Electric Light & Power articles from February 2001

Electric Light & Power archives from February 2001

Golden State nosedives into power eclipse.(electric utilities companies in California in trouble after deregulation)
February 1, 2001... Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2001. A day that will live in infamy--at least in California. Not since the fear of an American blitz darkened the West Coast in those last days of WWII have officials called down mandatory blackouts in the state. Now...

Enron pursues "asset light" strategy.(fourth quarter earnings)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... Enron Corp. reported a $326 million charge to fourth quarter earnings from losses on its investment in Azurix Corp., the fledgling water company Enron spun off a few years earlier. Fourth quarter earnings fell by 77 percent to $60 million...

Watching the juggling and plate balancing in California.(electricity market)(Brief Article)(Column)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... The California electricity market is taking on the character of a three-ring circus. Except, as the old joke goes, it's not as organized. The dollar figures are flying--and so are accusatory words--as the various parties weigh in to try to...

NRG pockets nearly 6,000 MW.(NRG Energy Inc.)(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... NRG Energy Inc. announced plans to acquire a 5,961 MW portfolio of operating projects and projects in construction and advanced development from LS Power LLC for about $658 million. Additionally, NRG has the opportunity to acquire ownership...

Dynegy, NRG to buy from Sierra Pacific.(Dynegy Inc., NRG Energy Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Dynegy Inc. and NRG Energy Inc. announced a major expansion of their co-owned generation portfolio in the West through asset purchase agreements to acquire 1,330 MW of power generation facilities from Sierra Pacific Resources. The facilities...

Allegheny Energy to buy three Enron plants.(Allegheny Energy Supply Co., Enron North America)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Allegheny Energy Inc. and Enron Corp. announced that Allegheny Energy Supply Co., Allegheny Energy's unregulated generation subsidiary, and Enron North America, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Enron, have signed an agreement allowing Allegheny...

U.S. Energy, Cinergy to acquire ZAPCO.(Zahren Alternative Power Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... U.S. Energy Systems Inc., an independent power producer, and its joint venture partner, Cinergy Solutions Inc., an affiliate of Cincinnati-based Cinergy Corp., announced a definitive merger agreement to acquire Zahren Alternative Power Corp....

New Calif. wind project to deliver this spring.(SeaWest WindPower Inc.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... SeaWest WindPower Inc. and PG&E's National Energy Group announced the construction of the 44.4 MW Mountain View Power Partners wind energy project. Through an RFP issued by SeaWest in March 2000, National Energy Group will acquire the project...

Future Energy, Morgan Meguire ink agreement.(Future Energy Resources Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Future Energy Resources Corp. has signed a multi-year marketing and representation agreement with consulting and project development firm Morgan Meguire. The two companies will develop animal waste-to-energy projects in the Mid-Atlantic and...

Tenaska, OPPD market in Iowa.(Tenaska Power Services Co., Omaha Public Power District)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Tenaska Power Services Co. and Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) have been jointly selected to perform marketing services for Iowa's largest municipal water and electricity utility, Muscatine Power and Water. The companies will market excess...

Speaking from experience: Bankruptcy--don't do it.(former chairman/CEO of El Paso Electric Co.)(Brief Article)(Editorial)
February 1, 2001... As the former chairman and CEO of El Paso Electric Co., I personally directed the company through its Chapter 11 bankruptcy and have the dubious distinction of being only the second utility executive in the country to have accomplished that...

High rates threaten NW industrials; companies challenge tariff.(electric rates)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Eight large Washington state industrial companies, among the largest in the United States, want regulatory relief from unprecedented high electric rates. Huge electric bills have forced some of the companies, including Air Liquide America...

People & Companies.(multiple personnel changes)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Utilities and associations The Nuclear Energy Institute has elected H. Peter Burg and Oliver D. Kingsley to its executive committee. Burg, chairman and CEO at FirstEnergy Corp., will serve on the committee through May 2002. Kingsley,...

Progress continues on a generation information system in New England.(Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... As with many states that have undertaken electric industry restructuring, the five New England states that have enacted electric utility restructuring statutes (Vermont has not yet enacted such legislation) have included in those statutes...

Bush selects Abraham as new energy leader.(Spencer Abraham named energy secretary)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The transition to a new administration includes President Bush's selection of Spencer Abraham, a former senator from Michigan, as energy secretary. Abraham has been in the political arena for years, long before his Senate stint. He was...

Sempra wins Air Force contract.(Sempra Energy Solutions)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Sempra Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of Sempra Energy, has begun a 15-year, energy-savings performance contract with Goodfellow Air Force Base near San Angelo, Texas. Sempra Energy Solutions conducted an audit of the current energy use...

