeline and LNG terminal developments may arrive too late to prevent a natural gas disaster.

Alaska’s North Slope gas remains in the pipeline, so to speak, despite the efforts of industry heavyweights to bring the stranded resource to the lower-48 states. Meanwhile, LNG development is beset by questions of safety, siting, and permitting, leaving North America with high gas prices and little clarity about future supply.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

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Northwest Passage: BPA's Changing Role

The treacherous journey toward a more efficient and transparent Northwest power market may be nearing its conclusion.

The treacherous journey toward a more efficient and transparent Northwest power market may be nearing its conclusion, as increased funding, more generating capacity, and a burgeoning RTO paint a brighter picture for Bonneville Power Administration.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

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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.
Byline: 

Michael J. Remsha, P.E., ASA, CMI

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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.
Byline: 

Todd M. Landau, Tadd A. Fowler, and Craig King

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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
Byline: 

Linda Randell and Bruce McDermott

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Generation Roundtable: Power Flux

Generators struggle to plan for the future as they cope with an unstable present.

Generators struggle to plan for the future as they cope with an unstable present.

When the acting administrator at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Marianne Horinko, signed the EPA's "routine replacement" rule on Aug. 27, 2003, she proclaimed that the new approach to Clean Air Act regulation would "provide … power plants with the regulatory certainty they need."

Byline: 
Michael T. Burr
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The Regulators Forum - States to Feds: Don't tread on Me

How far do states rights go in transmission planning?

How far do states rights go in transmission planning?

The energy industry, coming off a remarkably difficult few years, had to deal with the huge Aug. 14 blackout, the ramifications of which have now reached regulatory policy. By putting transmission planning and reliability in the spotlight, the blackout could boost merchant transmission owners, as regulators and politicians scramble to make sure such an event does not happen again.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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People

New Positions:

People

New Positions:

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) appointed Thomas A. Leach to a two-year term on its Consumers Advisory Council. Leach is the business manager and financial secretary of Local Union 126, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Byline: 
We welcome submissions to People, especially those accompanied by a high-resolution color photograph. E-mail to: photos@pur.com
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Blackouts? never Again! (But...)

We ask merchant grid developers if anything can ever be done.

We ask merchant grid developers if anything can ever be done.

 

The blackout of August 2003 should have come as no surprise. The Department of Energy's May 2002 National Transmission Grid Study finds growing evidence that the U.S. transmission system is in urgent need of modernization.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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