Electric Light & Power articles from April 2002

Electric Light & Power archives from April 2002

Inside players paint positive Texas portrait.
April 1, 2002... The retail market within the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has been open since New Year's Day. While the fragility of deregulation in many states has been making headlines, the newborn Texas market has been remarkably quiet. ...

Execs pumped up above deregulation; caution advised by consultants.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... Cap Gemini Ernst & Young interviewed over 100 executives across the globe between late August and November 2001 for their recently released study, Making De-regulation Work; Have the Basics been Forgotten?, and received an overall excited...

Letter to the Editor.
April 1, 2002... Enron's fallout: Banks bearish on financing new power I enjoyed and agree with your Commentary in the February EL&P. But, while I am a booster of the industry, I think the fallout from Enron is actually far worse than is generally...

Bush gives Yucca thumbs-up, Vegas in uproar. (News Briefs: Legal and Regulatory).(nuclear waste storage site to be built on Yucca Mountain)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... President Bush has backed Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham's choice of Yucca Mountain for use as the nation's long-term nuclear waste storage site. Yucca Mountain is located north of Las Vegas. If all approvals run smoothly, the site could...

Montana PSC approves sale. (News Briefs: Legal and Regulatory).(of Montana Power Co. utility to North Western Corp.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Montana Public Service Commission (PSC) approved a stipulated agreement that will allow The Montana Power Co. to move forward on the sale of its electric and natural gas transmission and distribution utility to North Western Corporation of...

Calif. denies $219 million settlement. (News Briefs: Legal and Regulatory).(San Diego Gas & Electric Co. to go to court)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The California Public Utility Commission has rejected a proposed Sempra Energy settlement which sought to divide power profits between San Diego Gas & Electric Co. customers and shareholders. It seems likely the case will be taken to court,...

Mitsubishi Electric, Toshiba integrate. (News Briefs: Transmission).(to form joint venture company)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Mitsubishi Electric Corp. and Toshiba Corp. announced that they will integrate their power T&D businesses in a joint venture company that will be incorporated in April this year and start business on Oct. 1, 2002. The new joint venture will...

MISO, PJM, SPP desire single market. (News Briefs: Transmission).(Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator, PJM Interconnection, and Southwest Power Pool)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO), PJM Interconnection (PJM) and Southwest Power Pool (SPP) announced the formation of a single market design forum to identify the needs of market participants and promote efficiency in...

APS, SRP receive approval to build line. (News Briefs: Transmission).(Arizona Public Service Co. and Salt River Project)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Arizona Public Service Co. (APS) and Salt River Project (SRP) received approval from the Arizona Corporation Commission to build a new high-voltage transmission line project, which includes 37 miles of a new 500 kV transmission line. The...

FERC approves Lake Erie open season. (News Briefs: Transmission).(TransEnergie U.S. Ltd. and Hydro One to sell energy transmission rights)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has granted TransEnergie U.S. Ltd and Hydro One authority to sell transmission rights for the proposed Lake Erie Link, which will consist of bi-directional high voltage direct current facilities...

Duke, CP&L won't go South. (News Briefs: Transmission).(GridSouth RTO plan withdrawn)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Duke Energy, CP&L and South Carolina Electric & Gas issued a statement that they "remain committed to the GridSouth RTO, but due to regulatory uncertainties in the RTO arena, the companies are withdrawing their applications before the Public...

Hydro One, Cap Gemini sign outsourcing agreement. (News Briefs: Projects & Contracts).(to Cap Gemini subsidiary Inergi)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Hydro One and Cap Gemini Ernst & Young Canada have finalized an agreement that a Cap Gemini subsidiary, Inergi, will manage and operate existing business processes and technology-enabled services for Hydro One. Under this 10-year, $1 billion...

Cirro Corp. forms alliance with Aquila. (News Briefs: Projects & Contracts).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Officials with retail electric provider Cirro Corp. have announced a five-year, contractual relationship with wholesale energy merchant Aquila Inc. that will significantly strengthen Cirro's buying power to purchase electricity from energy...

U.S. electric utility R&D spending turns positive. (News).(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
April 1, 2002... After a six-year decline, U.S. electric IOUs have demonstrated a return to positive growth in their annual research and development (R&D) expenditures. This is a major conclusion by TECC Group Inc. (TECC) based on its year 2000 analysis of U.S....

Integrated utilities seize competitive advantage. (Executive Insights).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... To further develop deregulated wholesale energy markets in the 1990s, utility executives first looked to capitalize on market share by using their regulated assets and associated earnings along with intellectual capital-driven marketing and...

