2014 Utility Regulators' Forum

Diversifying Utility Regulation: State regulators voice opinions as mixed as the nation’s geography.

Interviews with public utility commissioners from key states – New York, California, Maryland, and Georgia – on coal carbon, climate, and the revolution in retail. What they’re thinking. What they’re planning.

Risk Holds Sway

Interest rates not always controlling for return on equity. 

(November 2014) Our annual survey of rates of return on common equity authorized by state public utility commissions in recent rate cases for electric and gas retail distribution utilities.

Germany's Energiewende

Lessons learned for U.S. utilities – drawn from first-person fact-finding.

Policy experts travel to the continent to get a first-hand view on the lessons the U.S. utilities should take away from Germany’s rush to renewables.

Why Care About Transactive Energy?

Only if you’re a governor, legislator, regulator ... or customer. 

When ratepayers become generators, the utility industry is turned upside-down. A warning to legislators, regulators – and even governors – on what to expect.

People (November 2014)

El Paso Electric named Mary Kipp president; Edison International appointed Ronald L. Litzinger and Pedro J. Pizarro presidents at subsidiaries; OGE Energy promoted Sean Trauschke to president; Alan Oshima was named Hawaiian Electric’s president and CEO; Plus board of directors changes at ISO New England and sPower; VP appointments at GDF SUEZ Energy Resources NA, and Georgia Power; and others…

$9 Billion at Risk

If PJM markets should lose demand response as a capacity resource.

The AEMA sees the self-help DR revolution as a key to America’s recent industrial renaissance: “If demand response is removed from wholesale markets,” the group says, then “the electric grid is back to the rotary phone.”

Locus Energy Chosen as Exclusive Solar Monitoring Provider for Swinerton Renewable Energy

Swinerton Renewable Energy will standardize its entire solar fleet on Locus Energy's SolarNOC monitoring platform and PVIQ analytics suite as part of its SOLV enterprise solution for optimizing and managing plant Swinerton Renewable Energys. By leveraging Locus Energy's web-based SolarNOC software, Swinerton's fleet operators will be able to more efficiently organize and assess performance data over a set of solar PV assets spread across a geographical area, as well as streamline O&M workflows.

Burns & McDonnell to Jointly Develop Software to Improve Grid Reliability and Resilience

Burns & McDonnell will develop a grid stability awareness system (GSAS), a package of analytical software that will allow utilities to better utilize advanced synchrophasor technology. The joint project with Southern Company is part of a comprehensive program recently announced by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to improve the resilience and reliability of the national power grid. The DOE will partially fund the project with a $1.4 million grant, which will be matched by $1.5 million in additional funding from the project participants.