Electric Light & Power articles from January 2001

Electric Light & Power archives from January 2001

MidAmerican Energy Selects Peace Software.
January 1, 2001... Atlanta-based Peace Software, a provider of e-business solutions for retail energy companies, announced that MidAmerican Energy Company, a supplier of energy in the Midwest's rapidly deregulating energy markets, has selected Peace's Energy...

Effective customer billing defines new energy economy.
January 1, 2001... Deregulation is breaking up the old economy monopolies into a network of companies whose new business models require new systems and communication. Utility companies are feeling an added level of accountability as they must work together with...

ASP model delivers advantages to utilities.
January 1, 2001... For utilities caught in the deregulation frenzy, the addition of new technologies creates opportunities to stand out amidst the competition. In this first year of the 21st century, customer relationship management, retention and the swift...

Customer service remains key component in successful EBPP.
January 1, 2001... Electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) can be a valuable customer service tool for a utility or energy service company (ESCO). However, as with any new product or service, an electricity provider needs to have good customer service...

EBPP produces customer-oriented power players.
January 1, 2001... Customers are increasingly demanding choices--product choices, service choices, price choices and payment choices--that utilities, energy marketers and billing agents must provide if they are to succeed in the new energy economy. If they don't,...

MANAGEMENT METHODS.
January 1, 2001... TESTED WAYS TO REDUCE YOUR WORKLOAD * Dispose of the things that can be handled promptly. The few projects that remain won't be so hard to cope with if the pile of work is no longer hopeless. * Stop wrestling with a problem that...

Avista Corp. signs GE.
January 1, 2001... Avista Corp. Internet subsidiary Avista Advantage has signed an agreement with GE exchange services to access the company's electronic data interchange (EDI) network. Through its service center, GE has direct access to over 100,000 trading...

Online energy information services streamline meter data.
January 1, 2001... Customers want detailed information about their energy use in order to control costs and improve efficiency. However, interval meter data in its raw form is unwieldy and not particularly informative. Customers must bring the data into some kind...

CheckFree i-Solutions announces new e-billing and payment series.
January 1, 2001... CheckFree i-Solutions, a provider of end-to-end solutions for electronic billing and payment and electronic statement delivery, just announced CheckFree i-Series 3.0, the first industrial-strength software platform for high quality, high volume...

Avistar to invest $10 million in Internet gateway services Co.
January 1, 2001... Avistar Inc., a subsidiary of PNM, Public Service Company of New Mexico, has acquired a $10 million stake in MainStreet Networks, an Internet Gateway Service Provider based in California's Silicon Valley. MainStreet Networks plans to provide...

billserv.com, SBC DataComm enter into data "co-location".
January 1, 2001... billserv.com Inc. (NASDAQ: BLLS), an electronic bill presentment and payment service bureau, signed an agreement with SBC DataComm, a unit of SBC Communications Inc. (NYSE:SBC), to replicate its existing technology infrastructure within SBC...

We're in the money: APX grabs $36 million in venture capital.
January 1, 2001... Automated Power Exchange (APX), a provider of e-commerce services for the electric power industry, recently announced that it has closed its third financing round with $36.1 million from venture capital and corporate investors. Six investors...

Ernst & Young awards cyber-certification to FAME Energy.
January 1, 2001... FAME Energy, a provider of data management and decision-support solutions for energy trading and risk management, announced that it has received cyber-certification by Ernst & Young for its advanced quality data services. Ernst & Young awarded...

The euro-invasion of trading platforms departs U.S. soil.
January 1, 2001... Much like the California Gold Rush (only with better-dressed players), electronic trading platform vendors are beating a fast path to consult and sell deregulating European markets their brand of e-exchange. Backed by millions in capital...

"The ICE" sets one-day trading record of over 2 million MWhs.
January 1, 2001... Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), a marketplace for over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products, traded more than 2 million megawatt-hours in a single day, only one month after going live with its energy complex. ICE trading...

ABB, Naval Research trumpet results.
January 1, 2001... ABB and the U.S. Office of Naval Research have announced results from a $14 million jointly funded cooperative agreement to develop high power electronic building blocks for industrial, utility and military applications. One year into the...

American Superconductor introduces converter product.
January 1, 2001... American Superconductor Corp.'s Integrated Electronics division released its first commercial power converter product, the PowerModule, employs several proprietary features. Power converters are components in many electric power applications,...

EPRI, Schlumberger create 3-D imagery.
January 1, 2001... Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) and Schlumberger have developed a radar system than can detect, locate and create three-dimensional images of underground features. (The Gas Research Institute also supported this program.) The new...

ALSTOM wins order.
January 1, 2001... ALSTOM has won an order from TXU Electric to deliver and install three stator rewind kits to their 645 MVA steam turbine driven turbogenerators originally manufactured by Westinghouse. Site installations are scheduled for fall 2001, spring 2002...