Study says U.S. market needs work to become competitive. (Executive Insights).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A series of 12 policy and structural changes are the minimum steps needed to move the U.S. electric power industry beyond its current crisis of confidence into a workable, deregulated industry, according to Energy Restructuring at a Crossroads,...

NERC. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(Bruce A. Scherr)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Bruce A. Scherr has been appointed to the independent Board of Trustees.

Washington Group. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(Cynthia Stinger)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Cynthia Stinger is Vice President of government affairs.

Cinergy. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(Gary L. Lavey and Steven E. Schrader)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Gary L. Lavey becomes Vice President of global risk management; Steven E. Schrader becomes Vice President of investor relations.

American Electric Power. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(Dave Trego)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Dave Trego has been named Vice President of telecommunications.

CMS Energy. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(Michael D. Van Hemert)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Michael D. VanHemert has been promoted to Vice President and Secretary of the diversified energy business unit, CMS Enterprises.

DOE. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(William T. McCormick, Jr.)(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... William T. McCormick, Jr., CMS Energy Corp. Chairman and CEO, has been appointed to serve on the Electricity Advisory Board.

Dynegy. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Matt K. Schatzman is President and CEO of the company's energy convergence business.

KWI. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Thomas M. Ray Ill has been appointed President and General Manager of North American operations.

Babcock & Wilcox. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... James W. Ma/one has been named Vice President of sales and marketing.

AGL Resources. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Paula Rosput, Chief Executive, has been additionally named Board Chairman.

Harris Group Inc. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Bill Ward is Operations Director, energy, and Mike Bums is Director, oil and gas.

Intercontinental Exchange (ICE). (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Martin Wadhwani has been appointed Vice President of market data services.

FirstEnergy. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... H. Peter Burg has been named Chairman and CEO.

EPRI. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Clark W. Gellings is Vice President of the power delivery and utilization sector.

Alliant Energy. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).
April 1, 2002... Edward M. Gleason, Vice President, Treasurer and Corporate Secretary, retired on March 31. Thomas L Hanson has been promoted to Vice President and Treasurer to replace him.

Wisconsin Energy Corp. (News Briefs: Executive Appointments).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... George E. Wardeberg will retire as Vice Chairman this month.

Projections point to strong growth in world energy use. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Worldwide energy consumption grows by 60 percent over the next two decades, according to the reference case projection released recently by the Energy Information Administration (EIA) in its annual forecast of international energy demand. ...

NRC investigates missing Millstone fuel rods. (News).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has an idea what happened to two missing spent fuel rods from Millstone Unit 1. The NRC sent in a special inspection team, which included a licensing project manager and a material control and...

Financial analysts take a post-Enron quiz. (Finance).
April 1, 2002... Shakespeare's famous As You Like It snippet "all the world's a stage and all the men and women merely players" seems to be even more poignant in this post-Enron era. Of course, some of these current Enron players didn't intend to get so caught...

Final verdict's not in on RTOs, wholesale electric transmission: Stability or continued confusion? (Industry Report).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Over the past year, the structure of the wholesale electric transmission industry in the United States has continued its dramatic transformation. In the wake of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) landmark Order 2000, which...

GIS moves up a notch with integration of weather technology. (Information Technology).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... A utility's primary responsibility is to ensure the delivery of energy to its customers and to control or reduce the number of service interruptions. In both cases, the weather is a primary contributing factor. Now, the availability of...

Service gateway brings rural Washington customers closer to "home of the future". (Customer Systems).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Vancouver B.C. Santa Clara, IntraCoastal System Engineering Corp., a provider of power line communication solutions, announced that Washington State's Mason County Public Utility District 3 (PUD3) has selected IntraCoastal's Utility...

Utility spending for CIS upgrades falls then rises. (CS Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Utility companies are budgeting an average of just under $28 per customer for CIS improvements, with median upgrade costs of just under $20 per customer, according to a recent survey, The Chartwell Report on CIS Expenditures, conducted by...

VoiceLog opens new operations center. (CS Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... VoiceLog LLC, provider of third party verification, opened its newest operation center in Ashburn, Va., in early March, bringing its total number of call and data centers to four. With the move, VoiceLog is increasing its Internet connectivity...

