Electric Light & Power articles from July 2003

Electric Light & Power archives from July 2003

FERC pauses in the forced march toward RTOs.(Regional transmission organizations)
July 1, 2003... Hogan & Hartson The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has been on a worthy mission since 1996 to open up the nation's electricity markets to competition. Orders 888 and 2000, the early milestones in this effort met with only...

Using the insurance audit to your advantage: eight ways to control insurance costs.(Power companies can keep costs in check)
July 1, 2003... As increasing insurance premiums are straining many corporate budgets nationwide, some power companies are finding ways to keep these costs in check. These companies know the importance of quality safety and loss prevention program. Rather than...

Natural gas bubble collapse may take NIMBY with it. (Commentary).
July 1, 2003... Just how long can the NIMBY (not in my backyard) stance prevail? The recent deluge of warnings and alarms about the collapse of the natural gas bubble suggests that we're reaching the end of the rope as far as bowing to the NIMBY stance....

Letter to the Editor.
July 1, 2003... In the April, 2003 issue of Electric Power & Light, a letter to the Editor was published from David Holstein. The opinions stated by Mr. Holstein were personal opinions, were not reviewed nor approved by Washington Group International, and do...

Cooperatives' local ownership protects electric rates, service and, above all, consumers. (Executive Insights).
July 1, 2003... More than 36 million Americans receive reliable, affordable service from electric cooperatives. They are, according to a decade's worth of research, the nation's most loyal and satisfied electricity consumers. Co-op members take comfort in the...

Benefit of counsel: on global warming and the power industry. (Executive Insights).
July 1, 2003... By most measures, electricity generation accounts for approximately one-third of total U.S. greenhouse gas emissions, far outstripping other industrial sectors. It is no wonder that many in the industry applauded President Bush's decision to...

Economic woes aid decline in utility satisfaction. (Executive Insights).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Rising electric bills, coupled with the slumping economy, are taking a toll on the satisfaction levels of business customers with their electric utility companies, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2003 "Electric Utility Midsize...

Web-based Spanish course for energy utilities goes live. (News).
July 1, 2003... With Hispanics the largest minority group in the U.S., Apogee Interactive, Inc. and a consortium of energy utilities have created a Web-based "Situational Spanish" course for energy industry employees. Developed jointly by Apogee and...

Equity, EDN merge. (News Briefs: Mergers and Acquisitions).(Equity Electrical Associates inc.)(Electrical Distributors Network Inc.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Equity Electrical Associates inc. (Equity), a nationwide group of independent electrical distributors, and Electrical Distributors Network Inc. (EDN), an established electrical distributor marketing group, have merged, forming a $6 billion...

First Source to sell retail business. (News Briefs: Mergers and Acquisitions).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... First Source Energy Corp. has reached agreement with the Ontario Energy Savings Corp., a subsidiary of Energy Savings Income Fund, to sell its retail electricity business interests, involving the transfer of over 8,200 accounts and 150 MW. This...

DEFS sells assets. (News Briefs: Mergers and Acquisitions).
July 1, 2003... Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) will sell one package of assets in Mississippi, Texas, Alabama and Louisiana to Crosstex Energy Services LLP and a second package of assets in eastern Oklahoma to ScissorTall Energy LLC. Crosstex will get the...

SDG&E seeks bids. (News Briefs: Projects and Contracts).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) has issued a request for proposal (RFP) for bids to meet area needs starting in 2005. Suppliers have the option of bidding to supply their resources by the summer c 2005, 2006 or 2007. All sources must originate...

Green Mountain expands into Texas. (News Briefs: Projects and Contracts).(Green Mountain Energy Co.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Green Mountain Energy Co. is expanding its operations into Texas' commercial and industrial market. To launch the new offer the company announced that it has signed up three Whole Earth Provision stores in Dallas and Houston.

Hydra-Quebec is looking for power. (News Briefs: Projects and Contracts).(Hydro-Quebec Distribution)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Hydro-Quebec Distribution, the Hydro-Quebec division responsible for serving the local load in Quebec, is launching a call for ten ders to meet the long-term electricity needs of its customer base. The call for tenders for 1,000 MW of...

PPL signs agreements. (News Briefs: Projects and Contracts).(PPL EnergyPlus LLC signs agreement with Arizona Public Service)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... PPL EnergyPlus LLC has signed an agreement with Arizona Public Service to provide 112 MW of electricity from July through September of 2003 and 150 MW from June through September of 2004 and 2005. In addition, PPL EnergyPlus has signed...

Calpine sells to Brazos. (News Briefs: Projects and Contracts).(Calpine Corp. signs two-year agreement to provide up to 300 MW of power to Brazos Electric Power Coop Inc)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Calpine Corp. has signed a two-year agreement to provide up to 300 MW of power to Brazos Electric Power Coop Inc. in Texas. Power deliveries will begin during the first quarter of 2004.

