investment

Nice Work If You Can Get It

Rate of Return for Fun and Profit

If you want actionable intelligence up front, here it is: invest in regulated utilities. There is mounting evidence that investment in utility stocks has outperformed the broader market in the past, and will continue to do so.

Electricity, Economic Efficiency and Growth

Building a fully integrated grid is the next great opportunity to realize higher levels of economic efficiency and prosperity.

A cost benefit analysis in electricity typically achieves assessment of future costs but usually considers only a single type of benefit: operational cost savings.

FirstEnergy to Invest $353M in 2015 Infrastructure Upgrades

FirstEnergy expects to invest about $225 million in 2015 on distribution and transmission infrastructure projects in Mon Power's 34-county service area, primarily in north-central West Virginia. Major projects scheduled for 2015 include transmission enhancements to reinforce the system and support economic growth, constructing new distribution lines, and inspecting and replacing utility poles and other equipment.

Start the Conversation

The regulator’s role in a world divided by distributed generation.

A state utility commissioner urges her colleagues to begin planning now for distributed generation – before it’s too late.

Making Peace With Solar

Electric executives open up on what they’re planning next.

Electric power executives open up about their solar investments. What motivates them? What are they planning next?

$60 Million Dedicated for Solar Energy on Long Island

As part of the statewide NY-Sun Initiative, a $60 million investment to support the Long Island solar industry's transition to PSEG Long Island has been announced. PSEG Long Island will partner with NYSERDA to locally implement the statewide NY-Sun program. NY-Sun Initiative is a collaborative effort among public-private entities who are all working toward advancing the use of solar power in New York State. NYSERDA will more than double the proposed NY-Sun Initiative allocation for the Long Island region from $28 million to $60 million.

In the Crosshairs

Protecting substations and transformers after the PG&E Metcalf attack.

The latest fallout from the April 2013 Metcalf incident: the unprecedented assault with high-powered rifles on PG&E’s Metcalf substation, in Silicon Valley, which disabled 17 of 20 large transformers.

IKEA Makes First Wind Farm Investment in the United States

IKEA made its first wind farm investment in the United States with the purchase of 98-MW Hoopeston Wind in Hoopeston, Illinois. The project is currently being constructed by Apex Clean Energy and is expected to be fully operational by the first half of 2015. The Hoopeston Wind project will install 49 Vestas V100-2.0 MW wind turbines near Hoopeston in Vermilion County, Illinois, approximately 110 miles south of Chicago.

Results-Based Regulation

A more dynamic approach to grid modernization.

The utility’s role is changing, and regulation must change along with it – to spur innovation and respond to evolving customer needs. Modernizing the industry will require a dynamic approach.

Power Breakfast

Fortnightly’s Executive Roundtable considers industry options and risks.

Fortnightly recently convened a group of senior operations executives from a variety of companies to discuss current trends in the U.S. power industry. Their comments reflect a mixed outlook on the industry’s transitionary changes.