Life in the Transco Age
The competitive transmission genie is out of the bottle.
FERC Orders 890 and 1000 have opened the doors to independent transcos, heralding an era of innovation to solve reliability and capacity problems.
Northeast Utilities
People (November 2013)
Southern Power names Chris Cummiskey chief commercial officer; Northeast Utilities appoints new executives at operating utilities; Kevin Bethel replaces Jonathan Halkyard as CFO at NV Energy; Georgia Power creates new position, v.p. of renewable development; plus personnel announcements at PG&E, Sempra, FirstEnergy, Edison International, IDACORP, and others.
People (December 2012)
Tennessee Valley Authority named William D. Johnson president and CEO. Northeast Utilities appointed James W. Hunt as v.p. of regulatory affairs and community relations. Pepco Holdings Inc. promoted Donna J. Kinzel to v.p., treasurer and chief risk officer, Kevin M. McGowan to v.p., regulatory affairs, and O. Ray Bourland to v.p., public policy. And others...
People (October 2012)
NU names new president and COO at Connecticut Light and Power; Jim Stanley leaves Duke to become NIPSCO CEO; plus executive changes at FirstEnergy, ConEdison, Southwest Power Pool, Duke-Progress Energy, EEI, and others.
People (June 2012)
Exelon Generation named Ron DeGregorio president of Exelon Power. Most recently he was chief integration officer working on the Exelon-Constellation merger. Former NSTAR president, chairman and CEO Thomas J. May was elected president and CEO of Northeast Utilities (NU) following the completion of the merger of the two companies. He succeeds Charles W. Shivery, who retired from his position and assumed a new role as the non-executive chairman of the board of NU.
Transactions (June 2012)
Northeast Utilities closes Nstar acquisition; NextEra announces $600 million stock offering; PPL acquires AES power plants; plus debt and equity deals totaling $513 million.
Vendor Neutral
(June 2012) South Carolina Electric & Gas gave Shaw Group and Westinghouse full notice to proceed on their contract for two new Westinghouse AP1000 nuclear power units and related facilities at the V.C. Summer nuclear station near Jenkinsville, S.C. Progress Energy awarded a contract to Westinghouse for underwater laser beam welding (ULBW) at the Robinson nuclear plant in Hartsville, S.C. Southern California Edison (SCE) completed additional inspections of the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) Unit 2 steam generators, based on Unit 3 findings. And others...
The Importance of Being Sustainable
Doing the right thing can drive utility stock performance.
Utilities get little credit for their efforts to strengthen the sustainability of their businesses. But these efforts have paid dividends in stock performance, capital costs, regulatory relationships, and brand value. Capturing the greatest value for shareholders will require utilities to become better understood as socially responsible enterprises.
People (January 2012)
American Electric names new vice presidents; Northeast Utilities announces executive changes; Southern Nuclear and Peabody Energy name new vice presidents; plus senior staff changes at IDACORP, Georgia Power, Conservation Services Group, and others.
Open Access on Trial
The old rules don’t always fit with new commercial realities.
To encourage billions of dollars of investment into America’s transmission grid over the next several decades, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) is restructuring its regulatory policies to bring market-based solutions into the framework for planning, construction, and operation of new transmission lines. The recent Order 1000 is the most dramatic example of this effort. But as FERC has learned before, one set of rules doesn’t serve the financial and commercial needs of all market participants.