Public Power & RTOs: How To Avoid Making Swiss Cheese
Several issues need to be addressed before municipals and co-ops participate significantly in regional transmission organizations.
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission
A Vision for Trasmission: How the RTOs Stand
And where the trouble spots lie in FERC's grid plan.
And where the trouble spots lie in FERC's grid plan.
The mood appeared calm on June 26 in Washington, D.C., at the regular bi-weekly meeting of the U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC). Key officials from various regional transmission organizations (RTOs) had gathered before chairman Pat Wood and the other commissioners to brief them on progress over the past year in reforming wholesale electric markets, and on what the FERC might expect in the summer at hand.
Off Peak
The <i>Fortnightly</i> guide to round-trip trading.
Off Peak
July 15, 2002
Collateral Damage
Credit ratings agencies put the squeeze on merchant power.
Have they gone too far? Have ratings agencies become overzealous in their efforts to rein in energy merchants? Many in the industry are coming to that belief after Aquila, one of the industry's most respected companies and leaders, announced it would exit the merchant energy trading sector in late July. It said it could no longer meet the credit requirements imposed by ratings agencies to maintain that business.
RTOs: The Billion Dollar Advantage
ICF study shows the national benefits of RTOs are too large to be ignored.
Sixty billion dollars in benefits. Less than $6 billion in costs. In any business, those numbers mean just one thing: you've got a winner.
Three-Legged Stool
The smart money now treats transmission as a player. Just like generation. Just like load.
Over at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, new chairman Pat Wood has let it be known if he had been in charge, he would have postponed Order 2000.
A Hope, A Wing, and A Prayer: Toward a Standard Market Design for RTOs
On the virtues and vices of ICAP, ACAP, FTRs, hubs, flowgates, DAMs, and gaming.
An in-depth analysis of the myriad of issues affecting the true development of competitive power markets.
FERC At 25
A leaner bureaucracy sharpens its market-monitoring tools.
FERC turns 25 this year. With Enron’s collapse and California’s unraveled electric restructuring scheme, the silver anniversary reminiscing may be slightly muted.
Digital Terrorism: Holes in the Firewall?
Plugging cyber security holes isn't as easy as everyone wants to think.
Experts show that utilities will have to do more than just post guards around power plants to protect against terrorist attacks.
The Aftermath of Alliance
What can we learn from its failure?
What does its downfall mean for the industry?