Bringing Wind Energy Up to 'Code'
Grid reliability is one giant step in mainstreaming the technology.
As wind power expands, increasingly energy company CEOs are facing the question of whether to invest.
storage
Preparing for a Nuclear Exchange
Three ways to value nuclear power plants for buyers and sellers.
Appraisers don’t make the market — they reflect it — using three approaches to help buyers and sellers of nuclear assets determine plant value.
FERC's GulfTerra Orders: Changes in the Pipeline
A new FERC decision veers away from congressional intent not to burden intrastate pipelines with interstate policies.
Two recent orders in a GulfTerra Texas Pipeline LP rate case make new precedent for Natural Gas Policy Act intrastate pipelines providing interstate transportation.
Business & Money: Bringing Back The Greenbacks
A spate of proposed U.S. tax rule changes soon may open a window of opportunity for certain utilities.
The proposed Homeland Investment Act on Repatriation may soon open a window of opportunity for U.S. companies with unrepatriated foreign earnings. If passed, it potentially would allow U.S. utilities to bring money back into the country without harsh tax penalties, thereby freeing up capital to reinvest in assets here, pay down U.S. debt, or fund other liabilities.
The Case Against Gas Dependence
Greater reliance on gas-fired power implies serious economic, technological, and national security risks.
Over the past two decades, the United States has, by default, come to rely on an "In Gas We Trust" energy policy. Is such a dramatic increase in the use of natural gas to generate electricity feasible without straining gas supply and infrastructure?
LNG Rising
Despite development challenges, LNG capacity is destined to play a bigger role in the U.S. energy mix.
Liquefied natural gas tankers and terminals are being developed and built at a dizzying pace to head off natural gas shortages in the U.S. market. How big a role will it play in years to come?
In His Own Words
A face-to-face interview with FERC Chairman Pat Wood III.
In an exclusive interview, Executive Editor Richard Stavros, talks to FERC Chairman Pat Wood III about what the commission has in store for the electric utilities industry in 2004 and beyond.
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.
What's New at the Firewall
Utilities search for ways to combat viruses and spam.
Spam costs utilities hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but the threat from spam quickly is becoming a security issue as well.
Utility Money Pools: Cause for a Downgrade?
FERC's ruling on cash management programs will introduce new transparency into how utilities manage their cash.
On Oct. 22, FERC ruled that FERC-regulated entities must file their cash management agreements with the commission and notify the commission when their proprietary capital ratio drops below 30 percent, and when it subsequently returns to or exceeds 30 percent. FERC’s ruling comes in response to analysis that found “severe record keeping deficiencies” by some FERC-regulated entities. This problem has led credit rating agencies like Fitch Ratings to warn that consolidated cash management accounts and failure to document fund transfers among affiliated companies as intercompany loans could be factors contributing to a U.S. bankruptcy court’s decision to consolidate a solvent company in the bankruptcy proceeding of its affiliate.