Enron

Writing 'The Power Brokers'

Jeremiah D. Lambert, a lawyer in Washington, D.C., has served PJM and other clients in the electric utility industry and has written extensively on energy-related topics.

In “The Power Brokers: The Struggle to Shape and Control the Electric Power Industry,” I sought to craft a narrative, telling the story of an essential bedrock business through the players who influenced its course.

You Say You Want a REVolution

It’s difficult to assess the REV promise because it’s difficult to figure out what REV is really about

Let’s be honest. Does anyone know what New York’s REV (“Reforming the Energy Vision”) really is? Other than the most hyped regulatory initiative since California restructuring some 20 years ago?

Open-Access Chronicles: The Backstory Behind Electric Restructuring

Part 3: When Competition Turns to War

By September 1997, Philadelphia Electric Co. had outflanked key opponents and filed a proposed partial settlement with the Penn. PUC to allow the company to recover costs that might become stranded under a new law (enacted a year before) that had brought a measure of competition to the state’s electric utility industry. Then Enron went to work.

Enron's Lessons

Are regulators managing market manipulation?

Some will stray from ethical behavior. But markets must be regulated to maintain confidence.

Rise of the Machines

Who’s afraid of the transactive grid?

Smart grids and nodal markets spark the emergence of a transactional grid. In fact it’s already happened, and we’re just becoming aware.

No Going Back

Free markets are not a fad.

Half-hearted deregulation hobbles the forces of supply and demand before they can get out of the gate.

Regulated Tax Equity Finance

Distribution utilities could become an important source of renewable funding.

Distribution utilities are well positioned to provide tax equity for renewable projects, but some state laws prevent it. Tapping the potential will require progressive leadership by utility executives and regulators.