Calpine signs EOG Resources.(EOG Resources provides natural gas to Calpine Corp.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... EOG Resources Inc. and Calpine Corp. have inked a marketing agreement. EOG has agreed to sell 10 million cubic feet of natural gas per day directly to Calpine. The transaction was effective January 1 and will terminate on Dec. 31, 2001.

Avista Advantage.(receives funding)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Avista Corp. subsidiary, Avista Advantage, has added two capital firms--WS Investment Co. and Cascade Investment LLC--as participants in the company's private equity offering. This investment closes the Series A investment round which was led...

Southern California Edison.(equipment financing service)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Southern California Edison is offering a new way for its small business customers to obtain financing for equipment. Through an agreement with Aetna Capital, businesses can lease or purchase new or used equipment--ranging from $1,000 to...

NxtPhase Corp.(receives funding)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... NxtPhase Corp., a developer of optical systems for the control and measurement of electric power, announced the completion of a $6 million private financing. The proceeds will be used for working capital and to fund an acquisition. Each...

Two of world's largest power grids collaborate.(Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland, France)(Abstract)
February 1, 2001... Two of the world's largest power grids, Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland (PJM) and RTE, the French Transmission System Operator, signed an agreement today to share technical knowledge and information to help address mutual goals of power...

Bush names Hebert FERC chairman.(Curtis L. Hebert, Jr., Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... With California's power troubles mounting, President George W. Bush moved quickly to name avowed free market advocate Curtis L. Hebert Jr. chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), replacing William Massey, a last minute...

Proposed merchant capacity soars.(power generation capacity expansion)(Illustration)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... The total amount of planned capacity additions announced by merchant power plant developers has skyrocketed in less than two years, evidence that competitive power suppliers are aggressively responding to market demands for generation adequacy...

Suppliers claw slowly forward, inching toward goal of retail competition.(in deregulated markets)(Statistical Data Included)
February 1, 2001... By no means is the U.S. electric utility industry poised at the starting gate of equal opportunity retail competition. In fact, America hasn't even approached that gate; as a jury-rigged circuit of differing legislation--both pending and...

Anti-slamming rules slow to evolve.(for energy, gas utilities)
February 1, 2001... As competition slowly develops around the country for electricity and gas at both the consumer and commercial levels, only a few states have had to deal with the issue of slamming--the unauthorized switching of a customer's service. But, we...

RedMeteor back in the former USSR.(RedMeteor.com contract with Energy Trade System)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... RedMeteor.com, a global Internet-based, open commodities exchange, has been selected to provide a modified energy exchange platform and hosting services to Energy Trade System (ETS), a venture uniting a group of energy players in the former...

AMDAX, Aquila form alliance.(American Direct Access Exchange, Aquila Energy)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Aquila Energy, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UtiliCorp United and American Direct Access Exchange (AMDAX) signed an agreement that will expand the geographic regions both companies offer their commercial and industrial customers on their...

EC Power adds Excelergy.(partnership)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... EC Power, a Web-based application service provider, has partnered with Excelergy to offer its trading partner and transaction management software, Excelergy eXACT, to EC Power's electronic transaction routing service customers. EC Power...

ValuSource to join Enermetrix.(ValuSource Energy uses Enermetrix network)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Enermetrix announced that ValuSource Energy, a recently formed subsidiary of Duquesne Light Co., will use the Enermetrix network to serve Duquesne Light's business, governmental and industrial customers. ValuSource Energy will give customers of...

OpenLink and Logica align.(strategic alliance)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... OpenLink, a vendor of energy and financial trading and risk management software solutions, and Logica have formed a strategic alliance to help customers transform their business by leveraging the convergence of trading and risk management...

Global Change finds Nirvana.(Global Change Associates, NirvanaSoft partnership)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Global Change Associates, a global energy consulting firm founded in 1991, and NirvanaSoft, a provider of software solutions for energy markets and aggregators, have announced a strategic partnership to provide essential consulting and market...

Web links trading partner.(SolArc Inc. introduces SolArc i.Link)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... SolArc Inc., a provider of flexible trade management solutions for the energy commodity industry, today unveiled SolArc i.Link. This new Web-based information exchange system allows energy commodity trading partners and independent online...

ABB snuggles deep in the heart of Texas.(contract Tenaska Power Services Co.)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Tenaska Power Services Co. has contracted with a U.S. unit of ABB to provide an energy trading and information management system to Tenaska. They'll use the system to manage transactions with Texas' independent system operator, the Electric...

