Electric Light & Power - September, October 2009 (Malestrom)
Electric Light & Power - September, October 2009 (Malestrom)
Electric Light & Power - September, October 2009 (Malestrom)
Climate Policy
Risk Management
Is Carbon Recycling
a Viable Alternative?
Energy Storage
for System Regulation
Big Solar,
Small Footprint
Signs of Weakness
Click here
to access
Spring Energy 2009
Catalogue
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Getting more and more energy from fewer and fewer resources
is our never-ending mission.
In addition to excellent availability and utmost reliability, efficiency is a key requirement when it comes to
supplying energy for the worlds steadily growing megacities. Basically, its all about making best use of all
resources. We apply this principle across the entire energy conversion chain to take efficiency to totally new
levels. Our new 800 kV transformer, for example, makes possible the efficient transmission of electric energy
in the gigawatt range over distances of 850 miles and more. And our new generation of gas turbines makes
combined cycle power plants deliver a record-breaking efficiency of more than 60 per cent.
www.siemens.com/energy
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Sep|Oct|2009
volume 87|05
Events 6
38
COLUMNS
40 Econamine FG PlusSM
CO2-Capture Technology
by Dennis W. Johnson; Satish Reddy,
Ph.D.; Donald E. Broeils; and James
H. Brown, PE, PMP, Fluor Corp.
12
Benefit of Counsel 14
Renewables
42 Solar Rising
Long-term PPAs
by Andrew Schifrin and Larry Eisenstat,
Dickstein Shapiro LLP
Economic Inquiry 16
Multipurpose Megawatts:
How Markets Define New Values
by Tanya Bodell, CRA International Inc.
Energy Management
52 Energy Storage for System Regulation:
FEATURES
Industry Report 20
48
54 Outage Management
and Customer Relationships
by Guerry Waters, Oracle Utilities
SECTIONS
Finance
Utility Financial Performance: 28
Warning Signs Ahead
by Brad Kitchens and Greg Litra,
ScottMadden Inc.
60
Generation
Climate Policy Risk Management 36
in the Electricity Industry
by Richard Sandor and Michael Walsh,
Chicago Climate Exchange
T&D
60 Investment in New Transmission Projects
Remains Strong
by Thomas F. Garrity, Siemens
4 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Sep|Oct|2009
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Aclara leads.
Aclara understands that utilities need to do more
than collect data. We are driving a future that
integrates AMI, SCADA, distribution automation,
and more into an Intelligent Infrastructure with
the capability for communications and control.
With the strength of our solutions for electric,
gas, and water utilities, we understand your
vision. With our network we will take you there.
Aclara Leads.
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EVENTS
The business of power for utility executives
OCTOBER
Oct. 19-21
The Business of Plugging
In: A Plug-In Electric
Vehicle Conference
Center for Automotive Research
http://pev2009.com
Oct. 21-22
Entelec Fall Seminar Series
Entelec
Denver
http://entelec.org
Oct. 21-22
Rate Case Cost Recovery:
Addressing Energy Efficiency,
Demand Response,
Renewable Energy, and
Smart Grid Investments
EUCI
Los Angeles
http://euci.com/
conferences/1009-rate-case
_______________
Oct. 26-28
Corporate Energy
Management Summit
IQPC
Chicago
http://corporateenergysummit.
com
__
Oct. 26-29
Air Quality VII: An International
Conference on Carbon
Management, Mercury,
Trace Elements, SOX, NOX,
and Particulate Matter
Energy & Environmental
Research Center
Arlington, Va.
http://undeerc.org/AQ7
NOVEMBER
Nov. 9-10
Generation Summit VI Fall 2009
EUCI
Atlanta
http://euci.com/
conferences/1109-ccs/
____________
agenda/php?ci=824
___________
1421 S. Sheridan Road, Tulsa, OK 74112 : P.O. Box 1260, Tulsa, OK 74101
(918) 835-3161 : fax (918) 831-9834 : elp@pennwell.com : http://elp.com
Subscriber Service : P.O. Box 3204, Northbrook, IL 60065-3204 : (847) 559-7501 : fax (847) 291-4816 : elp@omeda.com
Publisher
Michael Grossman
(918) 831-9500 : michaelg@pennwell.com
Editor in Chief
Teresa Hansen
(918) 831-9504 : teresah@pennwell.com
Senior Editor
Kathleen Davis
(918) 832-9269 : kathleend@pennwell.com
Associate/Online Editor
Jeff Postelwait
(918) 831-9114 : jeffp@pennwell.com
Presentation Editor
Clark Bell
(918) 832-9258 : clarkb@pennwell.com
Production Manager
Dorothy Davis
(918) 831-9493 : dorothyd@pennwell.com
Ad Traffic
Daniel Greene
(918) 831-9401: danielg@pennwell.com
President/CEO
Robert F. Biolchini
Chairman
Frank T. Lauinger
6 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Associate Editor
Kristen Wright
(918) 831-9177 : kristenw@pennwell.com
Sep|Oct|2009
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Commentary
Smart Grid Success Will Require Customer Cooperation
In a few weeks, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) will announce
which utilities will receive the first round of stimulus funding made available by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly called the stimulus plan. It will make available $4.5 billion
for smart grid projects that, according to Energy Secretary Steven Chu, will be a down payment on
our nations clean energy economy. The moneys No. 1 purpose is to preserve and create jobs, but
Chu and other industry experts have said the funding will jump-start needed modernization of the nations electricity
grid, helping the United States reach DOE goals of a clean energy economy.
Since the stimulus funding was created and announced in February, utilities have been feverishly working with
vendors and consultants to complete the stimulus applications and raise the matching funds required of companies
that are awarded stimulus funds. By the Aug. 6 deadline for the first round of funding applications, more than 45
utility companies had applied for about $4 billion. Much of the money is planned for smart metering or advanced
metering infrastructure (AMI) projects aimed at enabling customers to better manage their energy use.
Once implemented, these AMI projects are expected to result in a substantial reduction in peak electricity
demand. Reduced demand should reduce the need to build more generation, resulting in a reduction in the countrys
greenhouse gas emissions and the impacts of global warming.
In addition to the work associated with completing the applications, utilities, vendors, government agencies and
other stakeholders have been working with the U.S. Commerce Departments (DOCs) National Institute of Standards and Technologies (NIST) to develop smart grid standards. They have made significant progress. Six months
after beginning the standards development process, the DOC released in September a draft report, NIST Framework
and Roadmap for Smart Grid Interoperability Standards, which identifies about 80 initial standards. Work on standards is continuing.
Much work also is being done to assure that a smart grid will be secure from cyberattacks. And, utilities and
lawmakers are discussing new policies and regulations that will allow utilities to realign their business models to
achieve the smart grid goals and still create revenue for stockholders.
One critical area, however, that might not be getting the attention it needs is convincing utilities customers to
embrace the programs that will be made available with a smart grid. As I mentioned, much of the stimulus money requested is planned for AMI projects. If these projects are approved for stimulus funding, millions of residential smart
meters will be installed, and with these installations will come numerous energy efficiency and demand response
programs for utility customers. At least initially, most of these programs will require customer buy-in and behavior
changes. To cut peak demand to the degree it will be needed, utilities must create and customers must participate in
new programs. Gaining customer participation will not be easy. Someone who works in the customer service area
of a large investor-owned utility told me recently that her company is having little success persuading customers to
enroll in electronic bill payment. She said that less than 5 percent of the utilitys residential customers pay their bills
electronically. Compare that with the credit card industry in which more than half of all credit card bills are paid electronically, and eight out of 10 credit card holders said being able to view their bills online was important to them. The
credit card industry has had much more success connecting with its customers. If utilities cant convince customers
to try electronic billing, will they be successful at convincing them to change their behavior?
