The Reselling of Coal
Its future rests with new technologies – not outdated PR.
If advanced coal generation is to reach fruition, then the coal sector will need a federal partner – one that it cannot afford to continue alienating.
Fortnightly Magazine - March 2015
People (March 2015)
Exelon Generation named Michael J. Pacilio executive v.p. and COO; FirstEnergy made a series of leadership changes involving David J. Karafa, Steven E. Strah, Linda L. Moss, Richard S. Sweeney and Edward L. Shuttleworth; CenterPoint Energy appointed William D. Rogers, executive v.p. of finance and accounting; leadership changes at Black Hills Corporation, Consumers Energy and Duke Energy; California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) named Timothy Sullivan as interim executive director; and others; and others.
Transactions (March 2015)
TerraForm acquired 21 U.S. distributed generation solar power plants from SunEdison; Emera closed the sale of its 49 percent interest in Northeast Wind Partners II to First Wind Holdings; Alterra Power completed its sale of its Fallon, Nevada geothermal facility to an affiliate of Cyrq Energy; Accenture agreed to acquire Structure, a provider of consulting, system integration and customized solutions and services to energy and utility clients; and others.
Commenting on Carbon
State PUCs take on EPA and its Clean Power Plan.
Everything about the Clean Power Plan seems surreal. States complain of unfair treatment. Regulators read the proposed rule and sound warnings of a coming apocalypse.
Radical Candor
Making ‘Clean Coal’ More than an Oxymoron.
Are clean coal efforts likely to fail? Yes. Does that mean investing is foolish? No. Here are eight ways I think the industry should change its clean coal messaging if it wants to win over the people who matter most.
The Case for Smart Grid
Funding a new infrastructure in an age of uncertainty.
The world’s electricity supply will need to triple by 2050 to keep up with demand. What follows is a look at where we are, and what may lie ahead, with a focus on the the scope of the problem, regulatory reform initiatives now underway, and how to go about rethinking the business models that might evolve.
Rethinking Regulation
Not so Fast: Why the Electric Industry May be Heading in the Wrong Direction
Utility regulation will often display the power of special interests, which may only appeal to a narrow set of interests. Public officials need to step and serve the broader public.
Electric Vehicle Charging: Tariffs and Tradeoffs
We examine various types of charging strategies and infrastructure available today and report on the experience gained from rate structures for electric vehicle charging now being offered at four different utilities. These findings lead us to provide recommendations to achieve more productive use of the electric grid.
Reaching for the Cloud
Utilities house pools of data in the Internet ecosystem, striving for efficiencies.
Business decisions may be easier to come by at utilities now that new technologies are capturing their data from a multitude of sources and storing it in the “cloud” where it can be accessed by analysts and authorized personnel.
Digest (March 2015)
Pacific Gas and Electric and automaker BMW are teaming up to test the ability of EV batteries to provide services to the electric grid; MidAmerican Energy completed work on four of five wind farms across Iowa that make up its Wind VIII project; GE received an order from the Tennessee Valley Authority to supply two high-efficiency 7HA.02 gas turbine generators for the new combined-cycle Allen plant; Appalachian Power plans to rebuild the existing South Bluefield-Wythe 69-kV transmission line; Bechtel partnered with Westinghouse Electric to provide decontamination and decommissioning services for nuclear power plants throughout the U.S.; SunEdison and Omnigrid Micropower signed a framework agreement to develop 5,000 rural projects, representing 250 MW of electricity, throughout India; The Tennessee Valley Authority and DuPont partnered to generate power and steam at TVA's Johnsonville site in Tennessee; and others.