STATE REGULATORS:

Can natural gas supply keep up with demand for power?

Interviews

Things are looking up for the energy industry, but tough issues remain. Regulators-forced to grapple with the mismatch between volatile natural-gas prices and years of building gas-fired power plants-have learned a thing or two. They now insist on new rate schemes and risk-management methods while promoting the use of liquefied natural gas.

The conclusions made by the NPC gas study raise more questions than they answer.

In late September of 2003, the National Petroleum Council (NPC) issued a comprehensive study on the future of the U.S. natural gas industry.1

Seams, holes, and historic precedent challenge the Midwest ISO's evolution.

In a single sentence, Bill Smith of the Organization of MISO States (OMS) summarizes prevailing concerns about the new-and-improved Midwest ISO: "When it starts, it has to work."

People

New Opportunities:

Southern Co. chose Francis S. Blake to stand for election to its board of directors. Blake is an executive vice president at The Home Depot. Blake's election would bring the board to 11 members.

Mirant announced that M. Michele Burns is the company's new CFO and executive vice president, charged with leading the company's financial restructuring. Burns previously has been executive vice president for Delta Air Lines Inc. and a partner with Arthur Anderson LLP.

Like it or not, changes are coming for electric cooperatives. Fewer and bigger might be the inevitable result.

When power planners at Basin Electric Power Cooperative began trying to decide how and where the company's next big power plant would be built, they did what a co-op does best -they reached out and formed a coalition.

Commission Watch

Solving the dilemma.

The rationale from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for eliminating through-and-out (T&O) rates while simultaneously imposing a Seams Elimination Charge/Cost Adjustment/Assignment (SECA) is an acknowledgement that FERC is conflicted on a fundamental economic principle: regional transmission organization (RTO) loads use the transmission systems of exporting RTOs; therefore, it is correct for importing customers to compensate exporting RTOs for the use of their transmission syste

Perspective

Wisconsinites don't fear 'Day 2.' But let's get the grid rights right.

While working for the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC), I have grown accustomed to the friendly advice frequently offered by regulatory colleagues and utility executives in higher-cost areas to the East.

Commission Watch

FERC's AEP ruling begs the question: Can the feds bypass states that block transmission reform?

In its search for the perfect power market, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) at last has joined the battle that lately has brought state and federal regulators nearly to blows. A recent ruling puts the question squarely on the table:

Perspective

Locational pricing makes the network secure, since the utilities and other market participants get 'paid' to monitor the grid.

The recent pressure on the board and stakeholders of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO)-to postpone the startup of energy markets and concentrate instead on "reliability"-is truly unfortunate. It allows opponents of restructuring to continue to pose a false choice: You can have markets or you can have reliability, but never both.