September 3, 2008

The public may be aware of increased efforts to beef up grid reliability, but it isn't focused on the work being done to secure the bulk power system from cyber attacks.

According to the General Accountability Office, the nation's wires infrastructure is comprised of $1 trillion in assets that entail 200,000 miles of transmission lines. Altogether, over 800,000 megawatts of power serve more than 300 million people. While this system was once proprietary and closed to others, it has become increasingly connected to the outside world through the Internet and corporate intranets. This leaves it vulnerable to intrusions that can cause major disruptions.

August 29, 2008

Many utilities are once again in a position to invest in new power plants. But will regulatory impediments and community concerns stifle those efforts?

The skepticism is healthy. Rosy projections more than a decade ago prompted regulators to ease restraints and lenders to loosen their standards. As a result, many power companies overreached and hurt their backers in the process, but the industry is again warning of an impending generation shortage.

August 27, 2008

Summer days will soon give way to brisk autumn nights. But the nation cannot forget the often oppressive heat and the subsequent strains it places on utility systems.

Five years ago the country suffered its worst blackout ever. A sagging transmission line in Ohio disrupted and then rapidly tripped off the power in large swaths of Midwest, Northeast and parts of Canada. All told, 50 million people went without electricity and some for many days. With the collective economic toll in the billions, national policymakers set out to minimize the possibility of such an occurrence ever again.

Source: Light Search
Craig DiLouie, Editor
Posted August 4, 2008

The Building Owners and Managers Association (BOMA) International and the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) recently announced a ground-breaking new BOMA Energy Performance Contract Model to allow building owners to perform major energy retrofits to the existing building marketplace by removing key barriers and providing a turnkey solution.

August 25, 2008

Like everything else in Texas, energy prices are getting big. But is it the cause of deregulation or other factors such as the price of underlying fuels?

This is the question that the Governor's Competiveness Council took up. It concluded that energy demand in Texas is expected to rise by 2 percent a year for the foreseeable future and that the state would need to remain competitive so as to attract the necessary investment to build a variety of power plants. It acknowledges that prices have risen there the last few years but it says that this has been a function of shedding the last remnants of regulation along with high energy demand and rising natural gas prices.