Electric Light & Power articles from November 2000

Electric Light & Power archives from November 2000

New name, high aspirations: IPP aims for U.S. growth.(International Power)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... AES, Calpine, NRG--this tally of prominent U.S. independent power producers (IPPs) may soon expand if Independent Power achieves its goals. Resulting from the demerger of the UK-based National Power LLC in October, a new company was...

Summer knights: ISO hailed as California champions.(International Standards Organization)
November 1, 2000... "San Diego should never have happened," said Jan SmutnyJones, chairman of the California ISO board of governors in an interview with EL&P. "And there's no need for San Diego to ever happen again." But San Diego did happen. We can't go back...

The latest transmission buzz: "Nits and gnats".(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's requirements)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... The deadline for transmission-owning companies to file their plans to meet the requirements of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC) Order 2000 was October 16. Order 2000 mandated that investor-owned utilities (IOUs) propose how...

Westcoast Energy to sell plants.(Westcoast Energy Inc., Trans-Canada Power LP)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Westcoast Energy Inc. has entered into a letter of intent to sell its interest in a number of its Canadian operating power generation facilities to Trans-Canada Power LP of Calgary. The value of the transaction is approximately $512 million, of...

Energy East completes merger.(Energy East Corp. merges with CMP Group Inc, Berkshire Energy Resources, CTG Resources Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Energy East Corp. has completed its mergers with CMP Group Inc., Berkshire Energy Resources and CTG Resources Inc. The three companies are now wholly owned subsidiaries of Energy East, which now serves nearly 2 million customers.

Montana Power to sell utility.(NorthWestern Corp. acquires)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... NorthWestern Corp. a $5 billion revenue energy and communications company, has finalized a definitive agreement to acquire Montana Power's electric and natural gas utility business for approximately $1.1 billion. The acquisition includes $488...

Peabody sells Citizens Power.(Peabody Group sells to Edison International)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Peabody Group has completed the sale of its Citizens Power unit to a subsidiary of energy giant Edison International and also reached an agreement to sell its third party contracts. The two transactions will net Peabody about $100 million in...

Calpine acquires interest.(Calpine Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Calpine Corp. has acquired the remaining 80 percent interest in the Agnews cogeneration facility, San Jose, Calif. Calpine first acquired a 20 percent equity interest in the facility in 1990.

Southern Company buys Vastar stake.(Southern Energy Inc. purchases Vastar Resources Inc. interest in Southern Company Energy Marketing)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Southern Energy Inc. has completed the $250 million purchase of Vastar Resources Inc.'s 40 percent interest in Southern Company Energy Marketing, making the company wholly owned by Southern Energy. Southern Energy and Vastar will continue with...

AEP and LCRA collaborate.(American Electric Power Co., Lower Colorado River Authority)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... American Electric Power Co. (AEP) and the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA) have formed a partnership to construct a 150-mile portion of a proposed 345 kv power line in West Texas. The agreement calls for AEP to manage construction of the...

Here come the majors: oil breaks into electric market.(major oil companies)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Will customers in the U.S. soon choose electric suppliers at the pump? Will they pay their electricity or natural gas bills using their Shell, BP Amoco or Exxon Mobil MasterCard? Globally, energy majors (i.e., major oil and gas companies)...

Texas PUCT lays groundwork for retail pilot.(Public Utility Commission Texas)
November 1, 2000... With less than 30 weeks to go (at press time) until the state's first retail pilot project, Texas is embroiled in a debate about what to do with stranded costs. A recent ruling by the administrative office of the Texas Public Utilities...

High wire gridlock: CERA predicts outcomes.(Cambridge Energy Research Associates)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Cambridge Energy Research Associates' (CERA) new study, High Tension: The Future of Power Transmission in North America, lays out three specific possible paths American electric power may be working toward: incentivized grids, off-road...

Calpine enters agreement.(Calpine Corp., Imperial Irrigation District)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Calpine Corp. has entered into a five-year power sales agreement with Imperial Irrigation District. Calpine will deliver 150 MW of electricity from its new South Point Energy Center to the district's southern California electric customers...

