Become a PUF Member Organization

Strategy & Planning

Power Measurements: Welcome to ComEd, Population 1,281

What did LMPs tell us this summer in PJM's new neighborhood?

With one summer under its belt as a member of PJM, ComEd has been called a complete success by some, boring by others. Using data from Energy Velocity's Market Ops and Weather products, we can see the impact of transmission and weather on ComEd this summer.
Byline: 

Aaron Brasket, Tom Ottem, and Mike McNair

Read Entire Article

Comments on 'Solving the Crisis in Unscheduled Power'

Letters to the Editor

Robert Blohm's article, "Solving the Crisis in Unscheduled Power," ignores a significant part of the power-scheduling paradigm — that is, it ignores transmission. Every power schedule not only includes load and generation but also a path to move the electricity between those points.
Byline: 

Mark B. Lively

Read Entire Article

Playing Russian Roulette

Moscow's ratification of the Kyoto protocol could pose problems for the United States.

It could mark the biggest bungle of the last two administrations: the decision to walk away from the Kyoto Protocol rather than stay and negotiate to U.S. advantage. No one thought Russia would sign and put the treaty in force. But now that Russia's ratification appears imminent, policy wonks in America are scrambling to assess the impact.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

Read Entire Article

Perspective: Don't Fence Me Out

Hard-and-fast ring-fencing rules are not the best way to maintain order in the partially deregulated utility sector.

In times of stress due to financial setbacks or pending merger issues, regulatory ring-fencing or internal company structural separation can serve a beneficial purpose. But beware! Predicting the future is an impossible task: Utility regulators should hesitate before putting policies in place today that limit managerial discretion in the future, based upon the belief that they possess that ability.
Byline: 

Steve Fetter

Read Entire Article

The Growth Divide

Will a back-to-basics strategy meet investor expectations?

The debate over how utilities should honor their obligation to stockholders is an issue that is coming to the fore with greater force. But this time there seems to be quite a difference of opinion over strategy — or so we found in our annual finance issue.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

Read Entire Article

Outsourcing, Reliability, and IT: When will the Three Meet?

How to make sure your outsourcing partner works as an extension of your IT organization.

It is imperative that the CIS manager treats the outsourcing partner team as an extension of his own staff. Good working relationships between the client and the on-site partner team go a long way to ensure processes that provide reliability and security are adequately followed.
Byline: 

Rajiv Bahl

Read Entire Article

Outsourcing & IT as a Strategic Option

Special ECM Section

In this quarterly ECM section, a series of articles in Fortnightly reviews the different outsourcing and IT options that are available and what utilities should consider before adopting outsourcing and IT technologies.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

Read Entire Article

Coal: Paying a King's Ransom

What's causing price volatility, and will it last?

The long period of sub-full-cost pricing in the 1990s caused great rationalization in the coal industry, leaving a much healthier and sensible market. One consequence of this is that the floor price for coal in most regions has risen about 25 percent in the last few years. With natural gas prices expected to remain high for some time, those coal markets where ready capacity is at current demand levels will see steadily high prices.
Byline: 

Andy Roberts and Gary L. Hunt

Read Entire Article