Electric Light & Power articles from February 2000

Electric Light & Power archives from February 2000

EPA considers "off-ramp" for New Source Review compliance.
February 1, 2000... After snagging seven electric Utilities last November for alleged noncompliance with New Source Review (NSR) regulations and drawing fire for its interpretation of "routine plant maintenance," the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is...

PUHCA's grip loosens on takeovers of U.S. utilities.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... The acquisitions of Pacificorp by ScottishPower plc and of the New England Electric System by National Grid Group plc mark the first takeovers of major U.S. electric utilities by foreign companies. In closing these transactions, the foreign...

Private buyouts, public peril?
February 1, 2000... When Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investment firm bought into Iowa utility MidAmerican Energy, Wall Street treated it like just another capital investment--a fairly conservative one, at that. More recently, when New York's Kohlberg...

TXU plans pipeline in Mexico.
February 1, 2000... Dallas-based TXU is leading a group that plans to spend $124 million to build a 2,000 km (1,200 miles) pipeline network to serve 2.5 million customers in Mexico by September 2003. TXU controls 70 percent of a holding company that operates...

Calpine builds in Fla.
February 1, 2000... Calpine Eastern Corp., a subsidiary of Calpine Corp. of San Jose, Calif., plans to build a 1,080 MW plant near Vero Beach, Fla., and another, 540 MW plant in Auburndale.

Tenaska and Williams partner.
February 1, 2000... Tenaska Alabama Partners and Williams signed a tolling agreement recently under which Williams will supply fuel for and market power output from the 846 MW, Tenaska Lindsay Hill project being developed near Billingsley, Ala. Tenaska will...

Trans-Elect and ABB Power T&D partner.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Trans-Elect Inc., positioning itself to be the first U.S. independent national transmission company, named ABB Power T&D Co. as its strategic technology provider. ABB will provide state-of-the-art products, services, solutions and consulting to...

USEC signs to supply TVA reactors.
February 1, 2000... USEC Inc.'s subsidiary, United States Enrichment Corp., signed a 10-year contract valued at $725 million to supply enriched uranium product to the Tennessee Valley Authority. USEC will provide uranium enrichment services and uranium feed to...

Sithe & Cabot LNG ink a deal.
February 1, 2000... Sithe Energies Inc. and Cabot LNG have entered into a 20-year gas sales and purchase agreement valued in excess of $4 billion. Cabot LNG's subsidiary, Distrigas of Massachusetts Corp., will be the principal supplier of natural gas to fuel...

Siemens signs NASCAR contract.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Siemens Energy & Automation Inc. (SE&A) has introduced a new car and driver for NASCAR's Winston Cup 2000 season. Siemens also signed a new three-year sponsorship contract with Bill Davis Racing. Rookie Winston Cup driver Dave Blaney and the...

Conectiv to sell plants to NRG Energy.
February 1, 2000... Conectiv signed an agreement to sell 1,875 MW of fossil-fired generation and related assets to NRG Energy, Minneapolis, a subsidiary of Northern States Power Co., for $800 million. The sale is expected to close during the third quarter of 2000....

Calpine sells Sutter generation.
February 1, 2000... Calpine signed an agreement to sell power for five years to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) from its 545 MW Sutter power plant, which is under construction in Sutter County, north of Sacramento, Calif. Calpine will provide 150...

FPL exits retail marketing.
February 1, 2000... PP&L EnergyPlus Co. agreed recently to serve the unregulated power and natural gas customers of FPL Energy Services in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, marking FPL Group's exit from the unregulated retail marketing business. Terms of the...

FERC approves New Century & NSP merger.
February 1, 2000... New Century Energies and Northern States Power recently cleared a key hurdle in their $4.6 billion merger when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the deal without ordering more public hearings into the merger. The merger's...

Gates invests in Spokane utility.
February 1, 2000... Microsoft's Bill Gates invested in Avista Corp. Gates' private investment firm, Cascade Investment LLC of Kirkland, purchased 5.01 percent of Avista, or about 1.8 million shares.

PSI Energy Inc.
February 1, 2000... After six and a half years as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Vicky A. Bailey is stepping down effective February 1 to serve as president of PSI Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp. She succeeds J....

Oglethorpe Power Corp.
February 1, 2000... Oglethorpe Power Corp. named Michael W. Price chief operating officer (COO), responsible for power supply planning, generation operations and construction, contract administration and analysis, member relations and power marketing functions. He...

UtiliCorp United.
February 1, 2000... UtiliCorp United named Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, to its board of directors. A former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Jackson previously taught as a professor of theoretical...

Reliant Energy.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Reliant Energy hired Rex Clevenger as vice president-finance. Clevenger most recently served as senior vice president for structured finance at Koch Industries, Wichita, Kan. Prior to joining Koch in 1994, he gained experience in commercial and...

