NARUC

People (April 2010)

MidAmerican Energy Holdings announced the appointment of Michael Dunn as president of PacifiCorp Energy. NiSource Inc. announced that Jimmy D. Staton, executive v.p. and group CEO of NiSource’s gas distribution business, also will assume the added responsibility of leading the NiSource Indiana utilities, including Northern Indiana Public Service. Vectren chose Carl L. Chapman to serve as CEO. And others.

People (January 2010)

Xcel Energy announced that David L. Eves is the new president and CEO of Public Service Co. of Colorado (PSCo), a subsidiary. Riley Hill succeeded Eves as president and CEO of SPS. Reliant Energy appointed Tom Gros as senior v.p. of sales. CH Energy Group promoted James P. Laurito to executive v.p. of the holding company and its subsidiary, Central Hudson Gas & Electric. Oncor Electric Delivery promoted Charles Jenkins to COO. And more...

Federal-State Partnership

Transforming DR and smart-grid policies into reality.

Regulatory policies are evolving to make demand response and smart-grid planning a reality across the country. Cooperation between federal and state lawmakers will allow local flexibility within a uniform national framework.

New York Negawatts

Balancing risks and opportunities in efficiency investments.

In June 2008, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) established the electric energy-efficiency portfolio standards for New York’s investor-owned utilities. In its order, the PSC directed utilities to file three-year energy-efficiency plans. Later that year, the PSC issued a supplemental order approving shareholder incentives for utilities successfully implementing their portfolios. If all goes according to plan, the six affected IOUs stand to earn about $27 million annually in performance incentives over three years. The structure of the incentive mechanism approved by the PSC presents risk factors that might affect utilities’ ability to realize the full earning potentials the mechanism offers.

Smart Grid: A Customer Challenge

Consumers hold the key to technology’s benefits.

The utility industry tends to think about smart-grid development as a technical challenge. However, smart-grid technology will fall short of its promise if utilities don’t obtain buy-in from customers. Successful utilities will actively engage customers at every stage of implementation, customizing their approach to the sensitivities and opportunities in each customer segment.

A Voice for Smart-Grid Security

Who will oversee the industry’s cyber standards?

Who will oversee the industry’s cyber standards? Effective security calls for a single organization to set standards that will protect the smart grid. The industry is struggling to reach consensus over authority, scope and funding for its new security apparatus.

Smart-Grid Stimulus

Utilities hurry up and wait to apply for grant money.

The American Recovery and Restructuring Act (ARRA, or the Recovery Act), signed into law in February, provides $4.5 billion in stimulus funding for programs aimed at “electricity delivery and energy reliability activities to modernize the electric grid.” This funding commitment, and swirl of industry and lawmaker activities since, has helped lift the smart-grid agenda out of the shadows of utility engineering departments and into the public’s broader view.

Dealing with Asymmetric Risk

Improving performance through graduated conditional ROE incentives.

Unlike the majority of performance-based regulation plans, alternative design paradigms require less data, by instead allowing firms to reveal performance potential. In an asymmetric environment, regulators don’t have needed information, but that can be overcome with better models and incentives.

The Efficiency Mandate: Stimulating Energy Efficiency

NARUC decries conditions on states for federal grants.

Utilities are leaving no stone unturned in their search for ways to save electricity. Federal incentives will support new technologies and projects, but can those incentives overcome structural barriers that stand in the way of major efficiency improvements? Fortnightly's editors explore challenges and opportunities arising from the new efficiency mandate.

Rethinking 'Dumb' Rates

Achieving the smart grid’s potential requires a revolution in electricity pricing.

Achieving the smart grid’s potential requires a revolution in electricity pricing. Smart metering and smart rates might yield surprising and beneficial changes in the U.S. utility industry. But capturing those benefits will require an intelligent and careful approach to implementing dynamic pricing.