People
People for June 2004.
Positions filled at Southern Co., Mirant, MISO, and others.
ISO
T&O Rates: Premature End to A Good Thing?
Solving the dilemma.
FERC wants to eliminate direct T&O charges while at the same time compensating exporting transmissions systems through inefficient uplift charges.
Total Recall: Will Competition Be Back?
California anticipates changes in energy policy under its new governor.
The Schwarzenegger administration’s detailed implementation plan is expected by the spring of 2004. Schwarzenegger is committed to restoring confidence in government and improving the business climate, and at the same time taking steps to increase and diversify California’s energy supply and improve the environment.
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.
The Talent Bubble
As Baby Boomers near retirement age, utilities face the challenge of preparing the next generation of leaders.
Many utilities are sounding alarm bells about an impending shortage of skilled personnel—even amid flat industry growth and high unemployment rates. Who will replace the retiring Baby Boomers?
Europe Rewired: A Giant Awakens
EU nations are taking slow steps toward an integrated energy market, but they are many paces ahead of U.S. efforts.
The emerging EU energy market faces barriers to competition and regional integration, exacerbated by the exodus of American companies from the market and the heightened trend toward oligopoly control. Nevertheless, European integration is moving at a faster pace than American initiatives.
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.” At the time of this writing, it is in operation pursuant to federal order, while opponents continue to try to shut down the cable. What happened in 2003 to delay the project, and how might the ongoing struggle affect similar projects proposed or under way?
Generation Reserves: The Grid Security Question
A cost-benefit study shows the value of adding synchronized generating reserves to prevent blackouts on the scale of Aug.14.
A study reveals how increasing the availability and flexibility of generation resources is cheaper than adding transmission.
Trading Spaces? Will CFTC Move Into FERC's House?
Will the CFTC move Into FERC's house?
As the law is written, PJM looks like a commodity futures exchange.
What Is a Power Plant Worth?
The consequences of exuberance are all around us.
Investors put $50 billion into new generating capacity because they expected that electricity restructuring would lead to the formation of a small number of effective, regional transmission organizations, which would make the location of a generating facility less important in the future. Based on that assumption, developers placed many plants close to a source of fuel, not close to market. For many companies, that has turned out to be a fatal mistake.