FirstEnergy

People (September 2012)

James Rogers grabs CEO position at Duke-Progress; FirstEnergy promotes executives; JEA names Belechak CEO; ConEdison Solutions hires sales execs; Atlantic Power names new CFO; plus executive changes at Copano Energy, DTE, Entergy, and others.

The Fortnightly 40 Best Energy Companies

A challenging year brings a change in the rankings.

(September 2012) Our annual financial ranking shows some remarkable shifts among the industry’s shareholder value leaders. Despite flat demand and low commodity prices, investor-owned utilities are investing heavily in capital assets. Investment discipline and operational excellence distinguish leaders on the path to financial performance.

Vendor Neutral

Panda Energy awards turnkey $300 million turnkey contract to Siemens and Bechtel; Dominion starts up 585-MW CFB plant; Ocean Power Technologies and Lockheed Martin partner on wave power project; Infigen awards wind turbine service contract to Mitsubishi; ITC commissions 345-kV line in Oklahoma; ABB tests world’s biggest DC transformer; Xcel gets green light for Tres Amigas-area transmission upgrades; plus contracts and announcements from Elster, Sensus, Enertech, and others.

RTO Tango

PJM and MISO ran from the altar once before. Now there’s talk of a shotgun wedding.

Utilities in the Midwest ISO want greater access to sell into PJM’s lucrative market. But that might require a virtual merger of the two RTOs — a move rejected seven years ago as too costly, and perhaps still impractical today.

People (July 2012)

Southern Company announced changes in the company’s management team. Great Plains Energy and Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) appointed Scott Heidtbrink as executive v.p. and COO of KCP&L and greater Missouri operations. NV Energy announced two senior leadership appointments. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) appointed Jesus Soto Jr. as senior v.p. of gas transmission, operations, engineering, and pipeline integrity. And others...

People (June 2012)

Exelon Generation named Ron DeGregorio president of Exelon Power. Most recently he was chief integration officer working on the Exelon-Constellation merger. Former NSTAR president, chairman and CEO Thomas J. May was elected president and CEO of Northeast Utilities (NU) following the completion of the merger of the two companies. He succeeds Charles W. Shivery, who retired from his position and assumed a new role as the non-executive chairman of the board of NU.

People (April 2012)

Anne R. Pramaggiore became president and CEO of ComEd, following the retirement of Frank M. Clark, chairman and CEO since 2005. Pramaggiore joined ComEd in 1998 and most recently held the position of president and COO. In addition, ComEd named Tracie Morris v.p. of human resources. Morris previously served as v.p. of human resources for DeVry Inc.

People (February 2012)

OGE Energy announces executive shifts; Georgia Power announces organizational changes and appointments; ConEdison and NRG Energy name new vice presidents; plus senior staff changes at UniSource Energy, Public Service Enterprise Group, Conservation Services Group, and others.

Vendor Neutral

(February 2012) Siemens acquires eMeter; Long Island Power Authority selects PSEG to manage T&D system; Mountain Parks Electric awards SCADA/DMS contract to Open Systems International; Kiewit and Sargent and Lundy award contract to Hitachi; plus announcements and contracts involving SAIC, Shell, Landis+Gyr, and others.

Vendor Neutral

(December 2011) Lafayette Utilities System selects Elster’s EnergyAxis as its AMI system; ABB wins contract from Hydro-Quebec; Sapphire Power Holdings acquires gas-fired power generation from Morris Energy Group; Consumers Energy awards contract to Babcock & Wilcox; plus announcements and contracts involving BP Wind Energy, Abengoa Solar, Samsung C&T and others.