October 28, 2009

As global organizations struggle to regain to their footing, they are finding some comfort in the wealth of other, foreign governments -- those willing to invest essential resources in their enterprises. But such capital is a double-edged sword and one that some fear could ultimately harm a nation's economic and political good.

As the prominence of "sovereign wealth funds" grows, they will be required to show increasing levels of transparency. But such oversight should not end up tempering free trade and commerce. Those cash-rich investors are pumping capital into the American economy -- money that will invariably make its way into utility-type enterprises. While real national security concerns exist, foreign direct investment is ushering in new business opportunities and linking global economic interests.

October 26, 2009

Coal is at a fork in the road. If it is to remain relevant, then the industry must work to commercialize advanced technologies that can scrub the carbon and bury the residue.

Progressives, who now dominate the Congress, are more inclined to set limits on emissions and thereby give vendors the assurances they need to take risks and bring critical products to market. That approach, however, runs anathema to conservative thinking that says that industry cannot comply with such laws if the technologies to bring about change do not yet exist.

October 21, 2009

Spent nuclear fuel may not have a permanent storage site. But that does not mean the energy form is dead. Far from it -- particularly because the used fuel can be reprocessed.

The issue is now under consideration by the U.S. Nuclear Waste Technical Review Board. While the concept has its foes who argue that it is expensive and a recipe for disaster, others say that it would help solve the long-term problem of where to store spent fuel. Reprocessing, now prevalent in France and Japan, separates the uranium and the plutonium from the rest of the nuclear waste. Nuclear operators would then be able to get between 20 percent and 30 percent more use from the uranium.

October 19, 2009

At age 70, Bluebonnet could choose to settle in as a stodgy, creaky electric cooperative intent on clinging to its heydays of the past. Not quite.

Indeed, the deft decision-makers at the Bastrop, Texas co-op are arguably ahead of the utility pack in pursuit of their version of the smart grid. CEO Mark Rose elaborates on his unique vision for the progressive co-op in a compact and eloquent document titled "The Sustainable Grid." Defining characteristics cover everything from lowering the co-op's carbon footprint to embracing the latest technology.

October 16, 2009

From smart meter pilot programs to plans for electric vehicle charging stations, utilities are moving from concept to reality as the ways in which electricity is used and delivered is radically altered in the early 21st Century.

Northeast Utilities, based in Hartford, Connecticut, is venturing into both directions with perhaps the largest smart meter pilot program in the United States and with preliminary plans to develop charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles. The smart meter pilot is for Connecticut Light & Power Company (CL&P) customers. The vehicle charging venture is proposed for CL&P and Northeast's Massachusetts subsidiary, Western Massachusetts Electric Company (WMECO).