Electric Light & Power articles from November 2007

Electric Light & Power archives from November 2007

Events.(Calendar)
November 1, 2007... DECEMBER December 3-5 Carbon Capture Status and Outlook Infocast Washington, D.C. www.infocastinc.com December 10-11 Inaugural Global Marketplace Conference GreenXchange Los Angeles, California ...

Commentary.
November 1, 2007... A couple of weeks ago, I sat in on an interesting webcast titled, "Who Are These People and Why Are They Reading Digital Editions?" It was part of a series of webinars put on by Folio: for publishers who are trying to keep up with the...

TXU Corp. acquisition complete.
November 1, 2007... TXU Corp. completed its merger agreement with Texas Energy Future Holdings Limited Partnership (TEF) in early October. TEF is led by a group of investors including Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. (KKR), Texas Pacific Group (TPG) and Goldman Sachs...

AEP reaches settlement agreement in NSR case.
November 1, 2007... American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP) reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, eight states and 14 environmental organizations in early October, bringing an end to almost eight years of litigation regarding...

Puget Energy signs merger agreement with consortium of North American infrastructure investors.
November 1, 2007... Puget Energy (NYSE:PSD), the parent company of Puget Sound Energy, a regulated utility providing electric and natural gas service to the Puget Sound region of western Washington, announced in November that it has entered into a definitive...

Eight utilities join Clinton Global Initiative.
November 1, 2007... Eight utility companies will work with the Clinton Global Initiative to address climate change. The utilities have committed to seek regulatory reforms and approvals to increase their investment in energy efficiency by $500 million annually to...

North American electricity demand continues to outpace resource growth; reliability concerns remain.
November 1, 2007... Electricity usage in the United States is projected to grow more than twice as fast as committed resources over the next 10 years, the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) announced in its 2007 Long-Term Reliability...

Call center queue management systems.(COLUMNS: Customer Service, Utility Style)
November 1, 2007... For many of us in the utility business, this is the time of year when we finalize our budgets and plans for the upcoming year. As always, customer service leaders look for initiatives that can improve service and reduce costs. One customer...

The power of private capital: managing market forces.(COLUMNS: Managing Uncertainty)
November 1, 2007... Deregulation of the global utilities industry has resulted in an environment ripe for transactions, fueling merger and acquisition activity across the sector. With nearly 250 deals totaling $100 billion announced in the first quarter of this...

Breaking the renewables log jam.(COLUMNS: Benefit of Counsel)
November 1, 2007... Currently, 24 states have renewable portfolio standards (RPS) which, in general, require retail electricity providers to have a minimum percentage of renewable resources in their supply portfolios. Unfortunately, though, the energy from such...

The "Full Monty" of power projects: perhaps less is more.(COLUMNS: Taking It Into Account)
November 1, 2007... Is now the time to invest in big, capital-intensive energy projects--the Full Monty of baseload integrated coal gasification combined cycle with carbon recapture, a new fleet of nukes, and long-distance high-voltage transmission lines to...

2006 operating performance rankings: turning in impressive numbers.(Industry Report)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] No, no, no. No coal plants, no nuclear plants, no LNG ports. That's the gist of the public's attitude toward new power generation. Which leaves us what? Renewables and energy efficiency. Sadly, that won't be...

2007 Utility of the Year: FPL Group.(Profile)(Cover story)(Company overview)
November 1, 2007... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Congratulations to FPL Group, Electric Light & Power's 2007 Utility of the Year. Green, clean, renewable, efficient; global warming, carbon-constrained world, greenhouse gas emissions. Think or write about 2007,...

Market manipulation and FERC: the value of on-going compliance monitoring.(SECTIONS: Finance)
November 1, 2007... On July 26, 2007, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued two show cause orders to address alleged market manipulation--Amaranth Advisors L.L.C., et al., "Amaranth," and Energy Transfer Partners, L.R, et al., "ETP." Irrespective of...

Exclusive C three equity index.(SECTIONS: Finance)
November 1, 2007... The merchant energy group continues to move ahead of all other industry indices, as well as non-industry--Apple Computer stock is one of the few to outperform the merchant sector. That's a reflection of the premium being placed on existing...

Turning energy efficiency into a business.(SECTIONS: Finance)
November 1, 2007... Growing demand, rising costs and increasing concerns about the environment--each, by itself, justifies expanding energy efficiency's role as a resource for the electric power industry. Taken together, they create the urgent need to make energy...

The clean spark spread: how greenhouse gas legislation will impact the cost of producing power.(SECTIONS: Risk Management)
November 1, 2007... By 2012, the United States may have in place a program to decease the domestic emission of greenhouse gases. Legislation establishing such a program may likely be enacted within the next 12 to 18 months. Indeed, the Lieberman-Warner bill,...

Artificial intelligence technologies: to help power plants weather the industry's sea change.(SECTIONS: Generation)
November 1, 2007... The power generation industry is being put to the test. Concern about potential environmental regulations is compounded by a loss of talent and institutional knowledge as a disproportionate fraction of the industry's workforce approaches...

The coal supply equation.(SECTIONS: Generation)(Interview)
November 1, 2007... What can we say about coal that hasn't been said before? It's inexpensive--and environmentally costly. It fuels reliable power plants--and creates dangerous situations for miners. With today's technology, we do a great job of controlling...

The latest in wind forecasting.(SECTIONS: Renewables)
November 1, 2007... Not long ago, wind generation was such a small contributor to overall generation that few utilities were concerned with its variability. Today, wind is becoming a significant energy source across North America. To avoid load-management...

Emerging communication technologies: the power of Meter Data Unification and Synchronization of advanced metering infrastructure (part I).(SECTIONS: IT / CIS & CRM)
November 1, 2007... Modern utilities have largely embraced technology in order to successfully tackle today's challenges: balancing electrical supply and demand to growing communities while being environmentally aware and responsible. Many utilities are embracing...

Emerging communication technologies: BPL-enabled smart grids.(SECTIONS: IT/CIS & CRM)
November 1, 2007... Virtually every industry in the U.S. has been modernized except for the electric distribution grid. The grid's architecture has changed little since it was first deployed in the late 1800s, with correspondingly few improvements in efficiency....

Tailor the bill for a custom(er) fit.(SECTIONS: IT/CIS & CRM)
November 1, 2007... Utilities are always searching for ways to improve the bottom line. Whether reducing operating costs through new technologies, enhanced efficiency or automation, the ultimate goal is to find solutions with an aggressive ROI to rapidly impact...

When differences build strength.(CS Week)(online eductional offerings)(Viewpoint essay)
November 1, 2007... CS Week COO Rod Litke and I spend a significant amount of time strategizing ways to enrich the educational offerings that CS Week provides and directions in which to expand the conference. We have to understand how to adapt to the rapidly...

C&I customers: what do they really want from their energy providers?(SECTIONS: T&D)
November 1, 2007... Energy providers wonder what their commercial and industrial customers really want. The obvious answer is lower rates, but they've had them all along. These customers have had innovative rates that offer significant savings--if they change...

5 hiring mistakes ... and how to avoid them.(Management Methods)
November 1, 2007... Industry-wide, energy and utility companies are losing decades of experience and knowledge as valuable employees reach retirement. "We're losing the older guard that has the technical expertise and understanding of the system," said one vice...