RTO cost/benefit studies are difficult to reconcile.
The premise behind the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) push for regional transmission organizations (RTOs)-that they will provide positive economic benefits to society- increasingly is being challenged.
Some want to cut costs, others to improve service.
Uncertain economic times have always moved companies to find ways to cut costs. Utilities and energy companies are no different. They have turned to automated meter reading (AMR) during the past years in increasing numbers.
But many technology experts disagree on strategy: should utilities go high-tech or low-tech on AMR?
John J. Carney has joined Solomon Associates as a power generation consultant. During Carney's 25 years of management experience, he has worked for Florida PowerCorp., Carolina Power and Light Co., and Florida Power and Light.
FERC's call for regional PUCs will force state regulators to declare their allegiance.
How will regulators re-engineer restructuring? That was the theme of the seventh annual convention of the Mid-Atlantic Conference of Regulatory Commissioners (MARUC). But while the theme may have been the re-engineering of restructuring, other regulators felt more inclined to discuss the "re-regulating of restructuring."
Will FERC's market solution wipe out state commissions?
One might say, when it comes to FERC, some state public utilities commissions' lack of faith is disturbing—to paraphrase Lord Vader. It's also necessary, as any journalist would tell you. The FERC NOPR on standard market design (SMD)—which completes the "trilogy" of regulation on wholesale markets, as chairman Pat Wood described it—had some state PUCs blasting the NOPR even before its July 31 release.
By Lori A. Burkhart
Gas-fired power is king today, but fuel diversity needs and new technologies may open the door for nuclear and coal.
The nation's demand for electricity is expected to grow by over 40 percent in the next 20 years, according to the Energy Information Administration (EIA). Meeting that need will require a great number of new generating plants. The burning question is, what will fuel these new plants?
Off Peak
August 2002
Seven-Year Itch
Congress is still scratching the surface on electric competition.
August in Washington. Traffic thins out, but not the gridlock. For each of the past seven years, there's been an energy bill lurking somewhere in the hallways of the Russell or Longworth congressional buildings.