America's Canadian Problem
U.S.-Canada electricity trade is shrinking, and some American companies may be left without their megawatts for the summer.
Transmission
Commission Watch
National Grid balks, says FERC intended TransLINK as model for the East.
PJM ITC Tariff Splits With Midwest
Winds of Change in Texas
Rising gas prices spark a rush to wind farms, straining grid capacity and raising larger issues about market design.
Rising gas prices spark a rush to wind farms, straining grid capacity and raising larger issues about market design.
When the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) was drafting rules to encourage the use of renewable energy, it took pains to guard against the chance that power producers would fail to reach the state's target of 400 megawatts (MW) in installed new renewable generation capacity by Jan. 1, 2002. The commission needn't have worried.
In Search of... Transmission Capitalists
Facing a cash crunch, transmission owners look for new funding sources.
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.
Commission Watch
FERC looks ahead to the new year as it wraps up loose ends from 2002.
FERC: SMD/Grid Issues Lead 2003 Agenda
Competition Lost
U.S. companies' international strategies turn sour, as Europe faces a future with an oligopoly of power companies.
U.S. companies' international strategies turn sour, as Europe faces a future with an oligopoly of power companies.
While the European Union is pushing to give all industrial and commercial customers electric choice by 2004, giant incumbent European utilities are increasingly dominating power markets across Europe and the United Kingdom.
Benchmarks
California must address its transmission problems, particularly Path 15.
Crisis Aftermath: Piecing Western Markets Together
Business & Money
The economic downturn is increasing utility pension plan costs and liabilities.
Pension Plans May Slow Utility Growth in 2003
The economic downturn is increasing utility pension plan costs and liabilities.
While 401(k) stock option plans have increasingly displaced traditional pension plans in corporate America, many mature firms like electric utilities are still administering sizeable pension plans that in the recent economic downturn could compromise future earnings, according to a report by investment bank CIBC World Markets (CIBC).