PJM creates subsidiary.(PJM Interconnection L.L.C. creates PJM Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... PJM Interconnection LLC, the independent system operator serving the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S., has created a wholly-owned subsidiary named PJM Technologies Inc. As one of its first ventures, PJM Tech has entered into an agreement to...

Northeast invests in high-tech.
November 1, 2000... Northeast Utilities is investing $10 million in Acumentrics Corp., a producer of advanced power generation and power protection technologies. This investment will provide Northeast Utilities with a five-percent share of the company.

SmartEnergy partners with Yahoo! Shopping.(contract information)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... SmartEnergy, an Internet-based electricity and natural gas provider, has signed an agreement to be a featured merchant on Yahoo! Shopping. SmartEnergy will be the first residential energy service provider on Yahoo! Shopping. As part of the...

NCMPA1 partners with Entergy.(North Carolina Municipal Power Agency Number 1)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Nineteen cities and towns in Western North Carolina that own and operate their electric systems will be partnering with Entergy Power Marketing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Entergy Corp. The municipalities, collectively know as the North...

Tucson Electric desires line extension.(through Arizona)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Tucson Electric Power Co. intends to construct a power line into southern Arizona. The company has also filed for approval from the U.S. Department of Energy to extend the line into Mexico. A primary subsidiary of UniSource Energy Corp., Tucson...

IP attempts to withdraw from MISO.
November 1, 2000... Illinois Power (IP) has notified the Midwest Independent System Operator (MISO) that it intends to withdraw as a member of MISO. MISO has released a statement that the owner's agreement does not permit withdrawals.

People & Companies.(brief company information)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Utilities and Associations The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) has appointed Joseph K. Conner as its chief financial officer. Conner was previously group controller at United Refrigeration. The board of directors of...

Chevron, Texaco merger to boost convergence, electric power.(securities information)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Chevron Corp.'s 26 percent stake in energy merchant Dynegy Inc. and Texaco Inc.'s gasification expertise will boost the combined Chevron Texaco Corp.'s options in the "fast-growing gas and power convergence business," Dave O'Reilly, Chevron...

IOUs hand over generation assets to NUGs; wholesale market buoys prices.(investor owned utilities)
November 1, 2000... Always a challenge to put together, this year's operating performance report was no exception. In fact, the process of reviewing the numbers and verifying information brought to light just how much industry changes over the last few years have...

Fast talking 101: Retail sales tips to signing up profitable consumers.(Customer Link Systems Inc.)
November 1, 2000... What does it take to sign up thou sands--maybe even millions--of profitable customers in the power-full new era of Choice? A savvy, fast-talking sales staff? Some pricey, yet appealing, little freebies? How about a price-per-kilowatt that gives...

Skipping Stone Launches ACCESSretail.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Philadelphia-based Skipping Stone Inc., an energy industry consulting firm, recently introduced ACCESSretail, a comprehensive suite of products and services designed specifically for the deregulated retail energy marketplace. Designed to assist...

Going Dutch: Reliant chooses Structure for trading solution.(Reliant Energy)(Structure Consulting Group LLC)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... San Francisco-based Structure Consulting Group LLC, a technology and business solution provider to the energy industry, has been selected by Reliant Energy to provide an energy trading solution for the Dutch electricity market. Structure was...

Altra sets new online trading record.(natural gas industry)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Houston-based Altra Energy Technologies Inc. set new record-breaking figures associated with Altrade, an independent online trading exchange for the energy industry. Altrade Power set an all-time monthly volume record in August of 18.9 million...

Silicon's newest energy management software version available.(Silicon Energy Corp.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Alameda, Calif.-based Silicon Energy just announced the commercial availability of the latest version of its enterprise energy management software, EEM Suite version 2.0. This real-time, integrated Web-based system allows commercial customers,...

TradeSpark group creates mega-e-marketplace.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... In October, eSpeed Inc. (NASDAQ: ESPD), an interactive electronic marketplace engine for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce, signed an agreement with Coral Energy, Dominion (NYSE: D), Koch Energy Trading, Inc., TXU Energy Trading, a...

AES selects new Internet platform for NY, NJ customers.(AES NewEnergy LLC)(Powerweb Technologies Inc.)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Powerweb Technologies Inc. just announced an agreement with AES NewEnergy LLC, (www.newenergy.com) for the use of Powerweb's Omni-Link, Internet Energy Platform (www.omni-link.net) for selected AES NewEnergy's industrial and commercial retail...

