Letters to the Editor
Comments on “Back to Basics: A Starvation Diet for Utility Earnings Growth” and “Consolidating Co-ops” from the June 2004 issue.
People
People for August 2004.
Positions filled at FERC, Colorado PUC, CMS Energy, and others.
Facing the Death Penalty
Did FERC's market power ruling go too far?
Market-based sales put at risk are the financial lifeblood of some utilities, especially those of the multi-billion-dollar, vertically integrated variety. Those that fail FERC's market-power test will be forced to sell their excess generation at cost-based rates — a "death penalty," according to some utility CEOs.
Natural Gas Storage: Now More Than Ever
Fundamentals in the energy markets are converging to increase the need for incremental gas storage.
The natural gas market is approaching a dramatic turning point. The fundamentals in the energy markets are converging to increase the need for incremental gas storage and the way that storage is used and valued by the customer community.
The Devil in the Transmission Data
Untapped T&D measurement data could make the difference on reliability.
As transmission operators are forced to deal with increasingly less comfortable margins of reliability, choices must be made about acceptable levels of risk. Essential to such determinations is the analysis of untapped operational and non-operational data.
Transmission Investment: All Talk and Little Action
Except for local reinforcements and new generation interconnections, few transmission construction proposals are moving forward.
Just how much money should be spent on transmission infrastructure in the coming years? The answer depends on which study you read, but despite discrepancies, several threads among the current studies can be ascertained.
Acceding to Succeed
How joining the EU may transform the Central and Eastern European electricity sectors
An assessment of how EU accession countries are doing in meeting the union’s energy directives, liberalizing their markets, and overcoming obstacles for private investors.
Of Blackouts and Lawsuits
Class-action claims for widespread utility service interruptions are a growing trend.
What legal exposure does a utility face as a result of losses caused by a blackout? Is that exposure limited to individual claims by disgruntled customers, or can it be litigated as a class action?
Northwest Passage: BPA's Changing Role
The treacherous journey toward a more efficient and transparent Northwest power market may be nearing its conclusion.
The treacherous journey toward a more efficient and transparent Northwest power market may be nearing its conclusion, as increased funding, more generating capacity, and a burgeoning RTO paint a brighter picture for Bonneville Power Administration.
Business & Money: The Back-to-Basics Valuation Squeeze
An analysis of the strategic implications of the re-basing of power and utility industry valuations.
Many utilities are again focusing on perhaps the most viable, broad-based and credible growth strategy: mergers and acquisitions. Combined with supportive regulatory policies, the derived consolidation values of scale, cost-savings and synergies can be leveraged to benefit the public interest as well. Considerations of shareholder value and public policy require it.