The Virginia State Corporation Commission has approved a new pilot program for a "Standby Generation Control System" proposed by Virginia Electric and Power Co. The system would allow the utility to dispatch customer-owned generators at periods of system peak demand.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission (UC)has granted authority to Frontier Utilities of North Carolina, Inc., to construct and operate a new natural gas pipeline and distribution system to provide service to four counties in the state.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has once again turned back an attempt by the Communications Workers of America to invoke state utility regulation to solve labor complaints against Pacific Bell.The union had complained that PacBell's use of lower-paid technicians to perform duties allegedly reserved for higher-paid contract classifications violated the state's public utility code.
Managed:
San Diego Gas & Electric Co. http://www.sdge.com
Meet 14 members of the "management team" and count how long each has served. (Learn their ages.)Lite:
Green Mountain Power Corp. http://www.gmpvt.com
"Vermont has some 6,900 farms, with an average size of 89 hectares (219 acres).
The Geneva summit between Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev signaled the beginning of the end of the Cold War. With a diminished threat of East-West confrontation, countries throughout the world gradually reoriented their priorities (em away from politico-military security and toward economic development. To paraphrase Woodrow Wilson, the end of the Cold War had made the world "safe for capitalism."Now, 10 years later, with a few notable exceptions in the Balkans and elsewhere, evidence abounds to support that appraisal, from Argentina to Prague to Manila.
Are utilities working at top productive capacity? A novel look at 19 investor-owned electrics in the Sun Belt.
Major restructuring is expected to hit investor-owned utilities (IOUs) over the next decade. Competitive market forces, in place of rate-of-return regulation, will require many companies to evaluate their resource allocations. No longer will singular adjustments in resource use suffice when both capital and labor resources must be realigned.
mergers? For
instance, why
combine two vertically integrated utilities when the market may call for disaggregation?
All deregulating industries share the same lesson: profits eventually decline, leading to consolidation. Electric utilities are no different.
PV technology combined with storage offers a cost-effective alternative to capacity additions.By John Byrne,
Young-Doo Wang,
Ralph Nigro, and
Steven E. Letendre
Until recently, both regulators and electric utilities have considered photovoltaic (PV) technology (i.e., solar cells) an unattractive
energy-supply option because of its relatively high cost. Now, however, a number of utilities have shown interest in using PV for peak-shaving.
For a good half a century, electric regulation has meant law, accounting, and economics. But no more. Now it's all about computers, telecommunications, and file-transfer protocols. Forget about CWIP, AFUDC, double leverage, and interest synchronization. They are all irrelevant.
United Water has named Robert A. Gerber, Jr. v.p. of corporate law for United Water Management & Services, a subsidiary.
AstroPower, Inc., a semi-conductor company specializing in photovoltaic energy conversion and optoelectric technology, has appointed Dr. George W. Roland v.p. and g.m. of its solar power business.
Eldon A. Cotton, assistant g.m.-power for the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, was named president of the American Public Power Association.