Electric Light & Power articles from September 2006

Electric Light & Power archives from September 2006

Events.
September 1, 2006... OCTOBER Oct. 3-6 EMACS 2006 www.ernacsconference.com Schaurnburg, lllinois Oct. 9-12 2006 Electric and Gas User Group http://www.esd.com/events/egu~index.html Albuquerque, New Mexico Oct. 9-12 Southeastern Distribution...

Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead. Where there's a will, there's a way. If France can do it, by goodness, we can do it.(Nuclear Power plants in Fresno, California)
September 1, 2006... Don't recognize that last inspirational maxim? That's what Fresno, Calif., Utility Commission Chairman John Hutson said when he suggested the city consider building a nuclear power plant. According to an article in the Fresno Bee this summer,...

Entitlement or commodity?(Letters)(Letter to the editor)
September 1, 2006... In answer to your question about whether electricity is an entitlement or commodity, ("Commentary," July/August 2006) I think that the reason the utility industry is in the shape it is, is because it has always been treated like an entitlement...

Architecting intelligence into AMI systems: the benefits go well beyond just reading meters.(advanced metering infrastructure)
September 1, 2006... For the past several years, the term Automated Meter Reading (AMR) has been used as a generic label for handheld walk-by systems, drive-by systems, remote bubble-up (one-way) systems, and remote two-way systems. The walk-by/drive-by AMR...

It's time to reinvent efficiency: by taking a new approach, energy efficiency can achieve its true potential.(NEWS/ANALYSIS)
September 1, 2006... The nation's electric utility industry believes that it's time to change how we look at energy efficiency. Only by taking a new approach can we enable energy efficiency to achieve its true potential as a powerful tool for increasing...

The new age of arrears forgiveness programs: progressive utilities are implementing innovative strategies.
September 1, 2006... High energy prices combined with a sluggish economy are putting increased pressure on customers already struggling to pay their bills. Progressive utilities have responded by implementing new strategies to proactively address arrears, including...

Pursue real-time pricing: equip consumers with advanced metering instead of engineering capacity markets.
September 1, 2006... Ensuring power supply adequacy is a vexatious and illusive goal in a number of populous regions of the United States. Recent efforts to create capacity markets in addition to energy markets, or to improve their performance, have proven...

FERC's station power policies: lack of uniformity continues to engender needless litigation.(Federal Energy Regulatory Commission)
September 1, 2006... Station power is the electric energy used by a generator for its heating, cooling and lighting needs, and for operating electric equipment at the generating facility. When a generator is not producing sufficient power to meet its own station...

From spreadsheets to real-time risk management.(risk management in public utilities)
September 1, 2006... Utility companies are seldom given credit for the type of innovative business thinking that characterizes companies like Wal-Mart and Amazon.com. It's not that utility companies don't deserve recognition. After all, purchasing volatile...

2005 utility financial rankings: stability was the key word in 2005. Utilities settled down and surprises were few and far between. But boring is good.(Industry Report)(Statistical data)
September 1, 2006... There's just one way to sum up 2005: boring. Stability was the name of the game. "Everybody has gotten their balance sheets cleaned up," said Jean Reaves Rollins, founder of the C Three Group, the Atlanta, Ga.-based consulting and advisory...

"We're on our own." Peggy Fowler, Portland General Electric CEO and president, talks about surviving the collapse of Enron.(Profile)(Interview)(Cover story)
September 1, 2006... In Oklahoma, in the spring time, there are thunderstorms unlike any you've ever seen. The sky gets pitch black in the middle of the day and the wind is eerily still in those few moments before the sky explodes with rain, thunder and...

Danger! Shooting too low threatens merger success: to fulfill the transaction's full potential, management should expand its vision of post-merger objectives and stretch the capacity of the organization.(SECTIONS: Finance)
September 1, 2006... The new wave of mergers washing over the utility industry brings a serious challenge to management with each transaction: Produce the touted results or suffer the consequences. The synergies and other advantages promised during the announcement...

Valuing retail power marketers: do the metrics tell the story? Most retailers fail to give investors a sound basis for assigning value.
September 1, 2006... At this years' annual KEMA conference for retail energy marketers, Vikas Dwivedi, a securities analyst with Prudential Equity Group, stunned many in the audience with his comment that the investment community did not know how to value retail...

Risk-based: gas portfolio analysis provides wider insights: traditional gas supply planning methodologies are deterministic in nature, and do not adequately capture variability in the underlying load and price assumptions.
September 1, 2006... Volatility in the natural as market creates challenges for all involved in the natural gas utility segment. Although resource planning cannot eliminate market volatility, a risk-based approach to resource planning can provide valuable insight...

Chief nuclear officers strive to optimize plant costs: a "North Star" strategy can guide the team through cost and risk decisions.(SECTIONS: Generation)
September 1, 2006... Utility industry trends are now compelling chief nuclear officers to focus on cost optimization in order to create incremental value from nuclear plants. To be successful, CNOs need a long-term cost strategy to guide their management team and...

Next generation customer care: the customer care outsourcing model is adapting to the diverse needs of utilities.(SECTIONS: IT/CIS & CRM)
September 1, 2006... Utilities are adopting a paradigm shift, from viewing customers as one-size-fits-all "ratepayers" to individuals and demographic groups with unique expectations. According to a recent report by Chartwell. "Utilities have embraced market...

Successful online strategies for improved customer service.(utilities)
September 1, 2006... Utility customers have new choices, new technologies--and new opinions. Because of the digital revolution, utility customers expect instant, exceptional and perfect customer service. Utilities must strive to satisfy this ever-increasing demand...

Adopting open standards for AMI: open protocols would allow utilities to take advantage of new technology.(Advanced Metering Infrastructure )
September 1, 2006... Twenty years ago, few of us were surfing the Internet. Today we're looking for everything there, from heartburn treatments to the rings of Saturn. In a short decade, without really knowing it, most of us embraced the "http" (hyper text transfer...

How to fight status quo thinking.(Management Methods)
September 1, 2006... "We're satisfied with our current method (plan, strategy, process, product, etc.) Why change?" That's one of the most exasperating objections to an idea you will hear. It may come from people likely to be affected by your idea, from a...