The Talent Bubble

As Baby Boomers near retirement age, utilities face the challenge of preparing the next generation of leaders.

As Baby Boomers near retirement age, utilities face the challenge of preparing the next generation of leaders.

Human resources managers at many utilities are sounding alarm bells about an impending shortage of skilled personnel-even amid flat industry growth and high unemployment rates.

Plants for Sale: Pricing the New Wave

Financial players and load-serving utilities are looking for power asset deals.

Financial players and load-serving utilities are looking for power asset deals.

Despite talk of wide bid-ask spreads in the past two tumultuous years, some 60 sales of generation assets have been announced. These sales cover more than 22 GW of capacity, valued on a cash-and-debt basis at approximately $11 billion. A wide variety of buyers and sellers have participated in the sales activity, with a pronounced entry by financial players (investment banks and private equity firms) and load-serving entities (LSEs) looking for capacity to serve their load.

European Infrastructure: Billions Needed in Investment

Electricity demand in parts of Europe is on the rise.

Electricity demand in parts of Europe is on the rise.

The European Union (EU), unlike the United States, enters 2004 with neither a constitution nor a European regulatory agency to oversee the EU's "single market" goals in energy. The EU, however, faces many cross-border issues affecting trade in electricity and natural gas, just as the United States does. While the member countries of the EU have become more energy efficient, new investment in all segments of electric infrastructure still is needed.

Europe Rewired: A Giant Awakens

EU nations are taking slow steps toward an integrated energy market, but they are many paces ahead of U.S. efforts.

EU nations are taking slow steps toward an integrated energy market, but they are many paces ahead of U.S. efforts.

Despite recent setbacks in establishing an acceptable balance of voting power among member nations, a new constitution for the European Union (EU) is expected to bring together dozens of separate nations into a single economic and political superpower and lead to an interconnected energy market throughout the European continent-one that will eventually stretch from Portugal to the Baltic Sea and from Ireland to Greece and perhaps beyond.

Power Outages: A Tale of Two CIS Systems

What made BG&E's system more reliable than Pepco's?

Reliability and customer information systems (CIS) are rarely mentioned in the same breath. But in the wake of Hurricane Isabel last fall, the CIS at Baltimore Gas and Electric gets kudos for helping the utility keep on top of a widespread outage.

Mercury Rising

How will the EPA's rulemaking affect U.S. energy markets?

EPA proposes a cap-and-trade program. How does that compare with a Maximum Achievable Control Technology standard?

Climate Change: The Heat Is On

From reporting to trading, utilities try to meet new expectations.

Implementing a strategy on climate change is a new sign of corporate responsibility, and utilities are responding in a variety of ways.

Generation Reserves: The Grid Security Question

A cost-benefit study shows the value of adding synchronized generating reserves to prevent blackouts on the scale of Aug.14.

A study reveals how increasing the availability and flexibility of generation resources is cheaper than adding transmission.

What's New at the Firewall

Utilities search for ways to combat viruses and spam.

Spam costs utilities hundreds of thousands of dollars annually, but the threat from spam quickly is becoming a security issue as well.