| Fortnightly

No Consumer Advocates! 50 Years Ago

PUF editorial in 1966 shows what a dramatically different culture it was then.

Check out this editorial from 50 years ago, in the April 14, 1966 issue of Public Utilities Fortnightly. In this criticism of the notion of a utility consumer advocate, the rhetoric reveals a gigantic gulf between American society of then and of now.

Byline:

Steve Mitnick

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10 Most Influential in Utilities Since 1990

Amory Lovins, Bill Hogan, Alfred Kahn, Gina McCarthy, etc.

It's January 1, 1990. Electric utilities are vertically integrated. The '92 Act is two years off. RTOs and ESCOs are unheard of.

Coal dominates the generation mix. Control technologies for emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are slowly evolving. As are gas combined-cycle technologies. Gas is drilled for vertically.

The Clean Air Act is surprisingly amended later in the year. Few are wary of climate change, aka global warming.

Byline:

Steve Mitnick

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HQ Energy Services US: A Wholesaler Finds a Niche

CEO Forum: Christopher Anderson, President of HQ Energy Services US

“You can’t stop this. The bottom line for me is the energy markets are going to get a lot bigger despite what happens post-Enron.”

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Centrica North America: A Retailer's Quest for No. 1

CEO Power Forum: Deryk King, Chairman and CEO of Centrica North America

“We’re three and bit months into the real competitive market in Texas. It will be a remarkable thing if a change as dramatic as we’re seeing there went smoothly and without a hitch.”

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Aquila: New-Look Company Still Bullish on Risk Management

CEO Power Forum: Robert Green, President and CEO of Aquila

“We want to see the framework for investment in transmission clarified so that we can attract capital to de-bottleneck the transmission grid and continue to restructure the transmission segment so there’s no discrimination and we can freely flow electrons across the grid to meet our clients’ requirements.”

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Xcel Energy: Utility Sizes Up Mergers and Re-Acquisitions

CEO Power Forum: Wayne Brunetti, Chairman, President, and CEO of Xcel Energy

“We believe the PJM model can’t work in markets as big as the Western market. It might work well in PJM but it’s a pretty confined geographic area.”

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Sempra Energy: Calif. Utility Prospers in State of Uncertainty

CEO Power Forum: Stephen Baum, Chairman, President, and CEO of Sempra Energy

“One lesson, of course, is you can’t raise prices too high, too fast. I think that’s clear. You get what I call the French Revolution syndrome.”

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PSEG: N.J. Utility Rides Unregulated Wave to the Bank

CEO Power Forum: James Ferland, Chairman, President, and CEO of Public Service Enterprise Group

“We’re running our generation operations with about 40 percent fewer people than we had 10 years ago, and other parts of the country could benefit from similar kinds of competitive pressures.”

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Alliant Energy: Pushing for a Coherent Policy

CEO Power Forum: Erroll B. Davis Jr., Chairman, President, and CEO of Alliant Energy

“I, personally, have always been, and I continue to be, for competition at every level. But I’m not spending a lot of personal time, energy, or political capital, pushing issues of retail choice at this point.”

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TXU: Texas Company Vies in World's Competitive Markets

CEO Power Forum: Erle Nye, Chairman and CEO of TXU

“If where they are, those rates are coming down and the service is being maintained, then they’ve benefitted from competition even though they make no choice at all.”

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