Become a PUF Member Organization

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.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

Read Entire Article

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.
Byline: 

Jamie Craddock and Bill Hogue

Read Entire Article

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.
Byline: 

David Kreiss and J.D. Hammerly

Read Entire Article

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.
Byline: 

Eric Hirst

Read Entire Article

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.
Byline: 

Bridgett Neely and A.J. Goulding

Read Entire Article

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?
Byline: 

Gavin J. Rooney and Nicole Bearce Albano

Read Entire Article

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.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

Read Entire Article

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.
Byline: 

Ian Connor

Read Entire Article

ROE: The Gorilla Is Still at the Door

Incentive regulation is not a cure-all for the continuing controversy over return on equity.

Incentive regulation can provide benefits both to utility shareholders and customers by encouraging greater efficiency. But even if incentive regulation supplants traditional COS regulation, regulators and utilities still will need to confront the same basic ROE questions that have vexed both for many years. Because the base ROE under incentive regulation will be an integral part of the incentive structure itself, it ought not to be done as an afterthought. The approach described here is one way to address this important issue.
Byline: 

Jonathan A. Lesser

Read Entire Article