The smart grids success at lowering electricity demand depends on customer behavior. If residential customers do not respond to utilities programs aimed at reducing electricity usage, a lot of money is going to be
wasted.
Improving the power grids efficiency and reducing the need for more generating makes much more sense economically and environmentally than building new power plants. A few hurdles must be cleared, and customer participation is probably the biggest. Utilities are used to tackling technology issues and dealing with regulatory issues. For
many, however, developing a range of products and services that will please different customers is new. Recruiting
product and service development expertise from banks and credit card companies might be a good strategy.
Sep|Oct|2009
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w w w. s m a r t g r i d r e a l i t y. c o m
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Please send your comments and letters to Editor in Chief Teresa Hansen, teresah@pennwell.com.
Dear Editor:
Although some short-term savings may be realized by
purchasing infrastructure (transformers, cable, transmissions
structures) from foreign countries, in the long term this will
reduce our domestic manufacturing capabilities. This is a
homeland security issue, and if and when that manufacturing
capability is required, it wont be under our control.
Jim Stephenson, P.E.
West Islip, N.Y.
{In reference to Achieving Breakthrough Savings From
Low-cost Countries, July/Aug. 2009]
***
Dear Editor:
Ninety-five percent of the electricity consumed in Indiana
comes from coal, which means Hoosier consumers have
enjoyed some of the lowest rates in the nation. In tough
economic times like these, affordable electricity is something
we cant do without. Yet a bill that has made its way through
the U.S. House of Representatives threatens to rob our
consumers of that very necessity. On June 26, the U.S. House
of Representatives approved H.R. 2454, the American Clean
Energy and Security Act 2009 (ACES), otherwise known as
the Waxman-Markey cap-and-trade bill. The measure passed
by a marginal vote of 219-212, indicating how diverse views
are on this issue. While improvements were made to the bill
before it passed the House, Indianas not-for-profit consumerowned municipal and cooperative power providers have
serious concerns about the impact this legislation will have on
residential, commercial and industrial customers in Indiana.
One improvement in the bill was an adjustment from a
100 percent auction of carbon emission allowances to a partial
auction, with some free allowances being given to carbonemitting entities. However, Indiana utilities are being shorted
more than 35 percent beginning in 2012. Too many allowances
are being provided to nonemitting sources and special interest
groups, such as merchant generating plants that do not directly
serve customers. The end result is a redistribution of wealth
from the Midwest, which is heavily reliant on coal for electricity
generation, to the East and West coasts, which are not. The
distribution of allowances to East and West coast states and
merchant plants will do nothing to reduce carbon emissions
and will dramatically increase Indiana electric rates.
Under the current allowance allocation formula,
Indianas not-for-profit utilities receive less than 65 percent
of allowances needed to meet consumer needs, requiring us
to purchase more than 35 percent of the allowances in an
10 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
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GENERATE
CLEAN ENERGY
LOCALLY. INVEST YOUR
ENERGY DOLLARS LOCALLY. I MAY BE
But did you know it can help your local economy as well? Heres how it works: a local entrepreneur
builds a SunFab factory in your community. The factory produces the worlds largest and most
powerful solar panels. A local utility buys the panels and installs them in a number of 5-20MW
solar farms, avoiding costly transmission upgrades. 2,500 people get jobs. 400 million energy
dollars go into the local economy annually. As a nice side-benefit, greenhouse emissions are
reduced for decades to come. Thats the power of a fab2farm solution centered around a single
SunFab line. Personally, I think its one of the best ideas Ive heard in the past four billion years.
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Energy Efficiency:
Principles and
Practices, is available
at http://pennwell
books.com.
approaches:
Zero net site energy: Energy produced on-site is at least equal to the
energy used.
Zero net source energy: Energy
produced on-site is at least equal to
the energy used when energy use is
accounted for at its source. In this
case, there is accounting for energy
used to generate and deliver energy
to the building.
Zero net energy cost: The money
a building owner pays a utility for
energy services and use is at least
equal to the amount that the utility
pays the owner for generating and
exporting energy.
Zero net energy emissions: Onsite production of emissions-free,
renewable energy is at least equal
to the energy used that comes from
emissions-producing sources.
A deep retrofit on a
house, for example,
involves advanced
and fairly invasive
EE measures that
radically improve the
energy performance
of an existing home,
such as an external
wall superinsulation
build out.
12 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
There are many efforts to advance building practices associated with zero net
energy buildings via pilots. These pilots
involve deep energy retrofits combined
with renewable distributed generation
achieving 50 to 90 percent reductions in
energy usage.
A deep retrofit on a residential
building, for example, involves advanced and fairly invasive EE measures
that radically improve the energy performance of an existing home. Dramatic energy reductions are achieved
by addressing all energy loads including space conditioning, appliances, plug
loads and hot water. These projects are
costly because building practices and
materials are not yet standardized.
Efficiency measures that address
buildings shells are fundamental in
achieving energy reductions associated
with zero net energy buildings. These
measures typically include an external
wall superinsulation build out, attic insulation enhancements, foundation wall and
slab insulation, extensive whole-house air
sealing and high-performance windows.
These shell enhancements require a build
out of existing shells that involve building out window frames to support deeper
walls and building out roof eaves.
The EE measures are combined with
renewable energy sources. These measures include leveraging natural daylight
to displace light fixtures, installing solar
hot water systems and augmenting with
distributed renewable generation.
To date in Massachusetts, five houses have completed deep retrofits. John
Livermore remodeled his 1973 house to
achieve zero net energy. His efforts should
reduce energy use for heating 70 percent.
Livermore installed solar generation and
hot water to address the remaining energy
needs. He expects to produce excess electricity equal to 1,500 kWh annually.
My motivation for taking action to
reduce our familys carbon footprint was
the understanding that carbon emissions
need to be reduced by about 90 percent
by 2030 in order to stabilize the earths
climate systems, and the realization that
I needed to take personal responsibility for reducing our emissions, Livermore said. We set out to demonstrate
what can be done to reduce the carbon
footprint of a suburban homeowner on
a modest budget, with an overall goal to
reduce our homes net energy usage by
90 percent. We are currently well on our
way to achieving this target.
As utilities and other EE program
administrators expand EE plans, they
should include development of zero
net energy buildings. With research and
pilots devoted to zero net energy buildings, standardized building practices and
materials will become market-ready,
catapulting these building practices to a
cost-effective measure.
Sep|Oct|2009
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Power plants are among the largest and most complex engineering and construction projects
in the world. Thats why customers turn to Bechtel when they need more power. For over 60
years, weve been providing governments and utilities with power facilities delivered on time
and within budget. Weve led the industry in every major sector, from fossil fuels to nuclear.
We set the pace for clean and efcient power generation, exploring renewable energy like
carbon capture, solar, geothermal and biomass, so our customers can meet their goals for
a sustainable future. Competing in a world hungry for power can be rough. Bechtel helps
make it easy.
BECHTEL POWER
Houston
1-301-228-8609
London
New Delhi
www.bechtel.com
Shanghai
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Benefit of Counsel
Long-term PPAs
by Andrew Schifrin and Larry Eisenstat, Dickstein Shapiro LLP
While renewable power generation
has been the belle of the ball in federal
and state energy policy, many renewable
projects have stalled because of their inability to secure financing.
Assuming a renewable projects
technology is proven, whether its economics will support standalone project
financing depends on one thing: predictA u t h o r able, long-term cash flows. The surest,
Andrew Schifrin is a most well-developed vehicle for estabpartner in Dickstein lishing project cash flows is the longShapiro LLPs Energy term power purchase agreement (PPA).
Practice. Reach him Encouraging prospective purchasers to
at 212-277-6534 offer renewable projects long-term PPAs
or schifrina@ with robust pricing would be the most
dicksteinshapiro.com. direct way of attracting capitaldebt
and equityneeded to finance renewLarry Eisenstat is the able generation.
