Risk-Management Principles for the Utility CEO
Board coordination is the key.
The responsibility for integrated risk management now lies squarely on the shoulders of the utility CEO. Eight principles can help guide them.
Consolidating Co-ops
Like it or not, changes are coming for electric cooperatives. Fewer and bigger might be the inevitable result.
Most electric co-ops remain small, local entities. But that historic strength may be keeping them from fulfilling their primary mission—to provide reliable electricity for the lowest possible cost.
Boardroom Showdown
Investors are revolting against poor corporate governance, demanding tighter controls that will boost earnings and stock price.
Does good governance lead to superior financial performance? Some large institutional shareholders think so, and they’re pushing for changes. Will your company be affected?
Envision the Utility of Tomorrow
How will the industry change in the future?
Scale, synergies, and automation will transform tomorrow’s utilities, as will deregulation. But new management strategies and new technology also will play a part.
The New CEOs
Whether utility leaders come from law, engineering, or finance, one thing can be said: Many of the new CEOs have had diverse experiences.
Our annual CEO survey looks at six new utility leaders: Mike Morris of AEP, Robert McGehee of Progress Energy, Michael Chesser of Great Plains Energy, Gary Rainwater of Ameren Corp., Dennis Wraase of PEPCO, and Paul Anderson of Duke Energy.
A Rough-Cut Diamond: Fortnightly Turns 75
Let's look back over the past few years — what we got right and where we went wrong.
So we come to the 75th anniversary of the publication of Public Utilities Fortnightly. Few magazines ever live that long. Nor should they. Yet here we stand. Launched in 1929. Still kicking in 2004. We can learn from the experience of the past 10 years — a time of turmoil like no other in the utility industry. So let’s lean back and have a little fun. What can we learn from Public Utilities Fortnightly over the past decade?
The Fight for Sustainability
Investors are asking utilities questions about environmental and social risks. Answers can be a challenge.
Sustainability reporting may produce benefits that come full circle-satisfying the demands of shareholders, improving the company's performance on environmental and social factors, and ultimately increasing value for investors.
LNG: FERC Asserts Control
CPUC questioned historic oversight authority.
The Sound Energy Solutions declaratory order clarified an important jurisdictional issue at a time when the United States is facing dwindling supplies of natural gas from traditional sources. While the order may ultimately be subject to judicial review, expeditious review and confirmation by the courts of the declaratory order may facilitate the development of new infrastructure and the expansion of existing LNG terminals.
Bringing Wind Energy Up to 'Code'
Grid reliability is one giant step in mainstreaming the technology.
As wind power expands, increasingly energy company CEOs are facing the question of whether to invest.
Back to Basics: A Starvation Diet for Utility Earnings Growth
A look at issues that could keep energy executives up at night.
Although much progress has been made in cleaning up liquidity issues facing the merchant generators, those “fixes” may not be sufficient to carry the merchants through the process of working off the excess.