Electric Light & Power articles from January 2008

Electric Light & Power archives from January 2008

Events.(Brief article)(Calendar)
January 1, 2008... FEBRUARY February 11-15, 2008 CERAWeek 2008 Cambridge Energy Research Associates Houston Texas www.cera.com February 19-21, 2008 PowerGen Renewables PennWell Co. Las Vegas, Nevada ...

Commentary.
January 1, 2008... With this issue, I'm very pleased to welcome a new member to our industry report family. Dan Gabaldon from Booz Allen Hamilton teamed up with me to write "Capital Expenditures in the Electricity Sector for 2007." We've covered the utility...

Correction.(Commentary)(Correction notice)
January 1, 2008... In "Table 4: Top 20 Coal Generators Ranked by Capacity Factor (2006)" p.24 of the Operating Performance Rankings (Nov. Dec. 2007 EL&P) the location of the No. 3 ranked plant, Healy, was incorrect. Healy is located in Alaska.

Letters.(Letter to the editor)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Dear Editor: I am an employee at a nuclear power plant. One of my jobs involves reporting generation data to the NRC. In the 2006 Operating Performance Rankings (EL&P, Nov. Dec. 2007), you noted that to be in the...

The role of risk management in the trading transaction-lifecycle.(COLUMN: Managing Uncertainty)
January 1, 2008... The evolution of energy trading, while relatively brief in duration, has been dramatic. As part of electricity and natural gas pipeline industry deregulation, companies embarked upon opportunities to trade and transact around energy...

Energy efficiency programs: utility customers want to reduce their carbon footprints. Here's how five utilities helped them.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
January 1, 2008... In September 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency reported that ENERGY STAR and other climate change programs prevented 70 million metric tons of carbon equivalent greenhouse gas emissions in 2006, up from 63 million in 2005. In addition,...

A year of uncertainty: capital expenditures in the electric industry for 2007.(Industry Report)(Cover story)
January 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Anytime the U.S. electric system is the topic of discussion, there's a call to action. Experts warn that the transmission grid must be strengthened, that we need to build new power plants and that we should do...

Focus on the CFO: years of experience are a plus in this capital intensive industry.(Finance)
January 1, 2008... Utility companies in the U.S. are anticipating huge capital improvement programs. Billions of dollars are earmarked for the country's electric infrastructure. Companies that provide the raw materials for power plants and transmission lines are...

2007 ends on high note: the less regulated, the better.(Exclusive C Three Equity Index)
January 1, 2008... For all but the regulated electric and gas combination utilities, 2007 ended on a positive note. The less regulated the better in 2007, with the least regulated electric beating all the others. While 2007 had its bumpy moments, for the most...

Texas-sized data: leading-edge technology helps the LCRA manage a wide range of resources and assets.(Finance)
January 1, 2008... One public utility agency is using small display screens to cut its coverage area down to a manageable size. Spanning the heart of Texas, the Lower Colorado River Authority's coverage area stretches 29,809 square miles--an area larger than...

Federal loan guarantees: will they give the U.S. climate response a needed boost in 2008?--Part One--.(Finance)
January 1, 2008... Almost three years ago in the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress gave the U.S. Department of Energy authority to provide loan guarantees for innovative energy technologies. This authority was seen by its supporters and Congress as a tool to...

Nuclear revival, the sequel: this time could be different, but don't forget we've been here before.(Risk Management)
January 1, 2008... Nuclear energy is enjoying a revival in the U.S., driven by the exceptional performance records of the current fleet, high margins available to nuclear baseload plants and evolving regulatory preferences for power sources with low greenhouse...

Energy credit risk management: confronted with a new paradigm, energy firms centralize the management process.(Risk Management)
January 1, 2008... The recent exponential growth in the energy commodity markets--with record risks and record returns--has changed the rules of credit risk management across energy markets and for their participants. Credit risk management is becoming...

Negawatts: KCP&L's energy efficiency forum was a catalyst for community conversation.(Generation)
January 1, 2008... Kansas City Power & Light's commitment to energy efficiency first gained momentum in 2004 during the planning phase for the region's energy plan. Striking the right balance to manage the issues of increasing demand, economic growth, energy...

Wind power and grid reliability: innovative solutions help wind farms meet grid interconnection standards.(Renewables)
January 1, 2008... As wind-generated electricity continues to play a larger role in the worldwide power supply, electric utilities increasingly grapple with the challenges of connecting that power to the grid while maintaining system reliability. Wind offers...

A smart "smart grid" strategy: considering the needs of distribution engineers now will pay dividends in the future.(T&D)
January 1, 2008... Too often, the terms "smart grid" and "smart metering" are used together or even interchangeably, as if they were two sides of the same investment coin. Utility distribution operations communication issues deserve more careful consideration...

Emerging communication technologies: the power of meter data unification and synchronization of advanced metering infrastructure, Part II.(IT/CIS & CRM)
January 1, 2008... In Part I of this series, published in the Nov. Dec. 2007 issue of Electric Light & Power, we discussed the ways today's utilities are increasingly using improved communications technology and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) to balance...

Document management: South Carolina co-op MCEC improved customer service and productivity.(IT/CIS & CRM)
January 1, 2008... In recent years, the Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative (MCEC) service area has seen an explosion of residential, industrial and commercial development. With such rapid growth in its customer base, the not-for-profit electric distribution...

Customer care transformation: unified architecture can be the solution to customer chaos and agent vertigo.(IT/CIS & CRM)
January 1, 2008... An agent is signing up a valuable new customer. She or he switches between various applications, many requiring different log-in IDs, to describe product choices, complete the credit check and create a new account. The next call is a customer...

Is this an era of transition?(CS Week)
January 1, 2008... In the world of meter-to-cash as well as the larger utility industry, perhaps the greatest truism is that this business is ever-changing, ever-evolving. An article in the Seattle Times highlighted several facets of the paradigm shift...

Electric Light & Power[R]: 2008 products and services directory.(Directory)
January 1, 2008... products energy efficiency led bulbs LEDtronics Inc environmental controls electrostatic precipitators McGill AirClean LLC MikroPul Pratt & Whitney emissions monitoring equipment continuous ...

Less left, more right: communicating in the connected world.(Management Methods)
January 1, 2008... Utility management today is attuned to the emerging power of its customers. Writers like Daniel Pink, author of "A Whole New Mind," refer to this as an era of "high touch management." In my view, management of internal customers--our...