Energy policymakers have been
head of Dickstein
Shapiros Energy sidetracked by indirect means of cash
Practice. E-mail him flow enhancement, such as tax credits,
at eisenstatl@ depreciation and loan guarantees. These
dicksteinshapiro.com subsidies, however, do not compensate
or call 202-420-2224. for the lack of a PPA. There have been
only one or two utility-scale renewable
generation facilities built in recent years
that operate entirely on a merchant basis,
i.e., that do not have a long-term PPA,
even though such projects would have
been eligible for substantial tax incentives. Conversely, virtually every utilityscale renewable project that entered into
commercial operation during this same
time has had a long-term PPA.
For decades, long-term PPAs have
been a key component of power project
development. As industry participants
know, the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act (PURPA) led to the development of hundreds of power projects. The
primary reason for PURPAs success in
getting power plants built can be attributed to long-term PPAs with robust pricing, which many states required utilities
to offer to qualifying facilities.
Why do long-term PPAs work?
The answer is cash flow, a reliable and
14 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Sep|Oct|2009
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The Smart
Grid Choice
Oracle
SAP
GE
IBM
oracle.com/goto/utilities
or call 1.800.275.4775
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Economic Inquiry
Multipurpose Megawatts:
Markets Define New Values
by Tanya Bodell, CRA International
Author
Tanya Bodell is vice
president of CRA
International Inc. E-mail
her at tbodell@crai.com.
The most important single central
fact about a free
market is that no
exchange takes
place unless both
parties benefit.
- Milton Friedman
Energy-only Markets
Capacity Markets
Capacity markets developed to
cover the missing money that power
suppliers could not earn in energy-only
markets. New England, New York,
PJM Interconnection and Midwest
Independent Transmission System
Operator Inc. (MISO) have implemented
capacity markets in some form, and prices
have been set by competitive auctions for
future megawatts of capacity. Demandside response has been a big winner in
some of these markets, foreshadowing
the potential for price-responsive retail
consumption to participate in wholesale
markets.
Virtual Markets
Several wholesale electricity markets
include day-ahead and real-time
settlement. Day-ahead markets allow the
market operator to schedule generation
resources and set prices for market
participants in advance of actual realtime prices. The divergence of settlement
16 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Generation Attributes
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__________________
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TTaking
aking It Into Account
FERC determined that the circuitously routed Lake Erie trades caused the harms
that the NYISO monitor allegedthey contributed to loop flows and power
grid congestions, increasing the cost of power to New York consumersand
for that reason FERC authorized the NYISO to prohibit scheduling of wholesale
power trades over the eight identified circuitous paths.
FERC and its staff determined
that the circuitously routed Lake Erie
trades caused the harms that the NYISO
monitor allegedthey contributed to
loop flows and power grid congestion,
increasing the cost of power to New
York consumersand for that reason
FERC authorized the NYISO to
prohibit prospectively the scheduling of
wholesale power trades over the eight
identified circuitous paths. Nevertheless,
the agency concluded that these trades
were not the product of any fraudulent
device, scheme or artifice. Rather,
they were induced by what the agency
characterized as a pricing methodology
mismatch among operators of the
New York, Ontario, Midwest and MidAtlantic grid operators. During periods
of grid congestion, that mismatch made
it more profitable for a seller to schedule
through the four regional markets rather
than more directly from source to sink.
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__________________
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Industry Report
Showing Signs
of Weaknesss
The 2008 Utility Financial Rankings
by Teresa Hansen, editor in chief
The utility financial rankings were described as quiet in 2005, very good in 2006 and remarkable in 2007. From these
descriptions, its clear that utilities financial performance trended upward for several years in a row. The 2008 financial
rankings, however, show a different trend. Jean Reaves Rollins, who has provided the financial data for this report for the past
few years, said the 2008 rankings indicate the industry is showing signs of weakness.
When interviewed for this report last year, the country was already experiencing the recessions impact, and Rollins
predicted that 2008 would see a turn down. She did not think a year ago, however, that it would hit utilities as hard as it did.
The financial services meltdown was just becoming apparent (last September), and its impact on the general economy
took most by surprise, Rollins said.
As in years past, Rollins, head of The C Three Groupa senior management and research advisory firm to the energy
industryprovided data and commentary for this report, which provides Electric Light & Power readers with a glimpse at
utilities financial performance and health. For readers who wish to compare the market results year-after-year, previous
reports are available in archived September-October issues at http://elp.com.
20 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Sep|Oct|2009
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Industry Report
Table 1: Total Revenue Rankings
Company
Total Revenues
2005
Total Revenues
2006
Total Revenues
2007
Total Revenues
2008
Constellation Energy
Exelon
Southern Co.
FPL Group Inc.
Dominion Resources
AES Corp.
PG&E
American Electric Power
Edison International
Integrys Energy
FirstEnergy
Consolidated Edison
Public Service
Enterprise Group Inc.
Duke Energy
Entergy Corp.
Reliant Resources
Williams Companies
Centerpoint Energy
Xcel Energy Inc.
Sempra Energy
PEPCO Holdings
DTE Energy Co.
Progress Energy
NiSource
PPL Corp.
Ameren Corp.
Atmos
NRG
CMS Energy
UGI
Northeast
Utilities System
El Paso Corp.
SCANA Corp.
MDU Resources
Wisconsin Energy Corp.
OGE Energy Corp.
New Jersey Resources
Nicor Inc.
Alliant
Dynegy
Sierra Pacific
Questar
Allegheny Energy
TECO Energy
Pinnacle West
Puget Energy
NStar
Hawaiian Electric
Industries Inc.
Mirant
Southern Union
AGL Resources Inc.
