The Fortnightly 40 Financial Ratings
Which is the best energy company?
(September 2005) Top honors in our first annual financial ranking go to those staying with the basics and to those dealing with soaring commodity prices.
Energy Policy Act
RTOs: Facts, Not Fiction
The benefits and future challenges of regional transmission organizations.
Ten years after the initial Notice of Proposed Rulemaking that set in motion the establishment of RTOs, it is hard to dispute that the mature organized markets with independent management of the grid have achieved tangible benefits for all customers. It is important to remind ourselves of the accomplishments and challenges ahead.
PUHCA Debate - Again
The SEC denies approval of the AEP/CSW merger. What will that mean for industry consolidation?
What's wrong the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA)? The 1935 act clearly did not contemplate a competitive marketplace for electricity. Legislation should be updated to reflect the prevailing energy economic climate.
The Widening Technological Divide
Increased business and regulatory challenges have utilities lagging in investments to meet energy demand a decade from now.
The electricity enterprise has tended through restructuring to become a victim of its historic success in maintaining universal service reliability at ever-lower cost. The essential foundation for restoring enterprise vitality in the coming decade is rebuilding this fundamental public/private partnership, based on technology innovations that can increase the value of electricity service, including providing higher levels of reliability and security.
The Need for Nuclear Now
States will play a significant role in the resurgence of nuclear power plants in America.
At times, various conditions align and set the stage for achieving goals that may have appeared to be unreachable. Last summer, the Boston Red Sox were all but eliminated from contention, but then won an amazing stretch of baseball games that resulted in a World Series championship.
A similar scenario can be applied to the U.S. nuclear industry-producer of a steady, low-cost, environmentally important electricity source poised to thrive with the possibility of new plant construction in the not-so-distant future.
Debilitating Doctrine
How the filed-rate policy wreaks havoc — and what courts can do about it.
Like many venerable legal rules, the filed-rate doctrine is rarely questioned. Over the last century, it has served many important purposes. However, with deregulated wholesale electric power markets at the federal level and various degrees of deregulation across the states, both the doctrine's continued applicability and usefulness are suspect.
Perspective: Leave Green-Power Quotas to the States
Congress should not impose a federal renewable portfolio standard.
The adoption of an RPS by more than a dozen states has inspired and contributed to proposals for a federal green-power quota. Leave the green-power quotas to the states. PURPA should be amended to include an RPS among the retail policies that can be adopted or rejected by state public service commissions.
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.
Commission Watch
CPUC questioned historic oversight authority.
Commission Watch
CPUC questioned historic oversight authority.
To guarantee the continued growth of liquefied natural gas (LNG) importation and use in the United States, the energy industry needs to pay close attention to govern the regulation, siting, and operation of LNG import terminals-issues traditionally overseen by the federal government.
Frontlines
Utilities have little to show for the millions they pay in campaign contributions.
Frontlines
Utilities have little to show for the millions they pay in campaign contributions.
If Donald Trump could call Congress on the carpet, he would send lawmakers packing with those two now infamous words, "You're fired!"
Trump, at the conclusion of each episode of his reality TV show "The Apprentice," dumps an unlucky job candidate for failing to complete that show's business assignment to his liking.