Transactions (October 2012)
Exelon sells plants in Maryland and Cali; Mitsui buys into Viridity; Duke issues $1.2B; plus deals at TVA, Xcel, PG&E, etc. totaling $4.9B.
People (October 2012)
NU names new president and COO at Connecticut Light and Power; Jim Stanley leaves Duke to become NIPSCO CEO; plus executive changes at FirstEnergy, ConEdison, Southwest Power Pool, Duke-Progress Energy, EEI, and others.
Views from the Bond Side
How fixed income investors view the utility sector.
Bond investors are keen for signs of a legitimate recovery, and will be looking to move into holdco bonds.
Dividend Double-Take
What happens when the Bush tax cuts expire?
Congress again is embroiled in another hyper-partisan food fight that threatens to blow up into a fiscal crisis. And once again dividend-paying companies like utilities are caught in the crossfire.
Engaging the New Energy Consumer While Doing More with Less
Submitted by Joe Paparello on Fri, 2012-09-28 11:26
We are in the midst of a significant transformation in the energy marketplace that is creating exciting opportunities. At the same time many energy providers are facing continuing pressures to maintain or reduce costs, creating a situation of having to do more with less.
Learning from Retailers
Submitted by mburr on Thu, 2012-09-27 14:58Success in retail energy markets requires providing customers with the best choices and the best service. Utilities can learn valuable lessons from the experiences of competitive electricity retailers.
Success in retail energy markets requires providing customers with the best choices and the best service. Utilities can learn valuable lessons from the experiences of competitive electricity retailers.
LDC Gas Forums Rockies & West
Submitted by jcole on Tue, 2012-09-25 13:34The LDC Gas Forums Rockies & West brings together gas buyers and sellers through throughout the Shale Plays – including Utica, Marcellus, Bakken, etc. to network and keep up with industry trends. Networking activities include a golf tournament, a spa day, and a tour of Hollywood. In-depth discussions on hot topics include:
Vendor Neutral
Panda Energy awards turnkey $300 million turnkey contract to Siemens and Bechtel; Dominion starts up 585-MW CFB plant; Ocean Power Technologies and Lockheed Martin partner on wave power project; Infigen awards wind turbine service contract to Mitsubishi; ITC commissions 345-kV line in Oklahoma; ABB tests world’s biggest DC transformer; Xcel gets green light for Tres Amigas-area transmission upgrades; plus contracts and announcements from Elster, Sensus, Enertech, and others.
Pre-Funding to Mitigate Rate Shock
Re-starting the Big Build calls for revisiting cost-recovery mechanisms.
As the industry resumes major capital-spending programs, utilities and their stakeholders are rightly concerned about the effects on prices. Traditional regulatory approaches expose utilities to risks and costs, and can bring rate shock when capital spending finally makes its way into customers’ bills. Pre-funding investments can provide a smoother on-ramp to bearing the costs of a 21st-Century utility system — but it also raises questions for utilities to address.