Electric Light & Power articles from March 2001

Electric Light & Power archives from March 2001

Murkowski bill proposes electricity industry reforms.(Sen. Frank Murkowski )
March 1, 2001... Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-Alaska), the Energy and Natural Resources Committee chairman, plans to introduce legislation to reduce imported U.S. oil dependency from the current 56 percent to less than 50 percent by 2011. Much of the...

Operator training goes the distance with Internet program.(Bismarck State College)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... As the industry looks: ahead to the prospect of power plant operator shortages in the next decade, Bismarck State College (BSC) in Bismarck, N.D., is ramping up its offerings in order to provide solid education for this unique, but growing,...

A new kind of California Gold Rush.(financing the states's energy crisis)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... There's a flurry of activity in California revolving around collecting that which is due. Time is running out; patience is wearing thin. And, summer will soon bring new waves of heat most likely accompanied by new waves of power shortages. ...

Calpine to power Wisconsin.(Calpine Corp. and Wisconsin Power & Light Co.)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Calpine Corp. announced that its wholly owned subsidiary SkyGen Energy LLC has entered into an agreement to supply Alliant Energy's Wisconsin Power & Light Co. with 453 MW of electric capacity and energy from SkyGen's new $350 million facility,...

Generators look for financial options.(Reliant Energy, Dynegy and Mirant)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Reliant Energy, Dynegy and Mirant announced they are forming a creditors committee to explore options for receiving payment by the California Independent System Operator (ISO) and California's investor-owned utilities. The group's move is in...

Mexico gives Sempra OK.(North Baja Pipeline )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Mexico's Energy Regulatory Commission issued a natural gas transportation permit to the international subsidiary of Sempra Energy for the construction of the 135-mile Mexican segment of the North Baja Pipeline project. Sempra and PG&E Corp. are...

Southwestern to develop station.(SouthWestern Power Group)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... SouthWestern Power Group II, a Phoenix-based energy resource development company, announced plans to build the Bowie Power Station, a new generation facility expected to produce 1,000 MW at full capacity. Construction is slated for late 2002,...

BPA eyes geothermal.(Bonneville Power Administration)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Bonneville Power Administration (BPA), in consultation with the Department of Energy, has signed an agreement with Calpine Corp. to buy more than 49 MW of electricity from the Fourmile Hill geothermal project in Northern California. The...

InterGen breaks ground.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... InterGen announced the financial close of credit facilities for and the groundbreaking of the Cottonwood Energy project, a 1200 MW natural gas-fired, combined cycle power plant. Bechtel Power will build the facility, which is expected to begin...

Pepco and Conectiv join forces.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Potomac Electric Power Co. (Pepco) and Conectiv have approved a merger agreement allowing Pepco to acquire Conectiv for a combination of cash and stock valued at approximately $2.2 billion. Both companies will become subsidiaries of a new...

UtiliCorp completes merger.(with St. Joseph Light & Power)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... UtiliCorp United announced that its merger with St. Joseph Light & Power Co. closed on New Year's Eve. Under the terms of the agreement, St. Joseph Light & Power shareholders will receive 0.7933 shares of UtiliCorp common stock for each share...

Pennsylvania benefited from California's early foray into deregulation.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... In hindsight, it's easy to look good in Pennsylvania when comparing us to rolling blackouts and the threat of bankrupt utilities brought about by deregulation in California. But in 1996 when Pennsylvania's utilities sat down with a group of...

California ISO projects 6,815 MW June shortfall.(California Independent System Operator )(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... With summer approaching, the California Independent System Operator (ISO) is tentatively forecasting a June shortfall of 6,815 MW during peak loads, enough electricity to power roughly 6.8 million homes. The prospect of such catastrophic...

NERC projects reliability through 2009.(North American Reliability Council)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Members of the North American Reliability Council(NERC) are experts in the interconnected grid that spiders over Canada, America and parts of Mexico, but, as of late, they've been learning more and more about gridlock of the legislative...

