Industry Sage David Owens Retires
Honoring Him with Our First PUF’s Owen Young Award
Owens has been the industry’s debater-in-chief. This month, uncharacteristically, he’s decided to put down the mic for good.
Frontlines & Op-Ed
Cold Hard Truths
Who shall lay out those constraints, clearly, credibly?
What are the coldest hardest truths that a much more involved public must grasp?
'Markets' Test
We Called Them 'Markets.' Now We're Testing Them.
We're enamored of free markets, particularly in the nineties. But power markets cannot come close to emulating authentic competition. Why? They cannot satisfy the basic conditions of competition taught in microeconomics 101.
Letter: Response to Cicchetti Re: Residential Demand Charges
A response to the article by Charles Cicchetti in our December 2016 issue
Charles Cicchetti's December 2016 article asserts TOU rates are a preferable alternative to demand charges for distributed energy resources (DER) customers. But TOU rates are not enough to maximize the benefits of DER.
Why Innovation?
Also, What, Who, Where, When?
Why is innovation all the rage? Yes, continual improvement always makes sense. But the dramatic changes being talked about, are they that urgent? Let's recognize how much customers vary in their electricity wants and needs, within service territories, between territories, and between states.
To 2016's Authors, Interviewees Who Impacted the Debate
PUF 2016 Index of Articles, Interviews and Columns
From Paul Afonso to Audrey Zibelman, In 2016, 190 chief execs, commissioners and experts debated competition, cyber, climate change and more in PUF.
In Only the Second Period of Low Real Rates and Bills
How Should We Manage and Regulate Now?
Electric bills this March were just a tick off the pace of the all-time low. In this unique period, how should we regulate utilities? Should we correct course? Should we allow greater growth of non-fuel costs to – let’s say – buy some more reliability?
Hiding Electricity's Complexity
Should We Lift the Curtain?
Almost nobody realizes the most advanced technology helps us manage grids, operate plants, integrate renewables, route flows, limit peak demand, and restore service after storms. Should we lift the curtain covering the network’s complexity?
The Way We Live, and Renewables
When and Where DG Penetration is Miniscule, What Then?
As fast-growing as it is, rooftop solar will remain a rarity among large proportions of the American public. Which presents a real problem to utilities and utility regulators. Perhaps this is why utility-scale has such appeal.
Response to Borlick Re: Order 745
A response to the article by Robert Borlick in our July 2016 Issue
Bob Borlick took to task FERC, Charlie Cicchetti and the Supreme Court in the context of FERC Order 745. Bob’s key point is his view that “Order 745 overcompensates demand response.” Bob’s argument starts from an implicit but false premise.