PacifiCorp.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... PacifiCorp appointed Karen Clark chief financial officer. She previously served as senior vice president-finance with Sunbeam Corp., Boca Raton, Fla. Clark will be responsible for controller functions, financial planning and analysis, risk...

Edison Mission Energy.
February 1, 2000... Edward R. Muller, president and CEO of Edison Mission Energy since 1993, resigned in January. John E. Bryson, chairman, president and CEO of Edison International, was named chairman of Edison Mission in December. He announced the promotions of...

NewEnergy.
February 1, 2000... Michael R. Peevey, founder and chairman of Los Angeles-based NewEnergy (formerly New Energy Ventures and recently acquired by AES Corp.), resigned from the company, effective Jan. 15, 2000, "to pursue other opportunities." A successor was not...

El Paso Merchant Energy Co.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... El Paso Energy Corp. subsidiary El Paso Merchant Energy Co. recently hired four former Cinergy Capital & Trading Inc. executives. Joining El Paso Merchant Energy's power services division are David Field, W. Scott Harlan, Jodie Rephlo and David...

Calpine Corp.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Calpine Corp. promoted Bob Alff to senior vice president-eastern region. Alff was appointed vice president-eastern region in September 1998 to head the expanding company's new regional office in Boston. He will continue to oversee business...

Dynegy Inc.(names Mary Doyle director of regulatory policy)
February 1, 2000... Dynegy Inc. named Mary Doyle director of regulatory policy. She will be responsible for long-term gas and electric policy development and implementation. Doyle was formerly gas and electricity policy advisor for Commissioner William L. Massey...

Commonwealth Energy Corp.(names James L. Oliver as CFO)
February 1, 2000... Commonwealth Energy Corp. appointed James L. Oliver as the company's new chief financial officer (CFO). With more than 20 years of diversified business management, finance and accounting experience, Oliver has worked most of his career in CFO...

Essential.com.(Names Paul O'Brien to board of directors)
February 1, 2000... Essential.com, a web-based energy and communications superstore, named Paul C. O'Brien, former CEO of NYNEX, to its board of directors.

Utility.com.(S. Murthy Divakaruni named VP business development)
February 1, 2000... Utility.com, an Internet utility company, named S. Murthy Divakaruni as vice president of business development. He previously worked for Tejas Power Generation and EPRI.

Utilities earn kudos for exemplary disaster response.
February 1, 2000... Rancho Mirage, Calif. In recognition of exemplary efforts to respond to some of the worst local storms on record, six electric utilities--from Oklahoma and the East Coast--are winners of the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) national...

Distributed generation offers T&D cost management.
February 1, 2000... With utility restructuring, integrated utilities are building for the future using regulated companies as they spin off generation into unregulated subsidiaries or divest themselves of traditional generation assets. Regulated transmission and...

Going virtual: Utilities and the e-business revolution.(utility company online services)
February 1, 2000... Competition is coming to the utility business just as e-business is rewriting the retailing rulebook. Industries as diverse as popular music, office supplies, and stock brokerage are discovering that end-user marketing involves different...

Forecasting model cuts vegetation control costs.
February 1, 2000... Saving 25 percent to 35 percent on vegetation management costs--that's what utilities around the country are finding they can do. These savings result from taking a long-term view of vegetation management-a strategy that, until recently, was...

New radar improves splice detection.
February 1, 2000... Kent, wash Keith Lanan of UTILX Corp. has developed a new sub-nanosecond time domain reflectometer (TDR), or radar, test method that pinpoints the existence and location of splices more accurately than the previously used two-nanosecond...

Hybrid system offers new on-site generation.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Tulsa, Okla Williams Distributed Power Services, a unit of Williams, has developed and successfully tested an integrated power generation and management storage package called the Williams Energy Conversion Unit (WILLIAMS ECU). ...

Software streamlines oil monitoring.(Digital Inspections Inc. and Delta-X Research electrical asset maintenance software)
February 1, 2000... Corvallis, Ore. Digital Inspections Inc. and Delta-X Research integrated their computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) and transformer oil analysis (TOA) programs, creating an electrical asset maintenance package for utilities...

TXU strives for best-in-class.(TXU named Utility of the Month)
February 1, 2000... Editor's note: This is the first installment in EL&P's new special feature, "Utility of the Month." Each month this feature will profile a company that demonstrates exemplary performance in a variety of business practices, including finance,...

Slamming specter haunts electric industry.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Think it's too early to be concerned about slamming--the unauthorized switching of customer energy services--just yet? With looming threats of decertification, per-incident and per-day fines of $100,000 and even jail time for slamming, your...

E-billing to hit 27% of customers by 2002.(online business transactions for utility companies)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Companies that deliver water, gas, electricity and other services to households and businesses have stepped up their plans to offer e-business services to lock in customers and lock out the competition. According to a new study by Killen &...