Dynegydirect surpasses $1.5 billion.
February 1, 2001... Dynegydirect, Dynegy Inc.'s new electronic commerce portal, has exceeded $1.5 billion in notional transactions. Dynegy-direct is an Internet-based, commission-free, business-to-business portal and trading site for energy and communications...

Energy Services Group producing with more than sixty trading partners.
February 1, 2001... As of January, 2001, Energy Services Group, (http://www.EnergyServicesGroup.net) an eCommerce and application service provider for the deregulated energy market, is supporting over sixty energy trading partners in thirteen states. Testing and...

Breaking the ICE into oil.
February 1, 2001... Intercontinental Exchange (ICE), a marketplace for over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products, reports a positive start for 2001 after having. established a foothold in the OTC commodities market in five months of trading. On January 8,...

Managers choose wireless solution for facility control.
February 1, 2001... In 2001, facility management has evolved far beyond changing light bulbs and adjusting the thermostat. Professional facility managers are not only responsible for efficiently maintaining the entire working space, but are also required to face...

From online database to e-procurement: the way ahead or way off target?
February 1, 2001... When you need to procure a part, why wouldn't you go look at what you have in store before you search elsewhere? As simple as that sounds, a surprising number of energy companies--and others--do no such thing, despite a variety of installed...

OSI snags Calpine contract.
February 1, 2001... Calpine Corp. has agreed to purchase a corporate-wide license for PI System products and services from OSI Software Inc., a manufacturer of real-time plant information management systems. The PI System runs on multiple platforms, and Calpine...

CMS introduces UtilityVision.
February 1, 2001... CMS Energy Corp.'s energy performance contracting unit, CMS Viron Energy Services, has developed and introduced UtilityVision, a proprietary Web-based energy data analysis systems that enables facility managers to track energy usage with the...

PowerLine brings broadband.
February 1, 2001... PowerLine Technologies Inc., a subsidiary of PowerTrust.com, has signed a letter of intent to market broadband powerline communication products in North America Under this agreement, PowerLine will partner with North American utility companies...

Move over Napster.
February 1, 2001... The search box technology that drives five-year-old Portland-based Utilitywarehouse.com allows users to search for specific products on the Web site and contact sellers directly, which enables subscribing sellers to use the database to house...

GE Smallworld unveils inventory server.
February 1, 2001... GE Smallworld, a supplier of network solutions, has launched the GE Smallworld Network Inventory Server, formerly known as "Connect.it." The server addresses the operation support system needs of communications customers by providing...

iMedeon receives equity investment.
February 1, 2001... iMedeon Inc., a provider of wireless web applications for mobile workforce management, has completed its second round of venture financing totaling $15.5 million. The financing was co-led by GE Equity, a GE Capital company, and an affiliate of...

Cap Gemini, Ontario Power to venture out together.
February 1, 2001... Cap Gemini Emst & Young and Ontario Power Generation have announced a 10-year, billion-dollar outsourcing agreement to launch a joint venture to deliver full information technology services. The joint venture, to be launched in February and...

Investment decisions demand redefinition of CIS.
February 1, 2001... The first waves of restructuring are pounding our shores, and further serried ranks are making their way toward us. With the advent of a new year, it may be useful to spend a few moments considering the impact that they have had on the...

CILCO selects Retx.
February 1, 2001... AES Central Illinois Light Co. (CILCO) recently chose RETX's Internet application, Load Management Dispatcher (LMD) for use with selected customers in their service area. Retx is providing LMD to AES CILCO for use with their end-use...

PJM looks to Powerweb.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... PJM Technologies Inc., a wholly owned unregulated subsidiary of PJM interconnection LLC, announced its entry into a commercial arrangement with Powerweb Technologies Inc. for the distribution of a comprehensive suite of Internet-based load...

GMP wants faster response to trouble calls.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Green Mountain Power Corp. (GMP) is proposing modest changes in its union contract that would result in faster customer service response to trouble calls that occur in the late afternoon and early evening hours. In return for the new work...

Avista Advantage grows like a weed.
February 1, 2001... Avista Corp. subsidiary Avista Advantage, a provider of Internet-based facility management, information services and bill management services through its ACIS product, topped $1.1 billion in facility bills managed during the year 2000, almost...

Chartwell finds customers the tops with utilities.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Chartwell's Guide to E-business in the Energy Industry 2000 focuses on the business-to-customer side of e-commerce transactions and Internet-based services and reveals that customer relationship management is one of the industry's biggest...