People & Companies.
March 1, 2001... Utilities and associations Roger W. Hale, chairman and CEO of LG&E Energy Corp., Louisville Gas & Electric Co. and Kentucky Utilities Co., announced his voluntary retirement from the companies effective April 30. He will also step down...

Illinois resting comfortably at halfway point though questions remain.
March 1, 2001... Nicor Energy's (an alternative retail supplier) company Web site screams competition. Actually, it screams: Offer ends Mar. 20, 2001 in a continuous scroll. Still, in a state only midway through restructuring, such blatant marketing...

EPA to regulate mercury though elemental questions still loom.
March 1, 2001... In December the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) called for regulation of mercury emissions from coal-fired utility boilers. While the timeline for regulation stretches to full compliance in 2007 (with testing of control and measurement...

Next generation coal blending boosts bottom line.
March 1, 2001... TransAlta Utilities' Keephills Generating Station near Edmonton, Alberta, was looking for a way to reduce an opacity and derate problem when they decided to evaluate a different strategy: advanced coal-blending technology. After testing and...

UPS technology empowers distributed generation.
March 1, 2001... Power quality means: consistent voltage, steady frequency and absence of interruptions. According to a Hubler/Mills report (April, 2000), the U.S. electric grid network delivers over 3 trillion kWh per year with roughly 99.9 percent...

DG: Threat or opportunity for utilities?
March 1, 2001... Will new distributed generation (DG) technologies such as fuel cells and microturbines be equivalent to the next personal computer, or will DG remain an application appealing to the few businesses willing to pay for 100 percent reliability? ...

BC Hydro upgrades controls.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... BC Hydro (Vancouver, BC) will transfer control on three units from legacy systems to state-of-the-art Foxboro I/A Series systems at its Burrard Generating Station, located in Port Moody, a suburb of Vancouver. This control system upgrade is...

Southwire proves HTS delivery system.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... A year after activating its high-temperature superconducting (HTS) power delivery system, Southwire celebrated the anniversary and the system's milestone of operating for 5,000 hours at a 100-percent load. Activated on Jan. 5, 2000, Southwire's...

DCSI contracts with FPL.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Distribution Control Systems Inc. (DCSI) and Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL) have signed an $8.1 million contract that will increase FPL's two-way automatic communication system-driven load control project by 80,000 additional load control...

Microturbine shipments surge in 2000.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Shipments of microturbines grew more than 300 percent in 2000 according to Madison-based Primen, an energy market intelligence company. Shipment destinations were split almost equally between U.S. and international markets. Capstone Turbine...

NxtPhase acquires APT.(NxtPhase Corp purchases APT Power Technologies, supplier of substation equip)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NxtPhase Corp. acquired APT Power Technologies, a privately held digital substation equipment supplier, from Vansco Electronics. APT specializes in digital protection and monitoring solutions for the global electric utilities market. The...

DOE advances NREL initiative.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE) National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colo., is contracting with ENCORP Inc. and Northern Power Systems to forward NREL's wind-turbine distributed-generation initiative. NREL entered into a...

WPS Resources selects LineSoft.(LD-Pro vertical CAD solution)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... WPS Resources Corp. has selected LineSoft's LD-Pro line design solution and LD-Track work order tracking and analysis solution to automate distribution line design. The multi-million dollar contract includes software, training, integration and...

NTSDC facilitates wind-to-energy.(subeasement agreement)
March 1, 2001... M&N Wind Power signed a subeasement agreement with the Nevada Test Site Development Corp. (NTSDC) that paves the way for a wind-to-energy facility to be built about 65 miles northwest of Las Vegas. Power from the facility will be marketed to...

High Voltage receives patent.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... High Voltage Inc., a manufacturer of high voltage test equipment received a U.S. Patent for its very low frequency (VLF) high voltage sinusoidal electrical testing method which is incorporated within its product line of portable VLF AC...

