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Wind

Reinvigorating a Century Old Business Model

Byline: 

Larry Kellerman

Customers don’t have to wait decades while the grid incrementally evolves to incorporate transformational technologies. Led by customer-driven choices and decisions, we in the utility industry can and should accelerate the transition.
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"This reinvigorated model introduces individual-level customization – a million customers can have a million different rate bases." – Larry Kellerman
Author Bio: 

Larry Kellerman is Managing Partner of TFC Utilities. He has spent over three decades in the electric utility, power generation and independent energy industries, previously as CEO of Quantum Utility Generation, Partner at Goldman Sachs and President of the firm’s electric power business, Sr. Managing Director at El Paso Corporation, President of Citizens Power, and General Manager of Power Supply and Wholesale Marketing at Portland General Electric after starting his career at Southern California Edison.

Category (Actual): 
Strategy & Planning

The Power of Efficient Capital

Juhl to buy 260-MW portfolio

Thu, 2012-11-29 17:05 — mburr

Juhl Wind and 8030 Companies formed a joint venture to acquire existing wind farms and additional generating assets in the United States and Canada. Operating under the Juhl Wind name, the partnership expects to buy 260 MW of older wind farms over three years. The company might purchase projectstotaling 60 MW of capacity in 2013 and 100 MW in two subsequent years.

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.

Pre-Funding to Mitigate Rate Shock

Byline: 

By Sherman Elliott and Ralph Zarumba

Magazine Volume: 
Fortnightly Magazine - September 2012

As the industry resumes major capital-spending programs, utilities and their stakeholders are rightly concerned about the effects on prices. Traditional regulatory approaches expose utilities to risks and costs, and can bring rate shock when capital spending finally makes its way into customers’ bills. Pre-funding investments can provide a smoother on-ramp to bearing the costs of a 21st-Century utility system — but it also raises questions for utilities to address.

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Author Bio: 

Sherman Elliott is an independent consultant and formerly was a commissioner on the Illinois Commerce Commission. Ralph Zarumba is a director in Navigant’s energy practice.

Category (Actual): 
Rate Cases
Pricing
Strategy & Planning

Re-starting the Big Build calls for revisiting cost-recovery mechanisms.