Rethinking Rate Design
Berkeley Lab’s Discussion with Five Experts
Five of our industry's top thought leaders weigh in on the white-hot controversy of rate design as utilities and regulators plot a course for electricity's future.
Energy People: D.C. PSC Staff
We talked with seven staff members of the District of Columbia Public Service Commission
Commission staffs work behind the scenes, without much recognition, to make utility regulation effective. To hear some of their stories, we talked with seven staff members of the D.C. PSC.
Bob Flexon: Leadership Lyceum Podcast Summary
Five-Year Anniversary Conversation with Dynegy CEO Bob Flexon
Dynegy's CEO takes stock at his fifth anniversary with the company. Read excerpts of his interview here, then download the podcast for the entire conversation with Tom Linquist, the widely-recognized expert in executive assessment and leadership development.
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.
85 Years Ago, on October 18, The Wizard of Menlo Park Died
The day of the funeral was October 21, the day Edison demonstrated his invention of the incandescent light exactly 52 years earlier
Eight-five years ago, on October 18, 1931, Thomas Edison, the Wizard of Menlo Park, died.
The Wizard’s passing was big news nationally and internationally. Though Al Capone was convicted that day for tax evasion. And though a hundred thousand Nazi storm troopers rioted in Braunschweig, Germany.
President Herbert Hoover urged all Americans to turn out their lights for one-minute at 10 p.m., the night of Edison’s funeral. Similar observances took place throughout the world.
We're Free for 8,283 State Commission Staff
All 8,283 state commission staff can receive PUF for free when their commissions set up free site licenses
Using the cool state map on the NARUC web site, I calculated that there are 8,283 state commission staff.
Only the screen for the Wisconsin Public Service Commission didn’t show the number of staff. But I counted using that Commission’s staff directory.
There’s an average of 162 staff at each state commission.
George Bernard Shaw Got His Start with Edison and Insull
Samuel Insull interviewed George Bernard Shaw, then put him to work at Edison Telephone Company in the battery room, in the basement.
Was reading, for fun, “The Memoirs of Samuel Insull.”
Insull wrote the autobiography in the summer of 1934.
As the Depression deepened in 1932, Insull’s extensive utility holding company had collapsed. The press, public and politicians found a scapegoat. After several attempts to extradite him from Europe, U.S. authorities took him off a ship to stand trial in three high-profile cases.
Insull, the man who went from Thomas Edison’s secretary to the inventor of utility regulation, was acquitted on all charges.
Dr. Benjamin Spock's Child Care Book, and Reddy Kilowatt
Dorothea Warren got her start drawing Reddy Kilowatt and ultimately became one of the twentieth century’s top illustrators
Reddy Kilowatt, our industry’s adorable mascot for ninety years, appears in a different spot in every issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly.
Many of you know Reddy was developed and promoted by Ash Collins, Sr. Collins had been a manager at Alabama Power. He felt our industry needed to engage the public more positively.
Alabama Power copyrighted Collins’ cartoon in 1926. Then, the Edison Electric Institute was founded in 1933. Collins left Alabama Power and joined EEI.
President McKinley Collapsed in His Arms, Later He Founded EEI
Assassinated President whispered “My wife… be careful, Cortelyou, how you tell her. Oh, be careful.”
Shot twice at close range by an assassin, President McKinley collapsed into George Cortelyou’s arms.