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MISO-PJM Super Region: FERC Makes Companies Pay for RTO Choices

Irregular seams affect ratemaking policies.

In a case that marks the first time FERC eliminated inter-RTO rate pancaking, the commission in late July issued an order terminating regional through-and-out rates (RTORs) charged by two regional transmission owners. The decision removes an estimated $250 million in yearly fees collected by those two entities. But the lost revenue has parties to the proceeding squabbling over many aspects of the case.
Byline: 

Lori A. Burkhart

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Letters to the Editor

Two letters, one correction

Jonathan Jacobs, Managing Consultant at PA Consulting Group, responds to a letter to the editor in the Oct. 1, 2003 issue from Lewis Evans and Kevin Counsell. And former FERC commissioner Matthew Holden Jr. disagrees with John Sillin's commentary in "The Blackout of 2003: Why We Fell Into the Heart of Darkness" in the Sept. 15, 2003 issue.
Byline: 

PUF

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People

People for November 1, 2003

New opportunities at the Nuclear Energy Institute, the Analysis Group, Southwest Gas Corp., and others.
Byline: 

PUF

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AEP's Gutsy Gambit

It would join an RTO but dictate the terms — a dangerous game that has the industry talking.

When I talked a few months ago with AEP President and CEO Linn Draper Jr., he discussed how his company would have joined the PJM RTO in March were it not for the backlash he was getting from certain state regulators.
Byline: 

Richard Stavros

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21st Century ROEs: What Is Reasonable?

How to benchmark return on equity (ROE) and depreciation expense in utility rate cases.

Opposing estimates of investors’ required rates of return and determining appropriate depreciation rates could translate into disagreements worth tens of millions of dollars in a utility’s annual revenue requirement.
Byline: 

Johannes P. Pfeifenberger and Mark W. Jenkins

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Utility Ratemaking & ROE: Rethinking the Tools of the Trade

The industry requires new analytical tools to incorporate the realities of today's higher risk operating and investment environment into the equity allowance process.

With a “return to basics” mantra now common in the industry, coupled with the recognition of under-investment and heightened reliability concerns, most companies are now facing significant capital expenditure programs. Many utilities are considering or have filed for rate relief.
Byline: 

Mark Ciolek, Wallace Jones, and Dr. William Wilson

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People

People for October 15, 2003.

New positions at Great Plains Energy Inc., Wisconsin Energy Corp., Independent Energy Producers of Maine, and others.
Byline: 

PUF

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Blackouts? never Again! (But...)

We ask merchant grid developers if anything can ever be done.

How will technicians prevent another major blackout? Fortnightly weaves the opinions of industry insiders on the keys to electric reliability with a cautionary tale from Connecticut to present solutions for what’s ailing the grid.
Byline: 

Lori A. Burkhart

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Restructure or Bust?

Why FERC must yield to bankruptcy law.

How will regulators react if the current trickle of bankruptcies within the debt-laden merchant power sector should suddenly become a torrent? Will they encourage the necessary restrcturing of debt, or will they stand in the way?
Byline: 

Kenneth Irvin and Robert Loeffler

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People

People for October 1, 2003.

New positions at the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Cleco, Avista, and others.
Byline: 

PUF

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