PPL CEO Interviewed
We went to Allentown and talked with Bill Spence.
What are the most exciting things happening at PPL? What were the biggest challenges in that journey? Were there some tough challenges you had to get through?
S&P
Following Up on a Capital Performance
Utility stocks have outperformed the broader market. Can the industry deliver a show-stopping second act?
The utility sector has been one of the best performing sectors in the equity capital markets for more than two years. In many respects, this has been a case of the rising tide lifting all ships.
Capital Management: The Missing Performance Driver
Does your company measure up?
Few companies achieve sustainable high performance. Markets change but companies fail to adapt, and investors are unforgiving. Utilities, and new entrants, learned this lesson during the first competitive market cycle of the late 1990s and early 2000s, when few companies sustained a high-performance leadership.
PUHCA Debate - Again
The SEC denies approval of the AEP/CSW merger. What will that mean for industry consolidation?
What's wrong the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA)? The 1935 act clearly did not contemplate a competitive marketplace for electricity. Legislation should be updated to reflect the prevailing energy economic climate.
CEO Pay Reflects Strong Stock Performance
The CEO Power Forum: TXU's Wilder nets $55 million package.
Companies continue to embrace the back-to-basics strategy, and investors seem to think that it is paying off.
Fulfilling the Value Proposition
The Next M&A Wave: If mergers are once again a potential strategy for accomplishing growth objectives, the previous round of transactions offer several lessons.
The industry stands at an inflection point regarding consolidation. But this time, it is less likely to retreat from more and larger combinations. What’s driving renewed interest in mergers and acquisitions?
Business & Money
Sticking to the Knitting:
Business & Money
Sticking to the Knitting:
A review of three years of post-Enron stock performance by electric utilities.
Immediately following the Enron collapse, investors dumped the stock of any electric power company that appeared to be pursuing non-traditional growth strategies. Any company that emphasized unregulated businesses-investments in overseas assets, merchant power plant development, and energy marketing and trading-was suspect.
Frontlines
Can utility executives find happiness in back-to-basics?
Frontlines
Can utility executives find happiness in back-to-basics?
We've read the pitch a number of times in these very pages. Top investment bankers have told us that a "back-to-basics" strategy will never produce a high-enough return to please electric utility stockholders; that the only solution to bridge this "earnings gap" would involve a rash of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) between utilities.
Changing Capital Structures for Changing Times
The utilities industry is in need of more equity.
Value Line projects that total capital for electric utilities will increase about 12 percent during the next several years, while common equity will increase nearly 28 percent. Similarly, natural gas distribution company total capital is projected to increase about 10 percent, and common equity close to 15 percent. For both industries, the median common equity ratio in the near-term future for companies with investment-grade rated subsidiaries is in the range of 51 to 52 percent. For utilities, higher equity ratios are desirable for several reasons.
Letters to the Editor (December 2004)
While we are concerned about the effects of ratings linkage on regulated utilities, in no respect do we blame credit rating agencies. In fact, we strongly believe that the rating agencies are critical gatekeepers that point out for investors and regulators the potential linkages among holding company subsidiaries that could result in utility abuse or its credit downgrade.