Conoco and HoustonStreet form joint venture.(HoustonStreet Exchange)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Global energy giant Conoco (NYSE:COC.A) and (NYSE:COC.B) and online energy trading vendor HoustonStreet Exchange have formed a joint venture to develop and market a Web-enabled version of Conoco's automated mid- and back-office applications for...

AMDAX.com selects USPower-Solutions for PowerUp Service.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... USPowerSolutions, a B2B Service Provider in e-commerce technology for the deregulated energy industry, announced that it has been selected by the leading electricity online auction AMDAX.com, to provide PowerUp over the Internet for the...

eBidenergy.com goes live with auctions, data hosting/analysis.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Rochester, N. Y.-based ebidenergy.com, a facilitator of online energy procurement, data acquisition and data analysis for U.S.-based commercial and industrial businesses, just announced that its Web-based business is now operational at...

HoustonStreet Exchange goes European.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Backed by a multi-million dollar investment from companies in the European energy sector, HoustonStreet Exchange announced it is has extended its Web-based, wholesale energy trading platform to Europe on Sept. 27. Electrabel, RWE and Vattenfall...

PECO's UniGridEnergy puts the 'on' in online.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Philadelphia-based UniGridEnergy, a joint venture between PECO Energy's Exelon Capital Partners and ACE USA Power Products, has announced the development and launch of its online energy marketplace, UniGridEnergy.com. Created for commercial and...

E-vamping facility management improves control.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... An enterprise-wide facilities monitoring and control system should be based on a logical, hierarchical structure with an intelligent, interactive gateway at its heart. At its lowest level are digital and analog inputs and outputs connected...

Pole wars: Wood or steel--the argument continues.(power line poles for the electricity industry)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... The major battles in the electric industry of late seem to center on ISO vs. FERC or consumer vs. utility (after the crisis in California and the blackout of the downtown Chicago area last month). In doing so, they lose sight of another real...

Field trial spotlights commercial fuel cell.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Southern Company, Alabama Municipal Electric Authority (AMEA), FuelCell Energy and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International Inc. have joined in a partnership dubbed the Alabama Direct FuelCell Demonstration Project, originally announced by the group...

ADA-ES trumpets new chemical.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Environmental technology and specialty chemical company ADA-ES, a subsidiary of Earth Sciences, reports successful results in early testing of its newest specialty chemical, ADA-249. This patent-pending product is designed to help utilities...

AZZ Inc. awarded contracts.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... AZZ Inc., a provider of power generation, transmission and distribution solutions to the global electric utility industry, announced that its CGIT Westboro Inc. subsidiary has received two separate contracts from an unnamed "major global energy...

Entergy to D-SMES.
November 1, 2000... American Superconductor Corp. and GE Industrial Systems announced that they have received their first order for a distributed superconducting magnetic energy storage (D-SMES) system. (American Superconductor and GE formed a strategic alliance...

U.S. goes for photovoltaic gold.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... Shipments of photovoltaic (PV) modules, and cells reported by U.S. manufacturers in 1999 reached a record level of 77,000 peak kW, up 52 percent from 1998. This marked the fourteenth consecutive annual increase in PV shipments, according to the...

Capstone to supply recuperators.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Capstone Turbine Corp. announced a licensing agreement with Solar Turbines Inc. to manufacture recuperators, a part of the Capstone microturbine system. The companies have worked together over the past three years to develop automated...

IFC and Shell share equal stake.(plan joint venture company)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... International Fuel Cells (IFO), a unit of United Technologies Corp., and Shell Hydrogen US, a division of Shell Oil Products Co., announced their intent to establish a 50-50 joint venture company to develop, manufacture and sell fuel processors...

Iowa seniors toe the cutting edge.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Alliant Energy Resources, a subsidiary of Alliant Energy Corp., has announced that a residential and independent living facility in Toledo, Iowa, has become the first test site in the state for small-scale power generation from a microturbine....

DOE goes South.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will award Southern Research Institute a new contract to establish a fine particulate (PM2.5) monitoring capability in North Birmingham, Ala., expanding DOE's efforts to study these microscopic particles that...