Allegheny Energy renegotiates. (News Briefs: Projects and Contracts).(Energy supply contract with California Dept. of Water Resources)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Allegheny Energy Inc. has renegotiated the terms and conditions of its energy supply contract with the California Dept. of Water Resources. Under the original terms of the contract, Allegheny was to provide up to 1,000 MW at a flat rate of $61...

Agreement reached in Nevada. (News Briefs: Legal and Regulatory).(Electric ratepayers served by Sierra Pacific Power Co in northern Nevada will realize a rate decrease)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Electric ratepayers served by Sierra Pacific Power Company in northern Nevada will realize a rate decrease of $9.8 million this year and a rate decrease of $19.8 million beginning June 1, 2004--subject to approval by the Public Utilities...

FERC orders NRG to keep the power on. (News Briefs: Legal and Regulatory).(FERC denies NRG Power Marketing's request to cancel wholesale power contract it had with Connecticut Light and Power Co)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has denied NRG Power Marketing's request to cancel a wholesale power contract it had with Connecticut Light and Power Co. (CL&P), at least until the commission has a chance to look at the dispute...

UI will not get recovery. (News Briefs: Legal and Regulatory).(United Illuminating Co will not get recovery of $15.5 million in increased pension and postretirement expenses)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Connecticut's Dept. of Public Utility Control has denied The United Illuminating Co.'s request for recovery of $15.5 million in increased pension and postretirement expenses. The department stated in its draft decision that 'the company's...

Analyst's roundtable: state of the sector. (Finance).
July 1, 2003... What are the make or break issues facing the power industry? Looking back six months, as well as looking forward the same amount of time, what do the sector's insiders perceive as the most crucial challenges? I spoke to a few key members of...

Exclusive to EL&P: energy utility indices continue to show strong gains for 2003. (Finance).(C Three Group)
July 1, 2003... All four of The C Three Group's Energy Utility Indices saw strong gains in the month of May, further extending the sector's spring rally. Three of the four indices (all except the Merchant Energy Index) are at 12-month highs, led by the LDC...

Control system security must be updated in this age of cyber terrorism. (Industry Report).
July 1, 2003... Power producers and utilities today face an unprecedented quantity of constraints upon their business operations. They have long worked under the familiar, unrelenting demands of continuous production and distribution born by all operators of...

Is your utility prepared for smallpox? (Industry Report).
July 1, 2003... Power, water, gas and other utility service providers can take great pride in being prepared for emergencies ranging from winter storms and spring floods to hurricanes and tornadoes. However, a smallpox outbreak is one emergency for which...

Introducing PJM's security council. (Industry Report).
July 1, 2003... Some of the nation's experts in security will help ensure the continued reliability of the Northeast region's electric power grid, PJM Interconnection, through the formation of the Security Advisory Council. This group of security experts...

White collar crime: can it happen at your company? (Electric & Gas Trading).
July 1, 2003... Throughout history, white collar crime has been-and continues to be-a dark part of the business world and, unfortunately, business has paid the ultimate price. Headline-grabbing cases, such as Enron, WorldCom and the latest sentencing of...

AEP cracks down on data reporting. (E&G Trading Briefs).(American Electric Power)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... American Electric Power, in a response to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission order, said it took appropriate actions to ensure that energy trading data is accurately reported for use in trade media indexes. Actions included: 1. changing the...

Xcel Energy disciplines energy traders. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... e prime, a natural gas marketing and trading subsidiary of Xcel Energy, terminated or accepted resignations from four employees in Denver in connection with the reporting of inaccurate natural gas transactions to industry publications. e prime...

Cinergy Marketing & Trading and Apache Corp. part ways. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... CMT agreed with Apache Corp. to terminate their gas marketing relationship. Apache supplied natural gas to CMT under a long-term agreement, which originated in 1998 when Cinergy acquired ProEnergy, a gas marketing company partially owned by...

Henwood upgrades risk management tool. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Henwood announced the release of RISKSYM Version 4.1. The upgrade extends Henwood's EnerPrise Software module's ability to handle tolling agreements and portfolios of firm transmission rights (FTRs). By including FTR portfolios, RISKSYM now...

Exelon trims its Midwest Generation power purchase. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Edison International unit Midwest Generation says contract to sell power from coal-fired plants in Illinois to Exelon Generation is scaled back )(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Edison International unit Midwest Generation said that a contract to sell power from its coal-fired plants in Illinois to Exelon Generation has been scaled back for the second year running. Exelon, a unit of Exelon Corp., is exercising an...

