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Environmental

Avian Protection Program

Byline: 

Riley Adams

There are plenty of low-cost, easy-to-install protective measures utility companies can take to help keep birds safe from potentially deadly situations.
Image: 
Riley Adams: There are plenty of low-cost, easy-to- install protective measures utility companies can take to help keep birds safe from potentially deadly situations.
“Ameren Illinois created our Avian Protection Program to help save birds of prey and migratory species from potential hazards. It’s an ongoing plan to upgrade our electric and natural gas utility system with higher standards and better structures that are avian-safe for the eagles, hawks, falcons, osprey, owls, and other birds that dot the Ameren Illinois’ 43,000-square-mile service territory area.”
Author Bio: 

Riley Adams is Manager of Electric Initiatives and Avian Protection Program for Ameren Illinois.

Category (Actual): 
Environmental

Aiding Feathered Friends

Obligations and Opportunities: Wires Cos. Plug In to Clean Power Plan

Byline: 

Brendan Collins

When the the Clean Power Plan is reviewed on the merits in Fall 2017, Justice Scalia will have been replaced, and the newest justice may hold the key to the fate of the plan.
Image: 
"Utilities should use this time to formulate informed positions on the implementation issues that most affect their business." – Brendan Collins
Author Bio: 

Brendan K. Collins is a partner with Ballard Spahr LLP with extensive experience in the electric power sector. He is a member of Ballard’s environmental, energy and appellate litigation practice groups. Brendan has served as lead counsel for a group of energy companies in litigation before the D.C. Circuit and Supreme Court concerning the Mercury and Air Toxics Standards and the Cross-State Air Pollution Rule.

Category (Actual): 
FERC
Environmental
Energy Policy & Legislation

Vol. 1: “If It’s Stayed, Why Should I Go?”

Perfect Superstorm

Byline: 

Michael T. Burr, Editor-in-Chief

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - December 2012

Since Obama won reelection, we must ask whether we’d rather have EPA cracking down on carbon emissions, or whether a legislated framework would be better for everyone.

Category: 
Frontlines
Author Bio: 

Michael T. Burr is Fortnightly’s editor-in-chief. Email him at burr@pur.com

Category (Actual): 
Environmental
Energy Policy & Legislation
Strategy & Planning

Could carbon taxes emerge in the election aftermath?

Multi-pollutant Emissions Control

Byline: 

Kevin Crapsey

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - December 2012

Conflicting demands for complying with EPA’s MATS rule favor a single control technology to deal with multiple types of power plant emissions.

Category: 
Technology Corridor
Author Bio: 

Kevin Crapsey is vice president of corporate strategy and development at Eco Power Solutions.

Category (Actual): 
Permitting
Environmental
Coal

MATS compliance now, with flexibility for the future.

Solution in Search of a Problem

Byline: 

Thomas Feldman

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - December 2012

Utilities seeking financing for environmental upgrades should look to the markets for debt and equity, rather than trying to securitize those costs.

Image: 
Figure 1 - Securitization by Purpose (% of Total)
Figure 2 - Risk Compression Caused By Securitization
Category: 
Transactions Business & Money
Author Bio: 

Thomas Feldman is a principal at Concentric Energy Advisors.

Category (Actual): 
Rate Cases
Environmental
Bonds / Debt Markets

Securitization fails the test for financing environmental capex.

Maximum Burden

Byline: 

Roger H. Bezdek

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - December 2012

Although EPA claims its tough new clean air regulations will improve public health, in fact they’ll measurably degrade the health of Florida seniors.

Image: 
Figure 1 - Florida Residents 65 years or Older
Figure 2 - Utility MACT and Florida Elders
Category: 
Op Ed
Author Bio: 

Roger H. Bezdek (rbezdek@misi-net.com) is president of Management Information Services Inc. He’s authored several articles for Fortnightly since 1996, most recently “Energy Subsidy Myths and Realities,” June 2012.

Category (Actual): 
Pricing
Environmental

The electricity price increases from the proposed EPA Utility MACT will act as a regressive tax on the elderly.

Least-Risk Planning

Byline: 

Kenneth Colburn, et al.

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - November 2012

The D.C. Circuit’s CSAPR ruling reinforces the benefits of planning ahead and keeping options open. A diverse portfolio strategy reduces risks and costs.

Author Bio: 

Ken Colburn (kcolburn@raponline.org) and David Farnsworth are senior associates at the Regulatory Assistance Project (RAP). John Shenot is an associate, Camille Kadoch is a research and policy analyst, Elizabeth Watson is energy and environment fellow, and Rebecca Wigg is a communications associate at RAP.

Category (Actual): 
Environmental
Coal
Permitting

The Homer City decision increases uncertainty—but rewards forward thinking.

Federal Feud

Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford and Michael T. Burr

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - November 2012

When Revolutionary War veteran Daniel Shays led an attack on the federal Springfield Armory in January 1787—the spark that ignited the federalist movement—he scarcely could’ve guessed that now, 225 years later, his spiritual descendants would still be fighting that very same battle.

Author Bio: 

Bruce W. Radford (radford@pur.com) is Fortnightly’s publisher, and Michael T. Burr (burr@pur.com) is the editor-in-chief.

Category (Actual): 
The States
The Feds
Environmental

The jurisdictional battle rages on, with FERC and EPA squaring off against the states.

Cleanup Time

Byline: 

David Hoppock and Sarah Adair

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - November 2012

Ongoing litigation over EPA rules raises compliance risks and costs. North Carolina utilities, however, benefited from the state’s forward thinking.

Category: 
Op Ed
Author Bio: 

David Hoppock (david.hoppock@duke.edu) is a research analyst and Sarah Adair (sarah.adair@duke.edu) is an associate in research at Duke University’s Nicholas Institute for Environmental Policy Solutions in Durham, N.C.

Category (Actual): 
Environmental
Coal

Retrofitting early protected North Carolina ratepayers.

What Price, GHGs?

Byline: 

Philip Q Hanser and Mariko Geronimo

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - October 2012

Renewable portfolio standards and other green energy rules put a price on environmental benefits. Calculating this price can help clarify the social value of GHG reductions.

Image: 
Figure 1 - Implied CO2 Externality Values of Carbon Reduction Policies
Figure 2 - Ranges of Implied CO2 Externality Values
Category: 
Business & Money
Author Bio: 

Philip Q Hanser is a principal with The Brattle Group, and Mariko Geronimo is an associate with the firm. The views in this article are theirs and not those of The Brattle Group or its clients.

Category (Actual): 
Pricing
Environmental
Coal

Calculating the implied value of CO2 abatement in green energy policies.

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