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MISO: Building The Perfect Beast

Seams, holes, and historic precedent challenge the Midwest ISO's evolution.

As it addresses problems that contributed to last August’s blackout, the Midwest ISO struggles with staffing, “grandfathered” service agreements, and integration issues.
Byline: 

Michael T. Burr

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A Market-Access Plan for Vertically Integrated Utilities

Assimilating the best of the regulated-utility and merchant models.

We propose a market-access plan (MAP) that does not advocate sweeping changes. It instead builds on existing VIU frameworks with structural improvements that are technically feasible, cost-effective, and politically practicable. The result assimilates the best of the VIU and merchant models; benefits the industry investment climate; increases the level of low-cost, efficient, and environmentally friendly power supplies; and promises to save customers millions of dollars.
Byline: 

Larry Eisenstat, Pat Alexander, and Don Gelinas

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Transmission Investment: All Talk and Little Action

Except for local reinforcements and new generation interconnections, few transmission construction proposals are moving forward.

Just how much money should be spent on transmission infrastructure in the coming years? The answer depends on which study you read, but despite discrepancies, several threads among the current studies can be ascertained.
Byline: 

Eric Hirst

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ROE: The Gorilla Is Still at the Door

Incentive regulation is not a cure-all for the continuing controversy over return on equity.

Incentive regulation can provide benefits both to utility shareholders and customers by encouraging greater efficiency. But even if incentive regulation supplants traditional COS regulation, regulators and utilities still will need to confront the same basic ROE questions that have vexed both for many years. Because the base ROE under incentive regulation will be an integral part of the incentive structure itself, it ought not to be done as an afterthought. The approach described here is one way to address this important issue.
Byline: 

Jonathan A. Lesser

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A Rough-Cut Diamond: Fortnightly Turns 75

Let's look back over the past few years — what we got right and where we went wrong.

So we come to the 75th anniversary of the publication of Public Utilities Fortnightly. Few magazines ever live that long. Nor should they. Yet here we stand. Launched in 1929. Still kicking in 2004. We can learn from the experience of the past 10 years — a time of turmoil like no other in the utility industry. So let’s lean back and have a little fun. What can we learn from Public Utilities Fortnightly over the past decade?
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

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The Case Against Gas Dependence

Greater reliance on gas-fired power implies serious economic, technological, and national security risks.

Over the past two decades, the United States has, by default, come to rely on an "In Gas We Trust" energy policy. Is such a dramatic increase in the use of natural gas to generate electricity feasible without straining gas supply and infrastructure?
Byline: 

Roger H. Bezdek and Robert M. Wendling

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