Another utility wired fore-billing.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Baltimore Gas & Electric--which supports over one million customers in the Baltimore area--has taken the e-plunge and will offer Internet bill presentment and payment services from Derivion, an Atlanta-based provider of e-bill presentment and...

Pa.'s progressive PUC.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Recently, the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission made electronic data interchange (EDI) certification mandatory for energy companies marketing in Pennsylvania. Malvern, Pa.-based SCT, a provider of information solutions for the...

A Just-in-Time solution.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Just in Time Solutions, a provider of Internet billing and interactive customer care software, has made its BillCast 2.0 suite of applications for the Sun Microsystems Solaris operating environment available. Written entirely in the Java...

A thunderbolt for CRM.
February 1, 2000... New England-based Strafford Technology and ThunderBolt Technologies Inc., an integrator of customer relationship management (CRM) solutions, have joined forces. Under a newly penciled agreement, ThunderBolt will offer its customers two...

The Irish are coming.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... eWare, a privately owned Dublin, Ireland-based e-business software company, announced its launch of eWare, an "e-CRM solution," which integrates a new eWare Web self-service module with eWare's care, sales and marketing modules. The company...

Do you see a trend developing?
February 1, 2000... The trend toward e-services and the convergence of broadband access, home networking and Internet connectivity from many types of devices provides significant opportunities for integrated home gateway solutions. Some $14 million in funding...

edocs unveils additional XML & XSL functionality.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... As the business of transforming unstructured legacy data into highly structured XML formats increases, software vendors like edocs (a provider of Internet billing and customer management software and services), create faster programs to ease...

Increasing partnerships between electric and telecommunications spark growth.
February 1, 2000... Most utilities own their own communications systems and buy or lease services from other providers where it serves their cost and reliability target(s). But deregulation is opening the possibility that utilities may want to form partnerships...

Metering shifts focus to multi-utility service.
February 1, 2000... The fundamental demands of the changing market remain consistent from state to state--improve customer service and reduce costs through competition. Applied to meter data collection and aggregation, should companies seek to grow their metering...

Patented for power lines.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Media Fusion (www.mediafusionllc.net) has been awarded a U.S. patent on its power-line communications technology, which will enable households and businesses across the globe to plug into voice, video and Internet data through the electric...

Orders increasing with [NO.sub.x] reductions.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Pegasus Technologies, a KFx subsidiary (www.kfx.com), recently announced additional installations of its process optimization software, NeuSIGHT as a result of significant [NO.sub.x] reductions achieved with prior installations. The company,...

FCC grants satellite license to SatCom.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... SatCom Systems, Inc has been granted full license authority by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to supply mobile satellite services for the U.S. commercial market using the Canadian-licensed MSAT-1 satellite operated by TMI...

Miner & Miner groups for small utilities.
February 1, 2000... Miner & Miner formed an Engineering and Automation Group within the company to begin the New Year. Headed by Ron Yosimura with Don McDaniel serving as strategic account manager, the group will deliver turnkey solutions to smaller utilities with...

New workstation line launched.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Tadpole-RDI, (www.tadpolerdi.com) a business unit of Tadpole Technology plc, has launched of a new generation of portable Sun-compatible workstations for enterprise software and e-business application vendors. Weighing just 7.5 lbs. and powered...

Simplifying mobile computer configuration.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Intermec Technologies Corp. promises to simplify networking and reduce operating costs for companies who use mobile computers. Officials claim IT system administrators with the company's 6980 and 6985 product may configure, implement and manage...

Hedging against Mother Nature: Weather risk and its effect on earnings.
February 1, 2000... Facing yet another nail-biting warm winter season, an East Coast power generator called upon Castlebridge Weather Markets, a weather derivatives "market maker," to create a hedging transaction in order to protect its cash flow. The power...

FirstEnergy wins Pa. state contract.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... FirstEnergy Services, a subsidiary of Akron, Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp., was selected to supply most of the electric generation service for several agencies of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania during the state's first online electricity...

How low can you go?(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... U.S. electric power prices decreased for the fifth straight year in 1998, falling at a faster rate than seen previously this decade. Average prices fell to their lowest mark since 1990, the Energy Information Administration said. Price declines...

UVC lights beat heat and save energy in Dallas.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... In 1998, with 56 days of temperatures 100 F or more, it's not surprising that utility bills in Dallas ran 15 to 35 percent higher than typical summers. Again, during the summer of 1999, record-breaking heat forced building operators to crank up...

FirstEnergy Corp.(names Robert Saunders president of FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co.)
February 1, 2000... FirstEnergy Corp. named Robert F. Saunders president of its FirstEnergy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC) subsidiary and chief nuclear officer. He succeeds John P. Stetz, who will be reassigned within the FENOC organization. Saunders most recently...