Duke Energy completes sale of interest in American Ref-Fuel. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Duke Energy North America sells 50 percent ownership interest in Duke/UAE Ref-Fuel for $306 million to Highstar Renewable Fuels LLC)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Duke Energy North America (DENA) announced the closing of an agreement to sell its 50 percent ownership interest in Duke/UAE Ref-Fuel for $306 million to Highstar Renewable Fuels LLC, an affiliate of American International Group Inc., and DLJ...

Regency Gas Services buys El Paso pipeline assets. (E&G Trading Briefs).(Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC formed Regency Gas Services, which acquired various assets from El Paso Corp.)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Charlesbank Capital Partners LLC formed Regency Gas Services, Dallas, which acquired from El Paso Corp. about 2,300 miles of natural gas gathering lines and pipelines and four natural gas processing plants with an aggregate capacity of 205...

DOE looks to boost clean-coal technologies. (Generation).
July 1, 2003... The Clean Coal Technology Program (CCT Program), which promotes government and industry cooperation, advances the Department of Energy's (DOE) mission to foster a secure and reliable energy system that is environmentally and economically...

Preparing for the storm in the coal industry. (Generation).
July 1, 2003... Tougher environmental regulations. Deteriorating finances of coal producers. Increased scrutiny from Wall Street. These and other developments in the coal marketplace are escalating the need for tighter management of coal supply operations....

Power generators need suppliers to survive and prosper. (Generation).
July 1, 2003... What once was considered a "sleepy" industry that offered secure investments to conservative investors is now viewed as a high-risk bet on the future of the U.S. power market. The aftershocks of deregulation, the Enron debacle, the California...

Roadmap for transmission line siting. (Transmission & Distribution).
July 1, 2003... The state of practice in transmission line routing has significantly evolved since many state commissions began adopting siting regulations in the late 1970s. Changes are the result not only of the advancement of technology, but also the...

We Energies celebrated "Women in Hard Hats". (Transmission & Distribution).(Women in Hard Hats event)(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Nearly 1,000 ladies--middle-school age and older--attended this year's "Women in Hard Hats" event to learn more about non-traditional careers. Attendees participated in utility pole climbing exercises, learned how to operate a backhoe and...

Utilities tackle first-call resolution with technology, training. (Information Technology Customer Systems).
July 1, 2003... "One that's all." It is the motto of a personal injury lawyer who spends big bucks on television advertising. But these days, many utility customer contact center executives might want to adopt that same slogan. As electric and natural gas...

IEA launches sites. (IT/CS Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The International Energy Agency (IEA) has launched two policy information Web sites. The "Dealing with Climate Change" site features data on energy-related policies and measures taken or planned by the IEA's 26 member countries to reduce...

NERC standard approved. (IT/CS Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The electric industry has voted to approve a cyber security standard, which was submitted as an urgent action request by a subgroup of NERC's critical infrastructure protection advisory group. The standard requires that critical cyber assets...

SCE chooses Magnitude. (IT/CS Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Southern California Edison (SCE) has expanded its enterprise deployment of Magnitude Information Systems' anti-injury software for its employees who use computers. SCE has identified ergonomics as an important safety issue and a tremendous...

JCMB gets Canadian contract. (IT/CS Briefs).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... JCMB Technology Inc., a provider of software and services for electric, gas and water utilities, has been awarded a $6.6 million (Canadian) conversion contract from Hydro-Quebec Distribution. The scope of this project is to reconcile multiple...

10 tips for the recently promoted. (Management Methods).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Make sure your door is open to associates and subordinates. You can't learn everything from written reports. Listen more than you speak. Adopt a positive attitude in performing the administrative details of your job. How well you...

Take a chance on employees who have made mistakes. (Management Methods).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... Some managers are so turned off by employees who have made a mistake that they penalize them out of all proportion to the offense. They reduce the transgressor's responsibilities. They block all consideration of promotion. They may even make...

Performance insurance: proper motivation. (Management Methods).
July 1, 2003... When people are properly motivated, they perform well. That's a management given. But what is proper motivation? It naturally varies from individual to individual, but here are some essential ingredients to keep in mind: * Equal workloads....

Build interruption time into your schedule. (Management Methods).(Brief Article)
July 1, 2003... The world, you may have noticed, is not perfect and this goes double for the world of business. Despite all your precautions, some interruptions in your day are inevitable. Although it may not be possible to anticipate these with precision, you...

How bright art thou?
July 1, 2003... 1 A conductor is material that electricity can easily flow through. Which of the following is a good conductor? How bright art thou? * metal * water * the human body * all of the above 2 How fast does electricity...

Calendar Events.(Brief Article)(Calendar)
July 1, 2003... 28-29 Financing Latin JULY American Power Projects Center for Business Intelligence (541/575-3633) www.cbinet.com Miami AUGUST 4-5 T&D Asset Management Center for Business Intelligence ...