FuelCell Energy awarded contracts.
January 1, 2001... FuelCell Energy Inc. announced the award of contracts for two new power plants using the company's Direct FuelCells (DFC) for coal mine and remote location applications. The first contract is for a $5.4 million project with the U.S. Department...

Astaris becomes supplier of phosphorus.
January 1, 2001... Thermal Energy International Inc. and Astaris LLC have formed a joint marketing alliance to deploy Thermal Energy's THERMALONOx air pollution control technology. Under the terms, Astaris will be the sole supplier of elemental phosphorus for use...

UTC moves into Canada.
January 1, 2001... The United Telecom Council (UTC) has expanded its core membership from the U.S. into Canada. The UTC board of directors took the first formal step by creating two Canadian regions, eastern and western, to join UTC's existing 10 U.S. regions....

NetSolve, ERCOT expand contract agreement.
January 1, 2001... NetSolve Inc. and the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) have agreed to extend NetSolve's services as well as incorporate the company's ProWatch for WANs managed network solution. Backed by a service-level that starts at a minimum of...

CBI Portal launched.
January 1, 2001... The Center for Business Intelligence (CBI) has launched www.cbiglobalenergy.com, a source for up-to-date information on CBI's global private energy markets series.

Hydro Quebec electrifies testing.
January 1, 2001... How do you prepare for Mother Nature? If you work at Hydro Quebec Laboratories, that answer is simple: You test. You run downed lines simulations; you create theories. You develop models. It seems that testing transmission and...

Convergent Group launches site.
January 1, 2001... Convergent Group announced the debut of its new Web site at www.convergentgroup.com. The site not only presents an overview, but also now offers information about trends and activities in the utility and local government markets.

Bermuda selects CES International.
January 1, 2001... CES International announced that Bermuda Electric Light Co. has selected the CES International Centricity software suite. Centricity will automate the management and daily monitoring of network operations for the island's electrical utility.

IEC dubs Smart standard.
January 1, 2001... The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) adopted Honeywell's Smart Distributed System as an international standard. Responsible for preparing and publishing international electrical, electronic and related standards, IEC's 49 member...

TVA fingers Encorp for DG.
January 1, 2001... Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) has selected ENCORP Inc. and Thompson Machinery/Caterpillar equipment as part of TVA's new distributed generation initiative. TVA entered into a $500,000 contract with Thompson to provide ENCORP's DG control...

Siemens helps SmartSynch add functions.
January 1, 2001... SmartSynch, a provider of end-to-end wireless data solutions--in partnership with Siemens Power Transmission and Distribution Inc.--has added power quality and reliability monitoring to its energy and utility wireless data services portfolio....

SMUD awards GIS project to Apex.
January 1, 2001... The Sacramento Municipal Utility District's G/Electric geographic information system (GIS) awarded Apex Data Services Inc., a provider of data conversion and related services for utility and government markets, a data conversion project. Apex...

Utilconnect changes moniker.
January 1, 2001... Utilconnect, an enterprise application service provider, unveiled their new name, Lumenor. The change to Lumenor is the first step in the company's overall branding initiative and the development of a new corporate identity within other...

Searching for the value proposition in AMR.
January 1, 2001... Value, value--who can really harness the value in automated meter reading (AMR)--deregulated utilities, large or small consumers, energy service companies, energy suppliers or retailers? As the banner of AMR painstakingly unfuris, it seems as...

Barrie Hydro selects HTE.
January 1, 2001... HTE Inc., a provider of enterprise-wide software solutions for public sector organizations and utilities worldwide, announced that Barrie Hydro of Ontario has signed a contract worth $335,300 to license software for improved customer service...

Toronto, Ontario launch venture.
January 1, 2001... Launched in Toronto, EBT Express is a $7.7 million joint venture of Toronto Hydro Corp. and provincial generation company Ontario Power Generation. The electronic business transaction (EBT) hub will be managed initially by a joint executive...

Southern Company announces spin-off.
January 1, 2001... Southern Company will ask its board to approve a complete spin-off of its Southern Energy subsidiary in April. Southern Energy, a power producer with operations in North America, Europe and Asia, raised $1.8 billion last month in a public...

Capital spending requires thinking outside the "rubber stamp" box.
January 1, 2001... Utilities just wrapped up another year of planning and budgeting. What do you think got stuffed into the capital budget this time, knowing that it was the safest place to hide it from scrutiny? Utilities manage two types of...

Xcel Energy: Hybrid company captures synergies.
January 1, 2001... EL&P proudly names Xcel Energy Inc., Minneapolis, as its Utility of the Year award winner in 2000. Although a new name in the industry, Xcel is made up of companies familiar to EL&P's readers, including Northern States Power Co. (NSP),...

