Table of Contents

The CEO of a major competitive power company, also a former colleague, said to me a few years ago, “The entire legal and regulatory framework that we’ve toiled under throughout our careers will be blown up one day by some technological breakthrough that sneaks in our back door.

The structure of the power industry was founded on the premise that the production and delivery of electricity is a natural monopoly and therefore best served by a regulated franchise.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) on June 17 proposed a rulemaking that if implemented promises to complete the quest the agency began ...

With the rapid funding growth for energy efficiency programs, many utilities are developing programs or expanding existing ones.

The movement to transform the nation’s more than 100-year-old, inefficient electrical grid into a smart grid has gathered momentum during the past few months, and there has been notable merger and acquisition activity.

Historically, electric utility customers have been unaware of local energy source options mostly because practical alternatives have been nonexistent. That is changing.

While conventional wisdom suggests the U.S. Senate will find it hard to join the House of Representatives in passing comprehensive federal climate change legislation, California is moving ahead  ...

Twenty-nine states and the District of Columbia have renewable portfolio standards (RPSs), and six other states have set elective renewable energy generation goals.

As the international community works toward a climate change pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol, there is increasing pressure to enact legislation domestically.

Where are the 5 million green-collar jobs 2008 presidential candidate Barack Obama pledged to create within 10 years?

In Europe, North Sea-bordering countries have installed numerous offshore wind farms to transform strong, constant sea winds into energy.

Today’s power system is plagued by demand-side and supply-side problems. While these problems have been well-documented, solutions are often oversimplified and in some cases not understood.

During April’s GreenNet conference in San Francisco, a keynote session panelist made a statement that echoed as a conference theme: The world’s not waiting for the next best technology in smart grid.

Thanks to all the utility people who attended CS Week in Nashville, Tenn., unfazed by the flooding because they deal with emergencies every day.

As of May, 83 smart grid projects funded through the stimulus bill are underway in U.S. communities.

Big money is flowing into smart grid and smart energy development. The U.S. Department of Energy has awarded more than $3.4 billion  ...

The other day while I was participating in a panel at a smart grid conference, someone in the audience asked a question regarding standards and interoperability.

Those of us who have opened a new investment account with a brokerage firm are familiar with a process we are put through to determine our personal risk ...

Later this year, manufacturers will begin delivering plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs).

My commentary in last year’s July-August issue discussed the American Clean Energy and Security Act, also called the Waxman-Markey bill.