WGL Holdings
Vectren
$16,968,300,000
$15,357,000,000
$13,554,000,000
$11,846,000,000
$17,809,000,000
$10,247,000,000
$11,703,000,000
$12,111,000,000
$11,852,000,000
$6,962,700,000
$11,989,000,000
$11,343,000,000
$19,284,900,000
$15,655,000,000
$14,356,000,000
$15,710,000,000
$16,297,000,000
$11,576,000,000
$12,539,000,000
$12,622,000,000
$12,622,000,000
$6,890,700,000
$11,501,000,000
$11,962,000,000
$21,193,200,000
$18,916,000,000
$15,353,000,000
$15,263,000,000
$15,674,000,000
$13,588,000,000
$13,237,000,000
$13,380,000,000
$13,113,000,000
$10,292,400,000
$12,802,000,000
$13,120,000,000
$19,818,300,000
$18,859,000,000
$17,127,000,000
$16,410,000,000
$16,290,000,000
$16,070,000,000
$14,628,000,000
$14,440,000,000
$14,112,000,000
$14,047,800,000
$13,627,000,000
$13,583,000,000
-6.49%
-0.30%
11.55%
7.51%
3.93%
18.27%
10.51%
7.92%
7.62%
36.49%
6.44%
3.53%
16.80%
22.80%
26.36%
38.53%
-8.53%
56.83%
24.99%
19.23%
19.07%
101.76%
13.66%
19.75%
$11,849,000,000
$6,906,000,000
$10,106,247,000
$9,711,995,000
$9,781,000,000
$9,722,000,000
$9,625,477,000
$11,512,000,000
$8,065,500,000
$8,094,000,000
$7,948,000,000
$7,895,800,000
$5,539,000,000
$6,780,000,000
$4,961,873,000
$2,400,000,000
$5,879,000,000
$4,888,700,000
$11,762,000,000
$10,607,000,000
$10,932,158,000
$10,877,385,000
$9,376,000,000
$9,319,000,000
$9,840,304,000
$11,761,000,000
$8,362,900,000
$8,159,000,000
$8,724,000,000
$7,490,000,000
$6,131,000,000
$6,880,000,000
$6,152,363,000
$5,585,000,000
$6,126,000,000
$5,221,000,000
$12,853,000,000
$12,720,000,000
$11,484,398,000
$11,208,724,000
$10,558,000,000
$9,623,000,000
$10,034,170,000
$11,438,000,000
$9,366,400,000
$8,506,000,000
$9,153,000,000
$7,939,800,000
$6,498,000,000
$7,546,000,000
$5,898,431,000
$5,989,000,000
$6,464,000,000
$5,476,900,000
$13,322,000,000
$13,207,000,000
$13,093,756,000
$12,553,210,000
$12,352,000,000
$11,322,000,000
$11,203,156,000
$10,758,000,000
$10,700,000,000
$9,329,000,000
$9,167,000,000
$8,874,200,000
$8,044,000,000
$7,839,000,000
$7,221,305,000
$6,885,000,000
$6,821,000,000
$6,648,200,000
3.65%
3.83%
14.01%
11.99%
16.99%
17.66%
11.65%
-5.95%
14.24%
9.68%
0.15%
11.77%
23.79%
3.88%
22.43%
14.96%
5.52%
21.39%
12.43%
91.24%
29.56%
29.25%
26.29%
16.46%
16.39%
-6.55%
32.66%
15.26%
15.34%
12.39%
45.22%
15.62%
45.54%
186.88%
16.02%
35.99%
$7,346,220,000
$3,359,000,000
$4,777,000,000
$3,403,923,000
$3,815,500,000
$5,911,500,000
$3,184,582,000
$3,357,800,000
$3,279,600,000
$2,017,000,000
$3,030,219,000
$2,724,888,000
$3,037,887,000
$3,010,000,000
$2,987,955,000
$2,578,008,000
$3,243,120,000
$6,641,716,000
$4,281,000,000
$4,563,000,000
$4,004,539,000
$3,996,400,000
$4,005,600,000
$3,271,229,000
$2,960,000,000
$3,359,400,000
$1,770,000,000
$3,355,950,000
$2,835,600,000
$3,121,489,000
$3,448,100,000
$3,401,748,000
$2,907,063,000
$3,577,702,000
$5,822,226,000
$4,648,000,000
$4,621,000,000
$4,247,896,000
$4,237,800,000
$3,797,600,000
$3,021,765,000
$3,176,300,000
$3,437,000,000
$3,103,000,000
$3,600,960,000
$2,726,600,000
$3,307,020,000
$3,536,100,000
$3,523,620,000
$3,220,147,000
$3,261,784,000
$5,800,095,000
$5,363,000,000
$5,319,000,000
$5,003,278,000
$4,431,000,000
$4,070,700,000
$3,816,210,000
$3,776,600,000
$3,681,700,000
$3,549,000,000
$3,528,113,000
$3,465,100,000
$3,385,900,000
$3,375,300,000
$3,367,076,000
$3,357,773,000
$3,345,387,000
-0.38%
15.38%
15.10%
17.78%
4.56%
7.19%
26.29%
18.90%
7.12%
14.37%
-2.02%
27.09%
2.39%
-4.55%
-4.44%
4.27%
2.56%
-21.05%
59.66%
11.35%
46.99%
16.13%
-31.14%
19.83%
12.47%
12.26%
75.95%
16.43%
27.16%
11.46%
12.14%
12.69%
30.25%
3.15%
$2,215,564,000
$2,620,000,000
$1,266,882,000
$2,718,000,000
$2,163,343,000
$2,028,000,000
$2,460,904,000
$3,087,000,000
$2,340,144,000
$2,621,000,000
$2,637,883,000
$2,041,600,000
$2,536,418,000
$2,019,000,000
$2,616,665,000
$2,494,000,000
$2,646,008,000
$2,281,900,000
$3,218,920,000
$3,188,000,000
$3,070,154,000
$2,800,000,000
$2,628,194,000
$2,484,700,000
26.91%
57.90%
17.33%
12.27%
-0.67%
8.89%
45.29%
21.68%
142.34%
3.02%
21.49%
22.52%
Sep|Oct|2009
2007-2008 2005-2008
Growth Rate Growth Rate
Company
Total Revenues
2005
Total Revenues
2006
Total Revenues
2007
Total Revenues
2008
$1,860,774,000
$1,597,032,000
$1,714,283,000
$1,761,091,000
$1,566,110,000
$1,583,278,000
$1,446,000,000
$1,359,607,000
$2,604,882,000
$1,284,900,000
$1,253,724,000
$1,128,394,000
$1,224,056,000
$972,506,000
$981,869,000
$910,486,000
$920,154,000
$803,913,000
$1,165,750,000
$613,541,000
$906,016,000
$842,864,000
$812,223,000
$737,400,000
$513,370,000
$362,720,000
$311,359,000
$229,629,736
$130,123,000
$84,181,233
$121,647,787
$67,888,984
$2,239,675,000
$1,997,551,000
$2,024,758,000
$1,924,628,000
$1,963,360,000
$1,605,743,000
$1,520,000,000
$1,506,311,000
$2,675,349,000
$1,393,500,000
$1,267,910,000
$1,393,986,000
$1,308,141,000
$993,433,000
$1,104,954,000
$1,013,172,000
$1,000,675,000
$816,455,000
$1,132,653,000
$656,882,000
$931,428,000
$926,291,000
$846,721,000
$767,100,000
$507,546,000
$412,171,000
$325,738,000
$231,200,591
$134,393,000
$117,247,144
$107,797,750
$74,695,561
$2,039,566,000
$2,021,594,000
$2,152,088,000
$1,711,292,000
$1,914,029,000
$1,726,834,000
$1,743,000,000
$1,417,757,000
$3,267,100,000
$1,515,700,000
$1,381,406,000
$1,435,060,000
$1,381,373,000
$1,196,757,000
$1,238,887,000
$1,033,193,000
$1,025,419,000
$877,427,000
$1,200,060,000
$695,914,000
$956,371,000
$879,394,000
$981,999,000
$841,700,000
$537,594,000
$490,160,000
$329,107,000
$258,286,000
$136,542,000
$98,168,000
$89,901,000
$59,373,000
$2,400,361,000
$2,208,973,000
$2,144,743,000