SOFC achieves milestone.(world's longest operating high temperature fuel cell)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Siemens Westinghouse Power Corp. announced that the world's longest operating high-temperature fuel cell power system, the 100 kW solid oxide fuel cell (SOFC) cogeneration system located in Westervoort, the Netherlands, successfully completed...

Integrated trading systems reduce uncertainty, ensure good business decisions.
March 1, 2001... When it comes to energy trading, an electron is an electron, a molecule is a molecule, there are few brand-name loyalties, and the best price wins. So why is it that there is still a wide variance in energy prices at any given time? Even...

PECO Energy selects Planalytics.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PECO Energy, a unit of Exelon Corp., has signed an agreement to access Planalytics' Weathemomics Gas Buyer, a financial risk management tool for buyers and sellers of natural gas. The Web-delivered tool suggests specific buying actions to...

Energy ID expands list service.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Jackson Associates, developer of market analysis and information systems energy marketing and database products, introduced Energy ID, a new customer list enhancement service. The service provides annual and monthly electricity and natural gas...

Enermetrix raises $35.5 million in private equity.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Enermetrix, a provider of e-business solutions to businesses that buy, sell and consume energy, announced the completion of the Company's Series "D" private equity offering. Menill Lynch acted as financial advisor for the $35.5 million...

CalPX selects FEA.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The California Power Exchange (CalPX) and Financial Engineering Associates Inc. (FEA) have teamed to deliver risk management tools to California's power trading industry. CalPX selected FEA's VaRworks SE as the foundation for an advanced...

El Paso Merchant Energy chooses Caminus.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... El Paso Merchant Energy Co., one of the largest integrated natural gas-to-power companies in the world, has purchased the Caminus Zai*Net GasMaster gas transaction management system. Traders in El Paso Merchant Energy's gas marketing business...

eBidenergy.com forms alliance with Aquila Energy.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... eBidenergy.com, a facilitator of online energy procurement, data acquisition, and data analysis for commercial and industrial businesses in the U.S., has signed an agreement with Aquila Energy that will expand the geographic regions both...

Internet EDI and partnerships ensure quick ROI.(Government Activity)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Utility industry deregulation coupled with the new markets from the unbundling of services has created competition where none existed. In the general business market the rapid growth of electronic commerce has led companies to investigate the...

Con Edison deploys data visualization technology.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Con Edison, a subsidiary of Consolidated Edison Inc., has deployed a Web-based data management system using OpenViz data visualization technology from Advanced Visual Systems Inc. (AVS). The new system integrates data from five legacy Con...

WPS Resources awards contract to Logica.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Logica has been awarded a multimillion dollar contract by WPS Resources Corp., to implement an integrated work management information system (WMIS) for its utility operating units. This contract includes a three-year software maintenance...

Compaq is the server standard.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Compaq Computer Corp. servers run the systems that control two-thirds of the world's electric power supply, according to a recent study by the Newton-Evans Research Company Inc. Analysis of awards over the past decade suggests factors behind...

Convergent Group and Schlumberger unite vision.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Convergent Group Corp., a Schlumberger company, and Schlumberger Resource Management Services Inc., a business segment of Schlumberger Limited, announced a joint strategic vision focusing on driving efficiencies in energy markets by aggregating...

Enporion opts for SolSource.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Enporion, a new e-marketplace for the energy industry, has chosen SolSource Inc., an information technology company located in Clearwater, Fla., as its preferred system integrator. SolSource will provide project management and implementation...

IFP selects Foxboro.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Idaho Falls Power (IFP) selected The Foxboro Co. to implement an advanced I/A Series supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor, control and help maintain the City of Idaho Falls' power generation, transmission, and...

CES International forms alliance.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... CES international, provider of operations resource management (ORM) software for the utilities industry, announced an alliance with PricewaterhouseCoopers to deliver integrated ORM solutions to distribution utility companies. The move...

Pantellos partners with WorldCrest.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Pantellos, the online marketplace for the utility and energy services industries, announced a partnership with WorldCrest that will significantly expand the content and number of suppliers available through the Pantellos marketplace, while...

