News Digest
News Digest
New Jersey
Boom and Bust? Understanding the Power Plant Construction Cycle
Rising energy demand could spur investment in waves, but a fixed capacity charge might flatten the curve.<b> </b>
East vs. West: Comparing Electric Markets in California and PJM
While neither is perfect, the former has done better than its critics would admit.
Off Peak
Should PUCs teach customers that the market doesn't want them?
Off Peak
July 1, 2000
Managed Expectations
By Regina R. Johnson
Should PUCs teach customers that the market doesn't want them?
You know the flight of suppliers from a deregulated market is having an impact when surviving marketers issue press releases to let customers know they're still in the game.
Powerline Telecommunications: Mission Impossible?
PLT: History of Developments and Debacles
PLT could allow energy companies to provide Internet, voice, and data via the grid, but technological hurdles and fierce competition remain obstacles.
News Digest
Transmission & ISOs
News Digest
News Digest
Mergers & Acquisitions
News Digest
Fuel Cells: White Knight for Natural Gas?
New technologies cloud the future for the traditional electric utility, but offer hope to the gas industry in boosting residential demand.
Investors apparently were paying attention in January when a Web-based analyst predicted Plug Power's stocks could gain 10,000 percent or more by 2010. Before month's end, the fuel cell manufacturer, which doesn't expect to turn a profit before 2004, saw a ninefold increase from the $16 closing day share price at its October initial public offering. That month Avista Corp.
A Subtle but Clear Preference for ISOs
Do not mistake the FERC's professed neutrality on what works best for regional transmission organizations.
In its final rule on regional transmission organizations, known as Order 2000,[Fn.1] the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it would not dictate to the electric utility industry whether and how to form RTOs. Don't be misled. The FERC claims to be agnostic,[Fn.2] but it still has a vision. And that vision leads inexorably to one conclusion. The preferred form for an RTO is the independent system operator, or ISO.
"Sensible Approach" or Misguided Meddling?
The proposal by Reps. Franks and Meehan to sell federal power at market rates provokes conflicting responses from readers.
I am writing in response to an article written by Reps. Franks and Meehan entitled, "The Sensible Approach: Federal Power at Market Rates," published in the Nov. 1, 1999 edition of Public Utilities Fortnightly (see pp. 44-47). I agree that it is outrageous that electricity services for people in the Northwest are subsidized (regardless of the customers' ability to pay) by the rest of the people in this country.