Letters to the Editor / Corrections, Clarifications
Corrections, Clarifications
To the Editor:
I read your May 15, 2003, "Frontlines" column ("Grid Glut?") and have to respectfully take issue with a couple of your thoughts.
Pacific Northwest
Off Peak
School plays teach efficiency, creativity, and self-confidence.
School plays teach efficiency, creativity, and self-confidence.
Bumbling Melvin Markham is a hero. He just doesn't know it. As the central character in an innovative school play, Melvin learns that everyone can save energy and the environment.
Commission Watch
PUC could oust PG&E from the project, finding no need for an upgrade.
PUC could oust PG&E from the project, finding no need for an upgrade.
Nearly a year after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) gave its blessing for upgrading California's notorious "Path 15" transmission bottleneck, an administrative law judge (ALJ) at the California Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has thrown a monkeywrench into the plan.
America's Canadian Problem
U.S.-Canada electricity trade is shrinking, and some American companies may be left without their megawatts for the summer.
People
New Hires:
New Hires:
DPL Inc. named James V. Mahoney president of DPL Energy LLC. Mahoney has been with EarthFirst Technologies since 2001.
The board of directors of Piedmont Natural Gas elected Kim R. Cocklin senior vice president and general counsel. Cocklin's previous experience includes time as senior vice president at Williams Gas Pipeline and senior vice president and general counsel at Texas Gas Transmission Corp.
FERC's Market Design: The End of a 'Noble Dream'
How state opposition cowed the feds and turned a powerful rule into just a set of talking points.
How state opposition cowed the feds and turned a powerful rule into just a set of talking points.
A funny thing happened on the way to a standard market design (SMD). What began as a full-fledged rulemaking-with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) giving instructions and imposing deadlines on the electric utility industry-now has degenerated into little more than a set of talking points.
Talk about cold feet.
Benchmarks
California must address its transmission problems, particularly Path 15.
Crisis Aftermath: Piecing Western Markets Together
Squeezing Juice from Plants
Asset optimization is a favored utility strategy in an economic downturn.
Asset optimization is a favored utility strategy in an economic downturn.
Generation plant construction has gone down with the economy. "Our project finance pipeline is as dry as I have seen it," says energy analyst Jerry Pfeffer of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, speaking at a recent energy conference in New Orleans. He predicts it will take at least a year or two until new construction starts up again in any significant manner.
Reign of the Bond Kings
S&P, Moody's, and Fitch tell why credit issues now rule the energy sector.
S&P, Moody's, and Fitch tell why credit issues now rule the energy sector.
This year saw energy companies forced to make some grim choices-issuing new stock in falling markets, angering investors with dividend cutbacks, selling prized assets at fire sale prices. Some blame it on the rating agencies-the bond kings-who imposed tougher credit standards after the fall of Enron.
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.