PSDI and i2 target market.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PSDI, doing business as MRO Software, provider of solutions for streamlining the supply chain for maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) materials, and i2 Technologies Inc., provider of marketplace solutions, will team up to offer a...

Honeywell introduces software.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Honeywell introduced its new Savings Estimator, a PC-based software tool that estimates energy use and potential savings for commercial/institutional buildings. Honeywell is offering the Savings Estimator software free to industry professionals...

Convergent and iMedeon integrate applications.
March 1, 2001... Convergent Group, a provider of business transformation and systems integration for public and private utilities, and iMedeon, provider of wireless Web applications for mobile workforce management, announced their strategic alliance to...

PSE&G chooses EDS.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PSE&G selected EDS to help the company lower costs upgrade its IT infrastructure. In the eight-year, $137 million agreement, EDS will provide midrange and mainframe computing infrastructure and operational support.

E/C/O IT to top $1 billion.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Engineering, procurement, construction firms face an increasingly urgent need to cut costs and compress project schedules, which will provide IT solutions providers with a $1 billion opportunity by 2004, according to Cambridge-based technology...

PECO Energy masters EDI on the Internet.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... GE Global exchange Services (GXS) successfully completed a project for PECO Energy Co., enabling it to comply with state requirements for business transactions over the Internet by developing a server subsystem for securely processing Internet...

Energy metering meets real-time analysis.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Power Measurement, provider of integrated energy management solutions, entered a channel-partner agreement with Operation Technology Inc. (OTI), developer of power system analysis and design software. OTI's real-time simulation, energy...

Westinghouse to update AEPCO.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Arizona Electric Power Cooperative Inc. (AEPCO) selected Westinghouse Process Control Inc., a subsidiary of Emerson Electric Co., to update process control systems at its Apache Station near Cochise, Ariz. Westinghouse Process Control and AEPCO...

Toronto Hydro chooses Mincom.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Toronto Hydro Electric System Ltd., an electric distribution utility serving customers in Ontario, Canada, signed with Mincom Inc., for its Web-based Ellipse 5.2 suite of utilities software management applications. The Toronto Hydro contract is...

GeoIT and ESRI partner.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Geographic Information Technology Inc. (GeoIT), with full support from ESRI has formed an ArcInfo 8 implementation team that will benefit organizations in electric, gas, water, and telecommunications markets through GeolT's experience in the...

Prepayment empowers customers, increases efficiency.
March 1, 2001... Deregulation, privatization and increased competition have created an exceptionally challenging business environment for utilities. Consumers are demanding improved convenience and higher-quality service, or they will take their business...

M3i and Lucent Technologies partner.
March 1, 2001... M3i Systems Inc. recently announced an agreement with Lucent Technologies to co-market and integrate M3i's advanced PragmaLine outage and PragmaCAD workforce management systems with Lucent's Kenan Energy & Utilities Suite billing and customer...

AEP outsources billing, EDI to InSITE.
March 1, 2001... American Electric Power (AEP) recently awarded InSITE SERVICES an exclusive five-year contract to provide comprehensive billing services for its unregulated retail energy business. As the competitive energy market opens in Texas, InSITE will...

DocuCorp licenses software.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... DocuCorp International, has licensed software to the City of Mesa, Ariz., for production, archival and Internet presentation of utility bills and customer service correspondence. Utility bills are produced in-house by the city of Mesa, with...

LODESTAR receives $29 million investment.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... LODESTAR Corp., provider of e-business software for customer choice in the new energy economy, has received approximately $29 million from OCM/GFI Power Opportunities Fund LP. LODESTAR is using a portion of the investment funds to repurchase...

ePoweralert.com saves money and enhances system.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... PJM Technologies Inc. and Powerweb Technologies Inc. announced a new service called ePoweralert.com. This Internet-based information service notifies suppliers, end-use customers, energy marketers and generators of energy price information and...

