Become a PUF Member Organization

Stephen Teichler

Capacity Roulette

Out of market means out of luck—even for self-supply.

When the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued its so-called ”MOPR“ decision in April 2011, approving a minimum offer price rule (or bid floor) for PJM RPM capacity market — and then on the very next day did much the same for New England’s FCM capacity market — FERC did more than just prop up prices. Instead, it created a nightmare scenario for utilities that still own their own generation. These utilities, who choose to “self-supply” with their own plants, rather than buy capacity from either the RPM or FCM, adequacy rules, could now be forced to pay twice for capacity — if their own plants are deemed inefficient or uneconomic.

Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

Read Entire Article

Reliability Wars

Power System Planning: Who gets paid (and how much) for backing up the system?

“Confining transmission projects to FTR payments is like confining generators to energy-only payments,” says Ed Krapels, the electric industry consultant from Boston who helped dream up the initial idea of the Neptune project. These words speak volumes on what’s happening in today’s power industry, and on what the ISOs and RTOs are trying to achieve, not only for merchant-grid projects but for merchant generation and system reliability.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

Read Entire Article

A Rough-Cut Diamond: Fortnightly Turns 75

Let's look back over the past few years — what we got right and where we went wrong.

So we come to the 75th anniversary of the publication of Public Utilities Fortnightly. Few magazines ever live that long. Nor should they. Yet here we stand. Launched in 1929. Still kicking in 2004. We can learn from the experience of the past 10 years — a time of turmoil like no other in the utility industry. So let’s lean back and have a little fun. What can we learn from Public Utilities Fortnightly over the past decade?
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

Read Entire Article

Frontlines

Merchant plants snub the market, using native load to create their own private rate base.

Byline: 
Bruce W. Radford
Read Entire Article

Pat Packs a Punch

FERC's new chairman runs roughshod over a reeling industry.

By a vote of 3-1, FERC had crowned the Midwest Independent System Operator—MISO—as belle of the ball. In so doing, it scorned the proposed Alliance Regional Transmission Organization.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

Read Entire Article