$2,089,108,000
$1,959,522,000
$1,838,996,000
$1,745,000,000
$1,676,763,000
$1,670,100,000
$1,601,600,000
$1,576,488,000
$1,568,910,000
$1,397,511,000
$1,332,851,000
$1,311,197,000
$1,260,793,000
$1,080,198,000
$1,038,930,000
$1,037,855,000
$1,005,790,000
$961,977,000
$960,414,000
$948,720,000
$801,000,000
$595,993,000
$518,163,000
$342,162,000
$291,443,477
$168,548,000
$112,657,117
$94,636,826
$76,833,248
Total
2007-2008 2005-2008
Growth Rate Growth Rate
17.69%
9.27%
-0.34%
22.08%
2.38%
6.50%
0.11%
18.27%
-48.88%
5.67%
14.12%
9.33%
1.17%
11.37%
5.84%
22.03%
5.34%
18.41%
-13.52%
44.53%
0.59%
9.21%
-3.39%
-4.84%
10.86%
5.71%
3.97%
12.84%
23.44%
14.76%
5.27%
29.41%
29.00%
38.32%
25.11%
18.63%
25.12%
16.15%
20.68%
23.33%
-35.89%
24.65%
25.74%
39.04%
14.17%
37.05%
33.54%
38.47%
17.39%
29.23%
-10.97%
63.93%
6.18%
13.95%
16.81%
8.62%
16.09%
42.85%
9.89%
26.92%
29.53%
33.83%
-22.20%
13.17%
8.60%
8.60%
23.25%
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 21
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The business of power for utility executives
BEMaGS
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The business of power for utility executives
BEMaGS
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Industry Report
2008 Utility Financial Rankings
Table 2: Capital Expenditures
Company
CapEx 2005
CapEx 2006
CapEx 2007
CapEx 2008
$2,477,000,000
$2,327,000,000
$2,370,000,000
$2,404,000,000
$1,804,000,000
$2,763,000,000
$1,299,000,000
$2,165,000,000
$1,208,000,000
$1,868,000,000
$1,474,000,000
$826,000,000
$1,439,000,000
$712,700,000
$1,617,000,000
$1,377,000,000
$1,704,436,000
$1,304,468,000
$760,000,000
$935,000,000
$3,739,000,000
$3,381,000,000
$2,994,000,000
$3,528,000,000
$2,402,000,000
$3,659,000,000
$2,509,200,000
$2,418,000,000
$1,315,000,000
$2,536,000,000
$2,164,000,000
$1,460,000,000
$1,686,000,000
$909,800,000
$1,847,000,000
$1,907,000,000
$1,795,472,000
$1,626,000,000
$962,900,000
$992,000,000
$4,319,000,000
$3,125,000,000
$3,545,000,000
$3,556,000,000
$2,769,000,000
$3,621,000,000
$2,816,000,000
$2,674,000,000
$1,633,000,000
$2,826,000,000
$2,495,000,000
$2,425,000,000
$2,201,000,000
$1,383,500,000
$1,928,000,000
$2,011,000,000
$2,098,102,000
$2,095,721,000
$1,295,700,000
$1,381,000,000
$4,550,000,000
$4,386,000,000
$3,961,000,000
$3,800,000,000
$3,628,000,000
$3,554,000,000
$3,475,000,000
$3,117,000,000
$2,888,000,000
$2,824,000,000
$2,757,000,000
$2,735,000,000
$2,555,000,000
$2,437,200,000
$2,322,000,000
$2,295,000,000
$2,212,255,000
$2,112,135,000
$1,934,100,000
$1,896,000,000
5.35%
40.35%
11.73%
6.86%
31.02%
-1.85%
23.40%
16.57%
76.85%
-0.07%
10.50%
12.78%
16.08%
76.16%
20.44%
14.12%
5.44%
0.78%
49.27%
37.29%
83.69%
88.48%
67.13%
58.07%
101.11%
28.63%
167.51%
43.97%
139.07%
51.18%
87.04%
231.11%
77.55%
241.97%
43.60%
66.67%
29.79%
61.92%
154.49%
102.78%
$1,053,000,000
$686,394,000
$811,000,000
$1,065,000,000
$275,454,000
$1,015,000,000
$986,019,000
$1,394,000,000
$1,403,000,000
$403,094,000
$1,348,000,000
$1,197,326,000
$1,685,000,000
$1,299,000,000
$776,667,000
$1,771,000,000
$1,535,503,000
$1,418,000,000
$1,373,000,000
$1,343,996,000
31.38%
28.24%
-15.85%
5.70%
73.05%
68.19%
123.71%
74.85%
28.92%
387.92%
$775,355,000
$297,200,000
$745,100,000
$328,900,000
$693,000,000
$306,461,000
$590,400,000
$212,814,000
$633,532,000
$385,000,000
$106,000,000
$538,100,000
$583,594,000
$593,000,000
$467,100,000
$377,856,000
$101,000,000
$195,000,000
$295,300,000
$279,721,000
$401,900,000
$333,183,000
$230,715,000
$387,265,000
$219,530,000
$231,600,000
$255,000,000
$267,000,000
$872,181,000
$486,600,000
$928,700,000
$481,600,000
$1,007,000,000
$447,325,000
$637,400,000
$344,860,000
$737,779,000
$522,000,000
$221,000,000
$399,000,000
$749,516,000
$670,000,000
$474,600,000
$479,872,000
$133,000,000
$155,000,000
$455,700,000
$347,896,000
$337,500,000
$425,324,000
$302,177,000
$426,146,000
$294,159,000
$281,400,000
$371,000,000
$253,000,000
$1,114,824,000
$557,700,000
$1,211,500,000
$516,000,000
$1,114,000,000
$848,397,000
$788,300,000
$748,156,000
$918,581,000
$725,000,000
$481,000,000
$542,000,000
$737,258,000
$1,263,000,000
$623,400,000
$558,283,000
$560,000,000
$379,000,000
$494,400,000
$616,883,000
$376,900,000
$392,435,000
$373,857,000
$360,130,000
$276,728,000
$334,500,000
$455,000,000
$259,000,000
$1,255,407,000
$1,184,500,000
$1,137,100,000
$1,023,700,000
$1,020,000,000
$994,100,000
$969,900,000
$937,242,000
$935,577,000
$904,000,000
$899,000,000
$879,000,000
$846,001,000
$792,000,000
$781,000,000
$746,478,000
$731,000,000
$611,000,000
$589,500,000
$588,611,000
$532,800,000
$472,273,000
$460,237,000
$422,224,000
$397,734,000
$391,000,000
$383,000,000
$372,000,000
12.61%
112.39%
-6.14%
98.39%
-8.44%
17.17%
23.04%
25.27%
1.85%
24.69%
86.90%
62.18%
14.75%
-37.29%
25.28%
33.71%
30.54%
61.21%
19.24%
-4.58%
41.36%
20.34%
23.11%
17.24%
43.73%
16.89%
-15.82%
43.63%
61.91%
298.55%
52.61%
211.25%
47.19%
224.38%
64.28%
340.40%
47.68%
134.81%
748.11%
63.35%
44.96%
33.56%
67.20%
97.56%
623.76%
213.33%
99.63%
110.43%
32.57%
41.75%
99.48%
9.03%
81.18%
68.83%
50.20%
39.33%
22 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Company
CapEx 2005
CapEx 2006
CapEx 2007
CapEx 2008
Unisource Energy
PNM Resources
CLECO
Black Hills
Reliant Resources
Allete (Minnesota Power)
Southwest Gas
Hawaiian Electric
Industries Inc.
Otter Tail Corp.
Nicor Inc.
DPL Inc.
IdaCorp
UGI
El Paso Electric
Avista Corp.
UIL Holdings
Empire District Electric Co.
Piedmont Natural Gas
WGL Holdings
Northwest Natural Gas
MGE Energy
Northwestern Corp.