DP2000 selects Xenos software.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Xenos is providing its Xenos d2e Platform software to specialist application solution provider Delta Progetti 2000. DP2000, part of the Comdata Group, is incorporating the Xenos software as part of the total document management software...

SCT signs with City of Mesa.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Mesa, Ariz., has contracted for SCT's Banner Customer Management System (CMS), a solution that will integrate and improve the management of operations for the municipal utility's electric and water customers. With the SCT system, Mesa will be...

Olameter signs e-commerce deal.
March 1, 2001... In an agreement that will pave the way for faster and more efficient e-commerce transactions between Olameter's partners and their customers, the Montreal-based company has signed a memorandum of understanding with Mondex International Ltd., a...

Convergent Group partners with Siebel Systems.
March 1, 2001... Convergent Group, a builder of digital enterprises for the utility marketplace, has joined the Siebel alliance program as a consulting partner. Convergent Group will add the Siebel eEnergy product suite to its Model Office, the technology...

American Express purchases Xenos d2e Platform.(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... American Express Co. signed an agreement to purchase components of the Xenos d2e platform. The agreement is valued at approximately $300,000, and includes additional annual maintenance and professional service revenues of approximately $50,000....

PowerOneData Inc. develops Internet-based solutions.
March 1, 2001... PowerOneData, an emerging Phoenix-based energy management technology company, is developing the next generation of two-way, Internet-based, advanced metering data collection and management solutions for utilities and energy service providers....

KCPL upgrades with Sixth Dimension.
March 1, 2001... Kansas City Power & Light selected Sixth Dimension to pilot a program where select manufacturing and commercial customers use the Internet to obtain immediate information about their energy use and associated costs. Customers can use Sixth...

Cooper Power Systems.(product introduction)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Cooper Power Systems introduces the UCP-311 relay for grounded wye fuseless capacitor banks. The UCP-311 senses the impedance of up to five capacitor strings, or groups of strings, per phase of a fuseless bank, which offers significant...

IT-4 insulator tester.(product description)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The IT-4 insulator tester tests energized or de-energized suspension insulators for non-visible internal failures at any AC line voltage. A built-in gigohmeter applies a current limited 10k VDC potential across an insulator. The IT-4 has an LED...

MANAGEMENT TIP FROM IKE.(Dwight D. Eisenhower)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... General Eisenhower used to demonstrate the art of leadership with a simple piece of string. He'd put it on a table and say: "Pull it and it'll follow wherever you wish. Push it, and it will go nowhere at all. It's just that way when it comes to...

ACHIEVEMENT CHECKLIST.(questions to help determine your bad work habits)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Accomplishment starts with proper attitudes and good habits. Think failure and you will almost certainly fail. Lack discipline and organization and you will fall hopelessly behind in your work. This little quiz is designed to help you determine...

DEALING WITH GRIPES.(complaints at the workplace)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Many employee complaints seem so trivial that the normal reaction is to disregard them. But what seems trivial to you may be deeply disturbing to the complainer. First, there is a human tendency to exaggerate a complaint if nothing is done...

Cinergy gives nod to Enron.
March 1, 2001... Cinergy Corp. announced that Cinergy Capital & Trading Inc., a non-regulated affiliate of Cinergy Carp, and Enron North America have signed a definitive agreement allowing Cinergy Capital to purchase two natural gas-fired merchant electric...

Great River wishes to explore.
March 1, 2001... Great River Energy has filed a grant application with the North Dakota Industrial Commission requesting $10 million in matching funds to perform detailed feasibility studies which may lead to the construction of a new $700 million, 500 MW...

Avista seeks conservation.
March 1, 2001... Avista Corp. has filed a request with Washington and Idaho state regulators to implement a special tariff of 0.5 percent to provide funding for natural gas energy-efficiency programs. The proposed programs fall into three categories:...

Navigant to conduct auction.
March 1, 2001... Navigant Consulting Inc. announced that it has been selected by Sithe/Independence Power Partners LP to conduct an auction of a tolling agreement for all or a portion of the electrical output of the 1,040 MW Independence Station, a natural...