LAST RITES.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Trojan Nuclear Power Plant's decommissioned reactor vessel is positioned for its placement in a burial trench at Hanford Nuclear Reservation in central Washington. Pressure-wrapped in blue plastic, filled with concrete and wrapped in six inches...

EPA considers "off-ramp" for New Source Review compliance.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... After snagging seven electric Utilities last November for alleged noncompliance with New Source Review (NSR) regulations and drawing fire for its interpretation of "routine plant maintenance," the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is...

Natural gas benefits from shift to non-utility generation.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Arlington, Va. and Houston The Gas Research Institute (GRI) released the 2000 Edition of its Baseline Projection of U.S. Energy Supply and Demand to 2015, which describes steady growth in overall U.S. energy consumption and very strong...

Private buyouts, public peril?(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... When Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investment firm bought into Iowa utility MidAmerican Energy, Wall Street treated it like just another capital investment--a fairly conservative one, at that. More recently, when New York's Kohlberg...

TXU plans pipeline in Mexico.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Dallas-based TXU is leading a group that plans to spend $124 million to build a 2,000 km (1,200 miles) pipeline network to serve 2.5 million customers in Mexico by September 2003. TXU controls 70 percent of a holding company that operates...

Calpine builds in Fla.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Calpine Eastern Corp., a subsidiary of Calpine Corp. of San Jose, Calif., plans to build a 1,080 MW plant near Vero Beach, Fla., and another, 540 MW plant in Auburndale.

Tenaska and Williams partner.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Tenaska Alabama Partners and Williams signed a tolling agreement recently under which Williams will supply fuel for and market power output from the 846 MW, Tenaska Lindsay Hill project being developed near Billingsley, Ala. Tenaska will...

USEC signs to supply TVA reactors.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... USEC Inc.'s subsidiary, United States Enrichment Corp., signed a 10-year contract valued at $725 million to supply enriched uranium product to the Tennessee Valley Authority. USEC will provide uranium enrichment services and uranium feed to...

Sithe & Cabot LNG ink a deal.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Sithe Energies Inc. and Cabot LNG have entered into a 20-year gas sales and purchase agreement valued in excess of $4 billion. Cabot LNG's subsidiary, Distrigas of Massachusetts Corp., will be the principal supplier of natural gas to fuel...

El Paso, Coastal converge in $16 billion deal.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... El Paso Energy Corp. and Coastal Corp. plan to merge in a $16 billion interest-pooling transaction that would make the company one of the top five wholesale gas and power companies. The merger is expected to be completed late this year. El Paso...

Conectiv to sell plants to NRG Energy.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Conectiv signed an agreement to sell 1,875 MW of fossil-fired generation and related assets to NRG Energy, Minneapolis, a subsidiary of Northern States Power Co., for $800 million. The sale is expected to close during the third quarter of 2000....

Calpine sells Sutter generation.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... Calpine signed an agreement to sell power for five years to the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) from its 545 MW Sutter power plant, which is under construction in Sutter County, north of Sacramento, Calif. Calpine will provide 150...

FPL exits retail marketing.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... PP&L EnergyPlus Co. agreed recently to serve the unregulated power and natural gas customers of FPL Energy Services in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, marking FPL Group's exit from the unregulated retail marketing business. Terms of the...

FERC approves New Century & NSP merger.(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... New Century Energies and Northern States Power recently cleared a key hurdle in their $4.6 billion merger when the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) approved the deal without ordering more public hearings into the merger. The merger's...

Gates invests in Spokane utility.(Avista Corp. )(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... Microsoft's Bill Gates invested in Avista Corp. Gates' private investment firm, Cascade Investment LLC of Kirkland, purchased 5.01 percent of Avista, or about 1.8 million shares.

PSI Energy Inc.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... After six and a half years as a commissioner on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), Vicky A. Bailey is stepping down effective February 1 to serve as president of PSI Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp. She succeeds J....

Oglethorpe Power Corp.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... Oglethorpe Power Corp. named Michael W. Price chief operating officer (COO), responsible for power supply planning, generation operations and construction, contract administration and analysis, member relations and power marketing functions. He...

UtiliCorp United.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2000... UtiliCorp United named Dr. Shirley Ann Jackson, president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, to its board of directors. A former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Jackson previously taught as a professor of theoretical...

Edison Mission Energy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... Edward R. Muller, president and CEO of Edison Mission Energy since 1993, resigned in January. John E. Bryson, chairman, president and CEO of Edison International, was named chairman of Edison Mission in December. He announced the promotions of...

NewEnergy.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2000... Michael R. Peevey, founder and chairman of Los Angeles-based NewEnergy (formerly New Energy Ventures and recently acquired by AES Corp.), resigned from the company, effective Jan. 15, 2000, "to pursue other opportunities." A successor was not...