Fortnightly Magazine - April 2015

Creative Disruption

Today’s technologies are causing utilities to rethink their business models.

Fifteen years into the 21st Century, the utility industry is being asked to think forward, beyond 2050. To some, that's a bit of a stretch for a mostly regulated enterprise that has been producing power and sending the electrons reliably for the last 150 years or so. To many others, though, it's past time for an evolution.

People (April 2015)

FirstEnergy elected Samuel L. Belcher as president and chief nuclear officer; Dayton Power and Light named Tom Raga president and CEO; PSEG announced the retirement of Thomas P. Joyce, president and chief nuclear officer; Turkish economist Dr. Fatih Birol to be executive director of the International Energy Agency; Plus board of directors appointments at Next­Era Energy, Ameren, IDACORP, PG&E and Entergy, and changes at Southern Company, Avista, PSEG Power, The National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, and California Public Utilities Commission.

Transactions (April 2015)

Chesapeake Utilities agreed to acquire Gatherco for $59.2 million, merging it into wholly-owned subsidiary Aspire Energy of Ohio; Canadian Solar agreed with Sharp Corp. to acquire Recurrent Energy for $265 million; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed U.S. publicly-traded company with a rate base of approximately $8.3 billion; Plus debt offerings from Williams Partners and Cheniere Energy.

EPA, NERC and Reliability

Expect more analysis – more scenarios, more detail – as state compliance plans become better known.

As things stand today, even without the Clean Power Plan, we expect to see the retirement of more than 6 percent of North America’s generation capacity by 2030.

Securing the Smart Grid

Questions and answers on consumer privacy and threats to the grid – both physical and cyber.

The economic argument for investments in the smart grid is clear: the payback from those technologies in the U.S. is likely three to six times greater than the money invested, and grows with each sequence of grid improvement.

Market Manipulation: Staying a Step Ahead

Law, compliance, and case management – plus the blurred boundary between FERC and CFTC.

In the aftermath of 2000-2001 energy crisis, Congress provided federal regulators more authority to crack down on fraud. To do so, FERC must show that the actor possessed the requisite state of mind and establish a connection between the alleged manipulative action and an interstate transportation or sale for resale of natural gas or electricity.

Energy Storage: Out of the Lab and Onto the Grid

As deployments take hold, real-world challenges abound.

Energy storage has advanced rapidly, leaving the lab and entering a phase of deployment on the grid. Storage's advancements are a result of its promise as well as the tireless support of industry stakeholders who modeled, tested, evaluated and demonstrated the technology.

The Paradox of Inclining Block Rates

What goes up doesn’t always come down.

Two California-based utilities are studied to determined if inclining block rates can be used to promote energy efficiency.

Electrifying Your Customer

Customer Connection: Five steps to better relations with your most important client.

Utility customers are hungry for more information and to interact with their providers. But, first, utilities need to know what problems their customers want to solve.

Digest (April 2015)

PG&E asked state regulators for permission to build ~ 25,000 EV chargers across its service area in Northern and Central California - if approved, it would mark the largest deployment of EV charging stations in the country; Lockheed Martin and Dominion Resources have co-developed a new smart grid technology called VirtuGrid to enable remote detection of power outages for faster mapping and response; Panda Power Funds and Sunbury Generation LP will develop, finance, construct and operate a 1,000-MW gas-fired, combined-cycle power project in Pennsylvania; Siemens secured an order of 157 wind turbines in South Africa from Mainstream Renewable Power; PSE&G recently put two new landfill solar farms in service as part of its Solar 4 All program; Exelon Generation will add 195-MW of electric generation capacity at the Medway (Mass.) facility; ABB won a $35 million order for gas-insulated switchgear and shunt reactors from Belgian electricity transmission system operator Elia; Iberdrola USA agreed to acquire UIL Holdings and create a newly listed publicly traded company; Chesapeake Utilities agreed to merge Gatherco into Aspire Energy of Ohio, a wholly-owned subsidiary; and others...

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