FirstEnergy subsidiary certified to sell in Ohio.
January 1, 2001... FirstEnergy Corp. announced that its subsidiary, FirstEnergy Services Corp. has been certified by the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio to sell electricity in the state under Ohio's new electric choice program, which enables customers to...

Newport to add Texas power.
January 1, 2001... Newport Generation Inc. announced it has purchased a 1,600 MW combined cycle gas turbine power project currently under development about 7.5 miles northeast of Palestine in Anderson County, Texas. The newly formed independent power producer...

Dynegy to acquire iaxis.
January 1, 2001... Dynegy Inc., a provider of energy and communications solutions, announced that an affiliate of Dynegy Global Communications, its wholly owned communications subsidiary, has signed an agreement to acquire iaxis Limited, a privately-held,...

Reliant to purchase pipeline.
January 1, 2001... Reliant Services LLC has signed a definitive agreement to purchase Indianapolis-based Miller Pipeline Corp. from NiSource Inc. for about $68.3 million.

Utility to split.
January 1, 2001... American Electric Power Co. is splitting into two separate companies--one for its regulated operations and one for its unregulated operations. The utility plans to file documents with the Securities and Exchange Commission outlining the...

Smelting co. sells power rather than product.
January 1, 2001... Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp., the operating subsidiary of Kaiser Aluminum Corp., has begun a temporary curtailment of an additional 90,000 metric tons per year of its Northwest smelter capacity and sold December power provided by its...

High trajectory for gas market continues.
January 1, 2001... The industry should continue to keep an eye on the gas market, according to a recently released Cambridge Energy Research Associates (CERA) report entitled, "The Storm Arrives." The study finds that colder-than-normal weather has driven gas...

Stakeholders ask FERC to back off transco.
January 1, 2001... The American Public Power Association, ELCON, Enron and other publicly and cooperatively-owned electric systems filed comments requesting that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission not approve the GridSouth transco proposed by Duke Energy,...

SkyGen sells to CP&L.
January 1, 2001... Calpine Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary SkyGen Energy LLC has entered into an agreement to supply CP&L Energy additional power produced from its Broad River Energy Center expansion project, a natural gas-fueled project being constructed in two...

A blue Christmas without you: California laments missing MW.
January 1, 2001... Most Californians worried about their electric bills didn't have sugar plum fairies dancing in their heads over the holiday season: They had hard cap vs. soft cap issues, deregulation vs. re-regulation debates, FERC mandates and statements by...

People & Companies.
January 1, 2001... Utilities and associations Matthew C. Cordaro has resigned as president and CEO of the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc. (MISO). James P. Torgerson, vice president and chief financial officer, will succeed as president...

RTOs: Boon or bane for future generation?
January 1, 2001... The march of change continues with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) initiatives governing regional transmission organ-izations (RTOs) and the filings by all affected public utilities with the FERC on October 16. (The existing...

KEMA to study market.
January 1, 2001... KEMA Consulting together with LECG will perform a feasibility study for a Northeast day-ahead wholesale electric market. Selected by ISO New England Inc., the New York ISO and the Ontario Independent Electric Market Operator, the KEMA...

Aggreko to supply 2002 Olympics.
January 1, 2001... The Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the Olympic Winter Games of 2002 (SLOC) has named Aggreko Inc. as the official temporary power generation and distribution services supplier for the 2002 Olympics. Aggreko has singed an agreement with the...

Conectiv breaks ground.
January 1, 2001... Construction has begun for a 550 MW combustion turbine-combined cycle power plant, the first in a series of such plants that Conectiv plans to build in the Mid-Atlantic region as part of its mid-merit generation strategy. The new plant will be...

Consumers gets slice of nuclear.
January 1, 2001... Consumers Energy has signed an agreement to become a full partner in Nuclear Management Co. of Hudson, Wis. As part of the agreement, Consumers Energy will transfer responsibility for the operation of its Palisades nuclear plant (located near...

Nascent GHG market needs global jump-start.
January 1, 2001... Although many implementation issues continue to divide Kyoto Protocol signatories, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions credit trading continues its evolution from a nascent, tentative market into a more sophisticated venue, with new trading...

EL&P sprints into 2001 with some new twists.
January 1, 2001... You may have thumbed through this issue and already have discovered one of the new, regular features we're introducing this year. We know how difficult it can be to stay informed about deregulation and the resulting state-by-state...

Domino effect threatens MISO's RTO.
January 1, 2001... The Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator Inc. (MISO) faces the threat of three of its largest transmission owners withdrawing from its proposed regional transmission organization (RTO). A domino effect was hinted in mid-December...