Electric Light & Power articles from May 2008

Electric Light & Power archives from May 2008

Events.(Calendar)
May 1, 2008... JUNE June 3-5, 2008 PowerGrid Europe 2008 PennWell Co. Milan, Italy www.powergrideurope.com June 15-18 2008 EEI Annual Convention/Expo Electric Institute Toronto, Ontario, Canada www.eei.org ...

Commentary.(Column)
May 1, 2008... Chicago is famous for its fabulous food and striking skyline. Can we now add aesthetically pleasing substations to the city's attractions list? Mayor Daley is very particular about the way substations look. In Chicago, substations have to...

Strategies for the workplace environment: a comprehensive ergonomic program provides benefits for employees and utility.(COLUMN: Customer Service, Utility Style)
May 1, 2008... Workplace environment strategies are designed to support a customer-focused culture and provide a workplace that is safe and productive. These strategies are core to a company's overall goal of retaining talented and diverse employees. Utility...

Increasing the pace of electric transmission construction.(COLUMN: Benefit of Counsel)(Column)
May 1, 2008... The dramatic increase in generation development, together with the new capacity markets and the surge in demand for renewable generation, has put enormous pressure on transmission providers to efficiently interconnect these critically needed...

The middle ages of our energy policy: will the renaissance be nuclear?(COLUMN: Taking It Into Account)
May 1, 2008... With increasing frequency and urgency come proclamations that we are entering a period of nuclear power renaissance. The first applications in 30 years for licenses to build new nuclear power plants in the U.S. have recently been filed with the...

Managing for profitable growth in the face of rate resistance.(COLUMN: Managing Uncertainty)(Column)
May 1, 2008... It is a challenging time for consumers and utilities alike. Energy prices continue to escalate and heightened public awareness has led to rate resistance from utility regulators and customers. At issue also is the fact that many markets and...

Peabody Energy invests in "Bluegas" Technology.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Peabody Energy (NYSE: BTU), the world's largest private sector coal company, became a minority investor in Cambridge-based GreatPoint Energy Inc. in January. GreatPoint Energy is commercializing its proprietary...

First U.S. auction of GHG emissions allowances set for September.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... States participating in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, an agreement between the governors of 10 Northeastern and mid-Atlantic states to reduce greenhouse gases from power plants, scheduled the first CO2 allowance auction in the nation...

NRG Partners with Toshiba to develop advanced boiling water reactor.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) in partnership with Toshiba Corp. has formed Nuclear Innovation North America LLC to focus on marketing, siting, developing, financing and investing in new advanced design nuclear projects in select markets across...

SCE launches Nation's largest solar panel installation.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... Southern California Edison (SCE) launched the nation's largest solar cell installation in March, a project that will place 250 MW of advanced photovoltaic generating technology on 65 million square feet of roofs of Southern California...

SMUD opens solar-powered hydrogen vehicle fueling station.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... The Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) opened a solar-powered hydrogen fueling station for fuel-cell electric vehicles (FCEV) in April, part of a joint SMUD, BP, Ford and U.S. Department of Energy project to demonstrate FCEVs and...

UniStar and Accenture to develop nuclear fleet enterprise architecture.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... UniStar Nuclear Energy (UNE) is partnering with Accenture (NYSE: ACN) to develop an advanced information technology (IT) platform capable of supporting the lifelong data needs of a potential new fleet of nuclear power plants. UNE is a...

RWE Innogy plans first wave power station off Scotland Coast.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
May 1, 2008... RWE Innogy has submitted a planning application to the relevant authorities for one of the world's first wave power stations off the Scottish coast. The pilot plant with an output of 4 MW will be installed in Siadar Bay on the Isle of Lewis. If...

Cyber security: are we doing enough?(Industry Report)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] We can't afford to live in a virtual world when it comes to cyber attacks on our electric grid--this pain would be real. A disruption of our critical infrastructure would be life threatening and could cripple our...

EEI Chairman and Chairman, President and CEO of PNM Resources Jeff Sterba on the future.(Executive Profile)(Edison Electric Institute)(Interview)
May 1, 2008... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] It's easier to predict the future 30 or 40 years out. When 2050 rolls around, who's going to care whether Energy Information Administration projections were right or not? It will all be water under the bridge. What...

An allegory of uncertainty for base load generation: applying real options theory could bring salvation.(Finance)
May 1, 2008... Investment in U.S. base load generation is risky business due to uncertainty in energy prices, carbon policy and regulatory oversight. Demand for electricity continues to grow, reserve margins shrink, and yet announced investments in base load...

PUC impact felt: exclusive C three equity index.(Finance)(Public Utilities Commission)
May 1, 2008... State commissions are having a real impact on the value of the stocks we follow. The top three and seven of the bottom 10 of the "April 2008 Winners and Losers" were propelled upward or downward by state regulatory issues. (See chart.) The good...

Integrating business processes: modeling financial settlements in deregulated electricity markets.(Risk Management)
May 1, 2008... To successfully participate in the North American power market, the front office must be provided with timely feedback on traders' financial positions and the back office must be able reconcile the financial settlements from market operators....

New energy trading markets: ISOs redesign ancillary services markets.(Risk Management)
May 1, 2008... Reducing the price of electricity has a cost, often expressed in the form of lower revenues for power plant operators--after invested in upgraded connections system operator linking them to [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] That's what is...

Restructuring FutureGen: will progress be delayed for clean coal technology?(Generation)
May 1, 2008... It was five years ago that the Department of Energy unveiled its FutureGen program, with the goal of developing a first-of-its-kind, prototype coal-fired power plant with near-zero emissions, using an advanced, integrated gasification-combined...

Meter data management: important but too expensive? Hosted MDM solutions provide the benefits without the high cost.(IT/CIS & CRM)
May 1, 2008... Savvy executives know meter data management (MDM) is an effective way to manage, process and distribute usage information collected by advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) systems. MDM is a critical enabler that helps utilities deliver demand...

Trends in CIS: optimize customer communications to build stronger relationships.(IT/CIS & CRM)
May 1, 2008... Utilities face major changes in every aspect of their operations. Although much of the change taking place in the industry is driven by simple economics, an equal amount comes from the public's growing awareness of the impact of CO2 emissions...

CS Week Fall Conference extends our educational reach.(CS Week)(Conference news)
May 1, 2008... Not everyone likes change, but at CS Week 2008 in San Antonio, the benefits of change and the speed at which changes occurred in the past 12 months were great. We met hundreds of people attending for the first time, many from IOUs, munis and...

Hidden substation: Anaheim Public Utilities meets rapid growth with innovative solutions.(T&D)
May 1, 2008... Most municipalities don't build a lot of substations, generally speaking, but you wouldn't know it to see the project list at Anaheim Public Utilities. The city of Anaheim is experiencing rapid growth in densely populated urban areas, which...

Should you invest in employee assessments?(Management Methods)
May 1, 2008... If nearly a quarter of your staff was underperforming, what impact would that have on your bottom line? Could poor performance be exposing your company to other risks? According to our research, on average, 23 percent of employees do not...