CH Energy Group
New Jersey Resources
South Jersey Industries
Laclede
Central Vermont
Chesapeake Utilities
Florida Public Utilities
RGC Resources
Delta Natural Gas
Energy West
$203,428,000
$221,814,000
$159,393,000
$136,279,000
$82,296,000
$58,600,000
$294,369,000
$238,261,000
$321,118,000
$236,495,000
$308,450,000
$96,793,000
$102,300,000
$345,325,000
$245,366,000
$400,903,000
$510,192,000
$261,371,000
$118,856,000
$210,200,000
$340,875,000
$349,289,000
$344,951,000
$335,757,000
$328,922,000
$310,462,000
$301,100,000
$300,217,000
42.35%
-13.96%
-34.19%
25.84%
161.21%
43.24%
-11.93%
71.70%
55.51%
110.65%
141.36%
277.25%
413.82%
1.99%
$223,675,000
$59,969,000
$201,900,000
$169,600,000
$193,314,000
$158,400,000
$104,151,000
$219,358,000
$60,303,000
$68,638,000
$191,407,000
$112,768,000
$96,000,000
$85,771,000
$80,877,000
$63,879,000
$52,801,000
$92,906,000
$60,203,000
$17,558,000
$33,008,235
$12,441,000
$7,427,000
$5,338,356
$2,187,614
$210,529,000
$69,448,000
$187,400,000
$335,600,000
$225,048,000
$191,700,000
$120,784,000
$165,085,000
$76,774,000
$223,400,000
$204,116,000
$159,757,000
$97,000,000
$92,575,000
$101,046,000
$75,070,000
$66,293,000
$73,677,000
$63,416,000
$19,504,000
$48,845,828
$13,116,000
$7,815,000
$7,781,396
$1,865,594
$218,297,000
$161,985,000
$173,200,000
$346,200,000
$287,751,000
$223,100,000
$196,988,000
$209,091,000
$248,202,000
$183,393,000
$135,231,000
$164,531,000
$118,100,000
$136,258,000
$258,341,000
$84,601,000
$63,524,000
$55,539,000
$58,870,000
$23,663,000
$31,277,000
$16,740,000
$6,004,000
$8,083,000
$2,407,000
$282,051,000
$265,888,000
$249,900,000
$243,600,000
$243,544,000
$232,100,000
$224,478,000
$222,698,000
$215,728,000
$213,280,000
$181,001,000
$134,961,000
$124,563,000
$105,777,000
$103,998,000
$84,198,000
$73,446,000
$61,972,000
$56,621,000
$36,835,000
$30,755,845
$11,227,000
$6,539,369
$5,563,667
$3,869,832
29.21%
64.14%
44.28%
-29.64%
-15.36%
4.03%
13.96%
6.51%
-13.08%
16.30%
33.85%
-17.97%
5.47%
-22.37%
-59.74%
-0.48%
15.62%
11.58%
-3.82%
55.66%
-1.67%
-32.93%
8.92%
-31.17%
60.77%
26.10%
343.38%
23.77%
43.63%
25.98%
46.53%
115.53%
1.52%
257.74%
210.73%
-5.44%
19.68%
29.75%
23.32%
28.59%
31.81%
39.10%
-33.30%
-5.95%
109.79%
-6.82%
-9.76%
-11.95%
4.22%
76.90%
$93,821,865,713
17.82%
17.82%
17.82%
83.65%
Total
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Industry Report
2008 Utility Financial Rankings
Table 3: Income From Continuing Operations
Company
Income From
Income From
Income From
Income From
Continuing
Continuing
Continuing
Continuing
Change from Change from
Operations 2005 Operations 2006 Operations 2007 Operations 2008 2007-2008 2005-2008
Company
Income From
Income From
Income From
Income From
Continuing
Continuing
Continuing
Continuing
Change from Change from
Operations 2005 Operations 2006 Operations 2007 Operations 2008 2007-2008 2005-2008
Exelon
Dominion Resources
Southern Co.
FPL Group Inc.
Williams Companies
American Electric Power
FirstEnergy
Duke Energy
Entergy Corp.
AES Corp.
Edison International
Mirant
PG&E
Sempra Energy
NRG
Public Service
Enterprise Group Inc.
Consolidated Edison
PPL Corp.
El Paso Corp.
$965,000,000
$1,033,000,000
$1,591,000,000
$901,000,000
$473,000,000
$1,029,000,000
$891,000,000
$893,000,000
$943,125,000
$365,000,000
$1,137,000,000
($1,385,000,000)
$904,000,000
$913,000,000
$68,000,000
$1,592,000,000
$1,530,000,000
$1,573,000,000
$1,281,000,000
$347,000,000
$1,002,000,000
$1,254,000,000
$1,080,000,000
$1,133,098,000
$176,000,000
$1,181,000,000
$1,752,000,000
$991,000,000
$1,091,000,000
$543,000,000
$2,736,000,000
$2,705,000,000
$1,734,000,000
$1,312,000,000
$847,000,000
$1,144,000,000
$1,309,000,000
$1,522,000,000
$1,134,849,000
$495,000,000
$1,098,000,000
$433,000,000
$1,006,000,000
$1,125,000,000
$569,000,000
$2,717,000,000
$1,836,000,000
$1,742,000,000
$1,639,000,000
$1,418,000,000
$1,368,000,000
$1,342,000,000
$1,279,000,000
$1,220,566,000
$1,216,000,000
$1,215,000,000
$1,215,000,000
$1,184,000,000
$1,113,000,000
$1,016,000,000
-0.69%
-32.13%
0.46%
24.92%
67.41%
19.58%
2.52%
-15.97%
7.55%
145.66%
10.66%
180.60%
17.69%
-1.07%
78.56%
181.55%
77.73%
9.49%
81.91%
199.79%
32.94%
50.62%
43.23%
29.42%
233.15%
6.86%
-187.73%
30.97%
21.91%
1394.12%
$136,300,000
$106,072,000
$18,535,000
$101,270,000
$180,779,000
$63,661,000
$128,300,000
$94,694,000
$221,908,000
$97,189,000
$72,856,000
$100,075,000
$135,200,000
$107,900,000
$65,281,000
$104,387,000
$151,331,000
$82,272,000
$119,500,000
$116,523,000
$113,910,000
$110,007,000
$102,141,000
$98,414,000
-11.61%
7.99%
74.49%
5.38%
-32.50%
19.62%
-12.33%
9.85%
514.57%
8.63%
-43.50%
54.59%
$837,000,000
$745,000,000
$678,000,000
$679,000,000
$740,000,000
$865,000,000
$1,319,000,000
$925,000,000
$1,288,000,000
$983,000,000
$922,000,000
$922,000,000
-25.47%
-0.32%
-28.42%
17.44%
23.76%
35.99%
($506,000,000)
$523,000,000
$325,681,000
$508,731,000
$628,000,000
$537,000,000
$225,000,000
$63,065,000
$303,600,000
$320,000,000
$173,012,000
$81,000,000
($94,000,000)
$371,200,000
$153,096,000
$265,291,000
$56,400,000
$189,488,000
$531,000,000
$551,000,000
$444,100,000
$567,513,000
$547,000,000
$433,000,000
$432,000,000
$319,321,000
$312,500,000
$310,000,000
$273,570,000
($308,000,000)
($90,000,000)
$248,300,000
$217,083,000
$307,778,000
$338,300,000
$138,091,000
$436,000,000
$693,000,000
$507,400,000
$573,107,000
$618,000,000
$971,000,000
$399,000,000
$412,214,000
$336,500,000
$320,000,000
$309,233,000
$324,000,000
($227,000,000)
$334,200,000
$228,711,000
$322,786,000
$424,700,000
$337,455,000
$823,000,000
$773,000,000
$683,800,000
$645,720,000
$605,000,000
$546,000,000
$447,000,000
$395,400,000
$358,600,000
$346,000,000
$321,915,000
$319,000,000
$300,000,000
$300,000,000
$295,151,000
$293,673,000
$280,000,000
$268,728,000
88.76%
11.54%
34.77%
12.67%
-2.10%
-43.77%
12.03%
-4.08%
6.57%
8.13%
4.10%
-1.54%
-232.16%
-10.23%
29.05%
-9.02%
-34.07%
-20.37%
-262.65%
47.80%
109.96%
26.93%
-3.66%
1.68%
98.67%
526.97%
18.12%
8.13%
86.07%
293.83%
-419.15%
-19.18%
92.79%
10.70%
396.45%
41.82%
Nicor Inc.
WGL Holdings
New Jersey Resources
Piedmont Natural Gas
CLECO
IdaCorp
Hawaiian Electric
Industries, Inc.
Portland General Electric
Allete (Minnesota Power)
NiSource
El Paso Electric
South Jersey Industries
Avista Corp.
Northwestern Corp.
Northwest Natural Gas
Southwest Gas
Laclede
MGE Energy
UIL Holdings
Empire District Electric Co.
Otter Tail Corp.