STAR project shines for Con Edison.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Consolidated Edison Company of New York Inc. recently implemented the Centricity operations resource management software suite from Minneapolis-based CES International as part of its System Trouble Analysis and Response (STAR) trouble-call...

SAP CRM receives kudos.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... SAP, a provider of e-business software solutions, announced that its customer relationship management (CRM) platform, mySAP.com, received a strong evaluation in a recent report by AMR Research Inc., an industry analyst firm. The report added...

Software models real world pole conditions.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 1, 2001... LineSoft Corp., provider of engineering line design software solutions and engineering consulting services, recently announced the availability of new analysis software power in their line of Joint Use management solutions. LD-StructureCalc is...

World's largest wind plant set to energize the West.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... PacifiCorp, through its non-regulated subsidiary PacifiCorp Power Marketing, Inc. (PPM), and PPL Energy, LLC, a subsidiary of FPL Group, announced an agreement to develop and market power from the world's largest single wind energy development....

ALSTOM expands U.S. operations.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... ALSTOM has fully integrated its industrial turbine business in a new facility being established in Houston, Texas, which will be the headquarters for all industrial turbine applications in the Americas and other associated markets. The new...

Thermal Energy awaits emissions crackdown.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... With new emissions regulations expected in 2003, Thermal Energy International Inc. announced a number of options for power plant compliance. Its FLU-ACE energy recovery and air pollution control technology removes a range of airborne pollutants...

Washington Group to manage waste.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... TRU Solutions LLC, a partnership between Washington Group and Roy F. Weston Inc., has been awarded a five-year contract from DOE to manage the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) near Carlsbad, N.M. The WIPP, which received its first shipment of...

Invensys to gather microturbines.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Illinois-based Invensys Building Systems has contracted to purchase at least 100 Capstone Turbine Corp. MicroTurbine power systems by year's end. Under the terms of the agreement, Invensys Building Systems will serve as a national energy...

Schlumberger garners AES contract.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Schlumberger Resource Management Services has signed its third contract with AES-Telasi for the supply of residential electricity meters. This latest contract calls for Schlumberger to deliver 50,000 meters this month, bringing the total...

FuelCell Energy allies with Enron.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... FuelCell Energy Inc. has entered into an alliance with Enron North America, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron Corp. FuelCell Energy and Enron will work together to develop and market FuelCell Energy's Direct FuelCell products. In, connection...

Kawasaki, Catalytica to drive turbine into DG market.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... Kawasaki Motor Corp. U.S.A., Gas Turbine Division and Catalytica Energy Systems Inc. have signed a collaborative agreement that will enable Kawasaki to market and sell a generator package, known as the GPB 15X, that includes the 1.4 MW Kawasaki...

AEP to use urea-based system at Gavin.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... American Electric Power is changing the design of the selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system it will install at its Gen. James M. Gavin plant at Cheshire, Ohio. Company officials announced plans to employ a urea-based system as the source...

DIGITAL THERMOMETER.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 1, 2001... The PDT300A industrial pocket-style digital thermometer features one button switching between degrees Fahrenheit and Celsius, recording functions, a magnetic mount, pocket clip and ergonomic display and control panel. The metal stem is designed...

SAFETY BAR.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 1, 2001... The portable ICC Bar is now available from Wilmington Transport. A life saving device used mainly in the utility industry, the ICC clamps to the end of a utility pole in transit to deliver protection in case of accident. The ICC can prevent a...

ON-LINE ANALYSIS SERVICE.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... EMONENERGY.COM, a new online load profiling and energy analysis service, is designed to help users track and analyze their electrical consumption and demand--from a single circuit to an entire facility--using the internet. Graphical and...

[NO.sub.x] REDUCTION.(Brief Article)
February 1, 2001... The DRB-4Z burner is designed to offer lower emissions and lower unburned fuel losses by means of a transition zone. Developed using proprietary computational fluid dynamic computer modeling, the DRB-4Z offers maximum [NO.sub.x] reduction...

PIPE/CABLE LOCATOR.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 1, 2001... The RD400 series pipe and cable locator has the Omni antenna for locating Omni Marker, 3M and Scotch-Mark EMS markers, which enables it to find a wide variety of utilities marked with any of the standard EMS marker devices.

POWER SYSTEM RECORDER.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
February 1, 2001... The TESLA disturbance recorder is a multi-timeframe power system recorder that simultaneously provides fault oscillography, dynamic swing recording and even logging. The recorder has up to 36 analog input channels for voltage and current...