Electric Light & Power articles from December 2003

Electric Light & Power archives from December 2003

Southern Company steers steady course through industry turmoil.(Utility of the year: Southern Company)
December 1, 2003... A common refrain heard these days from executives of many electric utilities is "getting back to the basics." EL&P's utility of the year 2003, Southern Company, resisted the temptation to abandon the basics and run with the ill-fated pack of...

Environomics 101.(commentary)(Energy bill, for better or worse, fizzled out again)
December 1, 2003... The energy bill, for better or worse, fizzled out again. At times during its troubled existence, cautious optimism allowed me to at least daydream of what its passage might mean to the electric industry. But, I admit that optimism was always...

This month online ...
December 1, 2003... Powering customer satisfaction through quality assurance Roger Woolley, etalk Salt River Project decided to undergo a customer satisfaction survey to evaluate the success of its call center agents' performance by measuring their courtesy...

Benefit of counsel: the post-PUHCA world.(news)(Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935)
December 1, 2003... When the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 is repealed, it will represent a major change in the way electric--and retail gas--utility holding company systems are regulated and could lead to a significant alteration in the scope of...

Generating brand power.(news)
December 1, 2003... World-class brands are a result of a strategically directed and informed brand-building process. These companies take the time and effort to create a corporate brand strategy that drives everything the company does. Such a brand creates...

Computer worms, viruses pose serious threats to utility control systems.(news)
December 1, 2003... In January 2003, the so-called Slammer worm invaded Microsoft SQL servers worldwide and crashed tens of thousands of computer business networks. Slammer also affected control systems used in utility and manufacturing applications. The only...

The aging workforce: what can you do about it?(news)
December 1, 2003... The statement that a wave of retirements over the next decade threatens to seriously impact utility operations within the next five to ten years shouldn't be a shock to any reader of Electric Light and Power. As utilities peer into the...

Arnie's new plan: the "gubernator" sets sights on energy.(news)(Arnold Schwarzenegger)
December 1, 2003... Action-star-actor-turned-Republican-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger was sworn in as the 38th governor of California on November 17 after ousting former Democratic governor Gray Davis. Now in charge of the world's fifth-largest economy,...

Facing regulatory challenges.(news)
December 1, 2003... The changing regulatory environment at both the state and federal levels is creating an aura of uncertainty for power and utility companies operating in many parts of the U.S. Although no one can predict the ultimate impact of these potential...

The N[O.sub.x] market's wild ride: are you ready to hop on board?(electric & gas trading)
December 1, 2003... This summer was the an expanding regional program aimed at reducing the N[O.sub.x] emissions from electric generating and large industrial facilities, which contribute to the transport of smog in the Eastern United States. It was a wild ride,...

Exclusive to EL&P: energy utility indices up at least 20 percent for the most recent 12-month period.(finance)
December 1, 2003... All four of the C Three Group's Energy Utility Indices lead the S&P 500 Index for the most recent 12-month period. The C Three Composite Index has a healthy lead over the S&P for that period, gaining 24.5 percent vs. 18.2 for the S&P. The C...

Minimizing the financial risk of unplanned outages.(finance)
December 1, 2003... Beginning with FERC's order for deregulation in the electric utility industry in the mid 1990s, a highly competitive marketplace with many new structural changes has emerged. Electric utilities have been forced to adapt to market-based pricing...

What to expect in customer care in 2004.(information technology customer systems)(Utilities must make customer care a priority)
December 1, 2003... The last year has been tumultuous for utilities. The energy trading scandals, the state of the California power market and the blackout of August 14 have heightened the awareness of the power industry for the average consumer. In 2004,...

How big of a "player" will DG become?(generation)(distributed generation)
December 1, 2003... Statements like these seem almost heretical in our technology-driven, anything-can-happen culture. And certainly, many technologies--including fuel cells--will contribute substantially to transforming the energy landscape in the long run. Yet...

Wind turbines take flight.(generation)(Hunt Aviation)
December 1, 2003... Pass Christian, Miss. Hunt Aviation's presentation of its new gravity powered aircraft technology to the public and to the aviation industry for the first time at the National Business Aviation Association Convention in Orlando, FL was a...

Real-time load profiling as an energy diagnostic tool.(transmission & distribution)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Reliable, timely energy consumption data, collected at specific time intervals, is critical to the efficient operation of any facility in today's tough energy market. Complex commercial and industrial electrical systems, like anything else,...

Wireless mesh networks will soon be the new stars in the electric power industry.(transmission & distribution)
December 1, 2003... For almost 30 years now, electric power companies have looked longingly at the vast potential of wireless meter-reading networks. Then they look at these networks' staggering price tags. Then they go back to yet another year of manual and...

Calendar events.(management methods)(Brief Article)(Calendar)
December 1, 2003... JANUARY 20-22 DistribuTECH 2004 PennWell Confs. & Exhibitions (918/831-9160) www.distributech.com Las Vegas 22-23 Strategic Supply Chain Management for Utilities Center for Business Intelligence ...

12 ways to improve employee morale.(management method)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... 1 Demonstrate to your employees that you are genuinely interested in them and would be glad to have their ideas on how conditions may be improved. 2 Treat your people as individuals; never deal with them as impersonal variables in a...