CH Energy Group
Central Vermont
Unisource Energy
Chesapeake Utilities
Delta Natural Gas
RGC Resources
Florida Public Utilities
Energy West
Black Hills
$126,689,000
$64,000,000
$17,600,000
$306,800,000
$35,522,000
$39,770,000
$44,988,000
$61,547,000
$58,149,000
$43,823,000
$40,070,000
$32,091,000
$33,476,000
$24,944,000
$53,902,000
$44,291,000
$5,978,000
$52,253,000
$10,467,614
$4,998,619
$3,387,933
$4,219,000
$927,713
$32,792,000
$108,001,000
$71,000,000
$77,300,000
$281,800,000
$67,450,000
$72,250,000
$72,941,000
$37,900,000
$63,415,000
$83,860,000
$48,989,000
$42,423,000
$58,716,000
$40,029,000
$51,112,000
$43,084,000
$17,984,000
$69,243,000
$10,506,525
$5,024,635
$3,511,531
$4,140,000
$1,911,249
$74,046,000
$84,779,000
$145,000,000
$87,600,000
$321,400,000
$74,753,000
$62,659,000
$38,475,000
$53,191,000
$74,497,000
$83,246,000
$49,771,000
$48,825,000
$46,693,000
$33,181,000
$53,225,000
$42,636,000
$15,436,000
$58,373,000
$13,198,000
$5,298,000
$3,806,000
$3,272,000
$2,257,480
$100,124,000
$90,278,000
$87,000,000
$82,500,000
$79,000,000
$77,621,000
$77,178,000
$73,620,000
$69,525,000
$67,601,000
$60,973,000
$57,526,000
$52,768,000
$48,385,000
$39,722,000
$35,125,000
$35,081,000
$16,017,000
$14,021,000
$13,607,259
$6,829,868
$4,257,824
$3,457,000
$3,311,375
6.49%
-40.00%
-5.82%
-75.42%
3.84%
23.17%
91.35%
30.71%
-9.26%
-26.76%
15.58%
8.08%
3.62%
19.71%
-34.01%
-17.72%
3.76%
-75.98%
3.10%
28.91%
11.87%
5.65%
46.68%
-28.74%
35.94%
368.75%
-74.25%
118.52%
94.06%
63.64%
12.96%
16.25%
39.13%
43.56%
64.43%
44.54%
59.24%
-34.84%
-20.79%
167.93%
-73.17%
29.99%
36.64%
25.68%
-18.06%
256.94%
($52,167,000)
-152.10%
-259.08%
PNM Resources
$51,113,000
$107,960,000
$59,358,000
Reliant Resources
Constellation Energy
($330,556,000)
$535,900,000
($327,812,000)
$748,600,000
$365,107,000
$822,400,000
($305,272,000)
($748,112,000)
($1,314,400,000)
-614.29%
-304.90%
-259.82%
-697.25%
126.32%
-345.27%
Total
$34,819,424,326
-5.87%
-5.87%
-5.87%
62.61%
$132,936,000
$216,025,000
$139,600,000
$206,774,000
$262,100,000
$212,000,000
$176,200,000
$317,143,000
$277,451,000
$147,737,000
$165,309,000
$244,400,000
$167,224,000
$108,800,000
$155,800,000
$126,000,000
$245,896,000
$257,483,000
$221,800,000
$221,515,000
$244,200,000
$211,000,000
$204,300,000
$298,780,000
$197,295,000
$168,492,000
$168,354,000
$398,900,000
$184,464,000
$143,100,000
$251,300,000
$157,600,000
$260,828,000
$255,604,000
$244,500,000
$237,547,000
$231,400,000
$217,000,000
$215,500,000
$213,557,000
$208,887,000
$180,331,000
$178,140,000
$162,400,000
$154,929,000
$129,000,000
$124,800,000
$119,500,000
6.07%
-0.73%
10.23%
7.24%
-5.24%
2.84%
5.48%
-28.52%
5.88%
7.03%
5.81%
-59.29%
-16.01%
-9.85%
-50.34%
-24.18%
-201.53%
-1.15%
40.19%
21.11%
43.55%
12.44%
14.93%
-4.30%
154.01%
32.81%
32.08%
-23.03%
5.91%
-5.70%
-20.71%
-25.64%
Progress Energy
Questar
Xcel Energy Inc.
Ameren Corp.
DTE Energy Co.
Centerpoint Energy
Allegheny Energy
Wisconsin Energy Corp.
SCANA Corp.
Energen
Dynegy
CMS Energy
PEPCO Holdings
Southern Union
MDU Resources
Alliant
National Fuel Gas Co.
Northeast
Utilities System
($256,903,000)
Equitable Resources Inc. $258,574,000
DPL Inc.
$174,400,000
NStar
$196,135,000
OGE Energy Corp.
$161,200,000
AGL Resources Inc.
$193,000,000
UGI
$187,500,000
Pinnacle West
$223,163,000
Sierra Pacific
$82,237,000
Atmos
$135,785,000
Westar
$134,868,000
TECO Energy
$211,000,000
Puget Energy
$146,283,000
Vectren
$136,800,000
Integrys Energy
$157,400,000
Great Plains Energy
$160,700,000
24 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
While utilities have focused on adjusting to and operating in the economic recession, many have an even
bigger issue to address pending environmental
legislation.
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Industry Report
Overall Revenue Up, But Not for Everyone
While overall revenue was up almost 9 percent, income from
continuing operations dropped year-over-year by 4 percent, the first
time in four years, Rollins said. A number of utilities saw their
actual revenues drop, in many cases, reflecting rapidly decreasing
unit sales, especially in the last half of 2008.
Rollins predicts that in 2009 utilities will experience significantly
decreased unit sales, which will be reflected in reported revenues.
As Table 1 on page 21 illustrates, the utilities holding the top 10
slots in the total revenue rankings changed little from the previous
couple of years. While there was a little movement in the order of the
top 10 companies, only one newcomer, Integrys Energy, managed to
break into the top 10 list, while Consolidated Edison slipped out of
the top 10.
Integrys Energys revenue growth was driven in part by its
acquisition of Peoples Gas in 2007 and significant revenue growth in
its nonregulated businesses, Rollins said. Integrys is in the process of
divesting most of its nonregulated businesses.
REINVENTING AMERICAS
ENERGY GRID
OCTOBER 7, 2009
PRESENTED BY
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 25
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Industry Report
2008 Utility Financial Rankings
Table 4: Free Cash Flow
Company
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2005
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2006
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2007
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2008
Exelon
Entergy Corp.
Public Service
Enterprise Group Inc.
NRG
UGI
DTE Energy Co.
PPL Corp.
NStar
DPL Inc.
Energen
National Fuel Gas Co.
Northwest Natural Gas
New Jersey Resources
MDU Resources
Vectren
CH Energy Group
Energy West
Florida Public Utilities
Delta Natural Gas
Southwest Gas
Chesapeake Utilities
RGC Resources
Central Vermont
Laclede
Hawaiian Electric
Industries Inc.
