Giving Credit Where Credit is Due
Ensuring State Emission Reduction in Clean Power Plan
Strong public policy favors giving states credit for the carbon reductions they make while the Plan’s legality is pending.
Illinois
Illinois Approach to Regulating Distribution Utility of the Future
Annual formula rate is working to stabilize distribution ratemaking.
A lot has been said of alternative ratemaking approaches. The clearest, most direct path is what has been happening in Illinois, a success by any reasonable measure for a distribution utility.
Tale of Two Grids
What a review of PUC cases tells us about the future of consumer technology and grid modernization.
There may be a more fundamental schism that raises fundamental questions about the role of the distribution utility and footprint of the natural monopoly.
Aggregation 2.0: Evolution of Customer Engagement with Retail Choice?
An innovative approach to targeted retail aggregation.
No state has had the same initial success with municipal aggregation as Illinois, where more than 650 local governments enrolled 70 percent of residential consumers into municipal aggregation contracts. The pathway forward in Illinois provides a model to help get programs off the ground in all retail choice states.
FPA § 203(a)(1)(B): A Deal is a Deal, No Matter How Small?
With apologies to Dr. Seuss.
There are questions whether FERC and industry resources are being expended on matters once considered, and arguably should continue to be considered, de minimis.
A Formula for Grid Modernization?
How is it going?
Ann McCabe is a commissioner at the Illinois Commerce Commission. The views expressed in this article are her own.
Five years have passed since Commonwealth Edison and Ameren Illinois elected to participate in the Energy Infrastructure Modernization Act, which authorized $3.2 billion in grid hardening and smart meter investments. As a commissioner at the Illinois Commerce Commission, I am often asked: How is it going?
Illicit Marketing Practices
State PUCs take aim at unscrupulous electric and gas suppliers.
We’ll cover state PUC rulings from New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio, dealing with 1) billing overcharges, 2) deceptive promises of savings, 3) faulty enrollment practices, 4) “slamming,” 5) misleading sales scripts used in telemarketing, 6) hidden fixed charges, and 7) concealed pass-through clauses.
Reinvigorating a Century Old Business Model
The Power of Efficient Capital
Customers don’t have to wait decades while the grid incrementally evolves to incorporate transformational technologies. Led by customer-driven choices and decisions, we in the utility industry can and should accelerate the transition.
NRG Energy Enters into Agreements to Sell Two Generating Plants for $138 Million
Submitted by aburr on Mon, 2015-12-07 12:46NRG Energy agreed to sell two of its generating stations: the 525-MW Seward power plant in New Florence, Pennsylvania and the 352-MW Shelby County power plant in Neoga, Illinois. The Seward facility, which is located in the PJM Interconnection, is being acquired by Seward Generation, a Robindale Energy Services company. The Shelby County facility, which is located in the MISO Interconnection, is being acquired by an affiliate of Rockland Capital.
Microgrids: Where's the Beef?
Integration beats islanding, anyway you slice it.
A microgrid is a throwback. It’s anathema to what we know about economies of scale. Integration is what maximizes the ability of least-cost resources to reach load. By interfering with least-cost dispatch, microgrids can only raise energy costs.