PPL to distribute fuel cells.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... PPL Corp. has signed an agreement to become the first North American distributor of fuel cells manufactured by FuelCell Energy. PPL has made an equity investment in FuelCell Energy of about $10 million, or roughly one percent of FuelCell's...

Conectiv places order.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Conectiv has ordered 21 combustion turbine units from Siemens Westinghouse and General Electric for the PIM (Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Maryland) power pool. Conectiv already owns approximately 1,900 MW of mid-merit and peaking generation in...

Security, privacy & e-billing: An unlikely trio.(Brief Article)(Statistical Data Included)
November 1, 2000... Considering electronic billing's low cost and timesavings, you'd think American consumers would be beating down the proverbial business door of e-billers and vendors. Not so. In fact, while research shows 55 percent of consumers are eager to...

Billing engine boosts CRM power.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... With the constant pressure of changing regulatory requirements and competition, how can a utility juggle all these changes and, at the end of the day, keep its increasingly sophisticated and demanding customers happy? In these uncertain times,...

Chicago signs multi-million-dollar agreement with SCT.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... SCT (NASDAQ: SCTC), a provider of e-business solutions for the energy, utilities and communications market, announced the signing of a five-year services agreement with the City of Chicago's Department of Water (CDOW) with a value of up to...

Excelergy goes Brit, opens U.K. office.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Lexington, Mass.-based Excelergy Corp., a provider of e-infrastructure technology to the restructuring global energy marketplace, today announced it has opened new offices in Bristol, England. The move comes in response to growing demand in...

Xenos and NETdelivery partner.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... A new alliance between Xenos and NETdelivery Corp. will enable organizations to transform their existing legacy documents and data into e-content and send it over the Web. Under the agreement, Xenos, a provider of technologies that transform...

CheckFree moves on Bank of America alliance.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... CheckFree Corp. (NASDAQ: CKFR), a provider of electronic billing and payment software and services, today announced that its shareholders have approved the issuance of 10 million restricted shares of CheckFree Common Stock and performance-based...

LODESTAR gets Texas-sized, opens office in Houston.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Peabody, Mass.-based LODESTAR Corporation, a provider of eBusiness software, announced the expansion of its Texas operation to bolster its role in the state's energy deregulation plan. LODESTAR's software solutions have already been implemented...

Internet-based energy management comes home.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Sausalito, Calif.-based Coactive Networks, a provider of gateways for connecting the Internet to all devices in homes and businesses, and Alameda, Calif.-based Silicon Energy, a vendor of business-to-business energy management software...

Selectrica poised to reinvent B2B e-procurement.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Selectrica, labeled as "an e-commerce procurement exchange for the utilities sector," marks the Internet intersection of three major companies: FondElec Group, the Stamford, Conn.-based global infrastructure funds manager; ThinkChain Holdings,...

Pantellos expands services, adds partners.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Pantellos, a marketplace for the utility and energy industries, has extended its suite of supply chain solutions with the addition of two key strategic partners. Cephren and iVita have partnered exclusively with Pantellos to provide...

LG&E takes first step toward going digital.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Convergent Group Corp has inked an agreement with Louisville Gas and Electric Co. (LG&E) to move the utility toward a digital enterprise. LG&E serves 289,000 natural gas and 370,000 electric customers in Louisville, Ky., and 16 surrounding...

HR gains efficiency through outsourcers.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Human resources managers increasingly turn to outsourcers such as the Worthington Survey Center, a business unit of Worthington Software Engineering in Minneapolis. The Survey Center conducts customized, online HR research for a number of...

IPNet boosts trade.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... IPNet Solutions Inc., an e-business software developer, has released the IPNet eBizness Suite 3.3, an open, standards-based solution that helps exchanges and host companies operating in virtual trading communities. Key features of the 3.3...

Andersen pegged to coach ALSTOM ESCA Texas-sized delivery.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... ALSTOM ESCA had teamed with Andersen Consulting to provide an advanced market and operations system for both wholesale and retail electricity markets. for Texas. Andersen Consulting will lead the development and implementation of the...