Keys to unlocking a booming exchange: Is it the exchange model or the battle for liquidity? (Electric & Gas Trading).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... As dust settles on several folding and flopped trading platforms (the likes of Red Meteor, HoustonStreet and such) there's a new rivalry growing in town, namely a head-to-head duel between consortiums, independents, brokers and proprietary...

E-IecTrade adds advanced credit features. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... E-IecTrade Inc. added advanced credit management and "percent of pool" transaction capabilities to its online structuring desk so participants can manage counterparty credit risk more effectively. Credit managers can take into account the type...

The Structure Group & Energy Services Group form alliance. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The Structure Group, an international software and consulting company providing integrated solutions for the deregulated energy industry, announced an alliance with Energy Services Group (ESG), a strategic source of managed e-commerce,...

Triple Point acquires Energy Crossroads. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... In early March, Triple Point Technology unveiled Power XL, a trading system for electricity and natural gas markets, which enables utilities and power trading companies to calculate and analyze volumetric risk on an hourly basis. In mid-March,...

Sempra Energy Trading to acquire Enron's metal trading business. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Sempra Energy Trading announced it has signed an agreement to acquire the metals concentrates business of New York-based Enron Metals & Commodity Corp., a global trader of copper, lead and zinc concentrates, for a cash price of $42.5 million....

Taking it live: On-line, on-load treatment of insulating oils. (Technology).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... KELLYANNE G. COLLINS (*) Transformer maintenance presents an interesting and a challenging problem in that the system is highly sensitive to any kind of disturbance of the insulating oil that may stir up contaminants and/or lead to the...

AEP to demonstrate sulfer battery. (Tech Briefs).(American Electric Power )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... American Electric Power (AEP), along with a team of partners, will conduct a U.S. demonstration to test the combined power quality and peak shaving capabilities of the sodium sulfer NAS battery. The demonstration project at an AEP office in...

NYPA to install fuel cell plants. (Tech Briefs).(New York Power Authority )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... UTC Fuel Cells has sold eight PC25 fuel cell power plants to the New York Power Authority (NYPA). The sale is one of UTC Fuel Cells' largest commercial orders ever, according to company representatives. The 200 kW units will produce power for...

Siemens Solar introduces new system. (Tech Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Siemens Solar Industries has introduced its earthsafe 20 solar electric system, which converts solar power to utility power and provides emergency back-up power. The system includes solar panels, electrical interface and back-up power...

CERA offers microturbine data. (Tech Briefs).(Cambridge Energy Research Associates )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) is providing its client manufacturers, customers and utilities access to operating microturbine generators through a standard Web browser at www.cera.com. Clients can create reports that analyze...

Black & Veatch will be a part of biomass study. (Tech Briefs).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Black & Veatch, Energy Products of Idaho and Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) have been selected by the Western Regional Biomass Energy Program--funded by the DOE--to perform a feasibility study of an add-on fluidized bed biomass gasifier...

UK National Grid goes for ION meters. (Tech Briefs).
April 1, 2002... Power Measurement and C-Matic Systems Ltd. have been selected by National Grid of the UK to supply ION digital power meters to monitor power quality characteristics of traction supply points, such as the Channel Tunnel. The ION 7600 device will...

Wartsila garners contracts. (Tech Briefs).(Wartsila North America,)
April 1, 2002... Wartsila North America, a subsidiary of Helsinki, Finland-based Wartsila Corp., has won two contracts worth $20 million combined for its PeakingPlus power plants, a reciprocating engine power plant design offered in the gas-fired intermediate...

SCAQMD buys microturbines. (Tech Briefs).(South Coast Air Quality Management District )(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... The governing board of California's South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) approved $6.2 million to purchase and install microturbines and associated equipment from Capstone Turbine Corp. The action provides a $3.7 million firm...

How well do you delegate? (Management Methods).(questions about delegating)
April 1, 2002... * Do you and your people agree on what results are expected of them? * Do you and they agree on measures of performances? * Do your people feel they have enough authority over their people? * Do they feel they have sufficient...

Guaranteed ways to kill ideas. (Management Methods).(certain tactics discourage employees' ideas)
April 1, 2002... The manager who doesn't want to encourage new ideas doesn't have to. There are ways of discouraging people who think they have something worthwhile to contribute. Try these when anyone comes up with an idea: Ignore it. There is no better...

Now you see it, now you don't. (Commentary).(Brief Article)
April 1, 2002... Springtime in California promises to be stormy, but I'm not talking about weather patterns. California Attorney General Bill Lockyer filed a $150 million lawsuit in March against four energy generators for allegedly double-dipping. He...