IBM to power Xcel Energy.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... IBM Global Services and Xcel Energy, a new company created by the merger of Minneapolis-based Northern States Power and Denver-based New Century Energies, have forged a "second generation" services relationship in which IBM will partner with...

EPRI affects load.(Review)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is helping power providers and their customers understand how to manage risk and increase profitability using Internet-based load management systems. EPRI has developed five programs to help...

American Power Conversion to protect Allegheny.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Allegheny Energy Solutions, an unregulated subsidiary of Allegheny Energy Inc., and American Power Conversion are teaming up to offer power protection solutions. In response, Allegheny Energy Solutions has selected American Power Conversion as...

Data Systems to upgrade Con Ed.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Data Systems & Solutions, a joint venture between Rolls-Royce plc and Science Applications International Corp., has been chosen to supply Consolidated Edison Co. with a major upgrade of its process monitoring computer systems at the Indian...

VerticalBuyer launches site.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... VerticalBuyer Inc., a company involved in developing and publishing industry-specific Web sites, has launched a new one. ElectricalTimes.com is a global news portal that I addresses the business-to-business needs of commercial electrical...

Convergent Group, Vignette join forces.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Convergent Group and Vignette have formed an alliance to integrate the Vignette V/Series E-business platform into Convergent Group's Digital Utility and Government Gateway solutions. Vignette software will enable Convergent Group to deploy a...

TrainAnytime.com will give you a few good men.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Developed to meet the challenge of employee training that involves off site employees and limited access to courses and instructors, TrainAnytime.com was established to provide more feasible training over the Internet in the power, process and...

MULTI-BATTERY TESTER.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... This portable commercial battery can check more than 25 different popular battery types. The microprocessor-controlled tester is available for primary (non-rechargeable) batteries. The multi-battery tester works with popular Zn, Air, Li, and...

SAFETY SIGNAL SCOREBOARD.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Large 40"h x 24"w scoreboard features a traffic signal with sliding windows that are easily positioned to red, yellow, or green--depending on the safety situation. The polyethylene scoreboard also displays the number of accident-free days...

SILICONE TAPES.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... MOX-Tape products are used to create a self-fusing insulating barrier that resists moisture, oxidation, ozone and corona activity. The family of insulating tapes (600R series, 600-T series, and the SA/SB tapes) is suited for harness wrapping...

HIGH-NOISE HEADSETS.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... The new tactical noise-canceling headsets are now available. Designed for two-way communication in extremely noisy environments such as airports, manufacturing facilities or construction sites, these dual-muff headsets come in headband or...

CURRENT TRANSFORMERS.
November 1, 2000... The new series of outdoor rated, fully encapsulated current transformers requires no external enclosure, and they are fully protected from the environment. At 600 V rated, the units are applicable for most industrial applications. Transformers...

THE IMPORTANCE OF CONSISTENCY.(standards for employees)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Few things are more frustrating than working for someone whose standards continually change. When an employee knows he is being judged by a single, fair standard, he has a target to aim for. He can modify his performance accordingly and try to...

Your troops require basic training.(engineers)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Practical knowledge has historically been acquired through on-the-job-experience--by performing workday tasks and learning from others. For decades, electric utilities relied on this type of knowledge transfer to keep engineering departments...

Addenda.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... EL&P's September industry report on the top 82 IOUs financial rankings should have included a notation in Table 5 Dividend Growth Rates, page 16, indicating that the growth rates did not take into account stock splits. This could result in...

THE GENTLE ART OF SELLING.(selling change to employees)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Most people tend to resist the unfamiliar. Their resistance is almost always based on some sort of fear--fear of unemployment, harder work, reduced status, the need to learn new ways (or any combination of these). Smoothing the way for...

HOW TO SELL YOUR IDEA.(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... For a variety of reasons, many people can't sell their ideas. Some fear rejection. Others are reluctant to invest the time and effort it takes to prepare an effective presentation. Still others fail to realize that ideas must be sold. ...

GREAT RIVER SPONSORS RELEASE.(bald eagle)(Brief Article)
November 1, 2000... Mary Jo Roth, Great River Energy's manager of environmental services, releases a bald eagle back into its natural habitat. The ceremony, held at the park across from Great River Energy's Elk River headquarters, marks the culmination of the...