($18,000,000)
($236,628,000)
$2,417,000,000
$1,652,367,000
$1,822,000,000
$461,668,000
$3,434,000,000
$1,111,745,000
88.47%
140.81%
-19177.78%
-569.83%
($104,000,000)
($38,000,000)
$279,300,000
($64,000,000)
$577,000,000
($26,886,000)
$134,000,000
$104,409,000
$97,816,000
($16,934,000)
$152,021,000
$105,383,000
$36,800,000
($19,129,000)
($1,451,146)
($2,228,000)
$2,034,080
($56,745,000)
($19,719,672)
($1,913,105)
($12,289,000)
$42,834,000
$916,000,000
$187,000,000
$87,700,000
$53,000,000
$364,000,000
$533,461,000
($48,800,000)
$180,743,000
$177,241,000
$51,566,000
($89,286,000)
$179,603,000
$28,800,000
$12,818,000
$6,663,703
$6,974,000
($1,358,348)
($63,971,000)
($18,728,830)
$2,481,460
$6,665,000
($71,682,000)
$570,000,000
$1,036,000,000
$233,100,000
($174,000,000)
($114,000,000)
$131,250,000
($28,100,000)
$110,310,000
$117,469,000
$65,540,000
$58,882,000
$4,909,000
($36,400,000)
($51,522,000)
($3,678,000)
($2,214,000)
$6,403,000
$6,936,000
($5,595,000)
$617,000
$10,429,000
$22,421,000
$574,000,000
$535,000,000
$232,300,000
$186,000,000
$171,000,000
$120,864,000
$119,600,000
$108,996,000
$85,042,000
$73,763,000
$58,922,000
$39,709,000
$32,200,000
$25,087,000
$1,567,451
$1,393,000
$1,028,864
($469,000)
($2,213,456)
($6,319,504)
($8,435,000)
($20,089,000)
0.70%
-48.36%
-0.34%
-206.90%
-250.00%
-7.91%
-525.62%
-1.19%
-27.60%
12.55%
0.07%
708.90%
-188.46%
-148.69%
-142.62%
-162.92%
-83.93%
-106.76%
-60.44%
-1124.23%
-180.88%
-189.60%
-651.92%
-1507.89%
-16.83%
-390.63%
-70.36%
-549.54%
-10.75%
4.39%
-13.06%
-535.59%
-61.24%
-62.32%
-12.50%
-231.15%
-208.01%
-162.52%
-49.42%
-99.17%
-88.78%
230.33%
-31.36%
-146.90%
($5,237,000)
($32,394,000)
($53,580,000)
($489,000,000)
$2,439,000
$65,723,000
$70,455,000
($25,961,000)
$26,655,000
($61,084,000)
($31,818,000)
($89,124,000)
$75,523,000
$8,464,000
($44,603,000)
$4,000,000
$97,214,000
$64,032,000
$44,398,000
$53,541,000
($29,641,000)
$110,909,000
($55,270,000)
$36,381,000
($1,056,000)
($59,672,000)
$92,307,000
$226,000,000
($14,678,000)
($56,377,000)
$77,400,000
$48,767,000
($143,583,000)
($146,475,000)
($207,150,000)
$42,550,000
($24,127,000)
($31,065,000)
($35,583,000)
($54,000,000)
($54,745,000)
($69,277,000)
($72,278,000)
($72,999,000)
($73,425,000)
($101,784,000)
($107,031,000)
($107,320,000)
2184.75%
-47.94%
-138.55%
-123.89%
272.97%
22.88%
-193.38%
-249.69%
-48.86%
-30.51%
-48.33%
-352.22%
360.70%
-4.10%
-33.59%
-88.96%
-2344.57%
-205.41%
-202.59%
181.19%
-375.46%
66.63%
236.39%
20.42%
($8,031,000)
$150,900,000
($100,303,000)
($619,600,000)
$98,270,000
($579,000,000)
($111,799,000)
($120,000,000)
-213.77%
-79.27%
1292.09%
-179.52%
$5,533,000
$96,764,000
($999,459,000)
$179,659,000
($187,000,000)
($5,100,000)
$35,831,000
($592,000,000)
$38,570,000
($152,028,000)
($344,277,000)
$1,179,080,000
$315,779,000
$101,000,000
$40,200,000
$10,798,000
($16,000,000)
($48,755,000)
($79,728,000)
($260,645,000)
$642,887,000
$146,662,000
$117,000,000
($87,100,000)
($77,173,000)
($340,000,000)
($9,292,000)
($120,288,000)
($122,009,000)
($127,767,000)
($132,700,000)
($145,000,000)
($149,000,000)
($154,567,000)
($169,000,000)
($183,281,000)
50.87%
-53.19%
-119.87%
-190.48%
-223.93%
71.07%
100.29%
-50.29%
1872.46%
-2274.01%
-226.09%
-87.22%
-173.86%
-22.46%
2821.57%
-531.38%
-71.45%
-575.19%
$117,000,000
($118,200,000)
$53,000,000
($265,000,000)
$111,200,000
$18,000,000
($111,000,000)
$59,600,000
($1,236,000,000)
($200,000,000)
($201,700,000)
($233,000,000)
80.18%
-438.42%
-81.15%
-270.94%
70.64%
-539.62%
MGE Energy
South Jersey Industries
Mirant
El Paso Electric
Northwestern Corp.
Unisource Energy
WGL Holdings
UIL Holdings
Southern Union
IdaCorp
Avista Corp.
Piedmont Natural Gas
Williams Companies
Empire District
Electric Co.
Pinnacle West
Reliant Resources
Allegheny Energy
AGL Resources Inc.
Allete (Minnesota Power)
Otter Tail Corp.
Centerpoint Energy
Black Hills
Portland
General Electric
TECO Energy
CMS Energy
26 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Company
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2005
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2006
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2007
Calculated Free
Cash Flow
2008
CLECO
PNM Resources
Nicor Inc.
Integrys Energy
Atmos
Dynegy
Puget Energy
Ameren Corp.
PEPCO Holdings
NiSource
El Paso Corp.
Wisconsin Energy Corp.
Xcel Energy Inc.
SCANA Corp.
Alliant
$90,338,000
($11,706,000)
$4,300,000
($324,500,000)
$53,761,000
($219,000,000)
($327,783,000)
$316,000,000
$519,800,000
$139,300,000
($1,507,000,000)
($166,100,000)
($120,751,000)
$82,000,000
$27,300,000
($145,052,000)
($76,694,000)
$259,600,000
($264,600,000)
($113,875,000)
($360,000,000)
($564,009,000)
$287,000,000
($272,000,000)
$514,000,000
($340,000,000)
($198,900,000)
$297,996,000
$231,000,000
$4,300,000
($247,167,000)
($178,370,000)
$79,000,000
($138,400,000)
$154,660,000
($11,000,000)
($173,257,000)
($279,000,000)
$171,600,000
($31,400,000)
($657,000,000)
($679,000,000)
($523,505,000)
$5,000,000
$46,800,000
($246,231,000)
($256,854,000)
($277,300,000)
($282,800,000)
($291,942,000)
($292,000,000)
($309,419,000)
($363,000,000)
($368,000,000)
($384,600,000)
($387,000,000)
($400,100,000)
($432,619,000)
($450,000,000)
-0.38%
44.00%
-451.01%
104.34%
-288.76%
2554.55%
78.59%
30.11%
-314.45%
1124.84%
-41.10%
-41.08%
-17.36%
-9100.00%
-372.57%
2094.21%
-6548.84%
-12.85%
-643.04%
33.33%
-5.60%
-214.87%
-170.80%
-376.09%
-74.32%
140.88%
258.27%
-648.78%
$140,700,000
$160,000,000
$1,394,000,000
$87,991,000
($334,151,000)
$379,000,000
($132,800,000)
$141,077,000
$1,012,000,000
($537,269,000)
$605,000,000
($140,000,000)
($17,700,000)
$491,000,000
($451,849,000)
($884,000,000)
($930,000,000)
($527,000,000)
$28,000,000
($827,000,000)
$82,900,000
($174,000,000)
$891,000,000
($172,618,000)
($465,107,000)
$1,032,000,000
($437,600,000)
($88,874,000)
$624,000,000
$214,752,000
$312,000,000
$346,000,000
$55,200,000
$367,000,000
($556,577,000)
($241,000,000)
($1,241,000,000)
($796,000,000)
$315,000,000
($493,000,000)
($229,200,000)
($150,000,000)
($68,000,000)
($183,800,000)
($866,389,000)
$367,000,000
($367,900,000)
($501,340,000)
$61,000,000
($349,947,000)
($223,000,000)
($3,867,000,000)
($242,500,000)
$83,000,000
($443,505,000)
$80,000,000
($726,000,000)
($1,168,000,000)
($949,000,000)
($373,000,000)
($559,500,000)
($559,500,000)
($563,000,000)
($570,000,000)
($585,800,000)
($605,989,000)
($614,000,000)
($659,800,000)
($662,352,000)
($669,000,000)
($834,839,000)
($879,000,000)
($895,000,000)
($941,000,000)
($1,058,000,000)
($1,076,589,000)
($1,114,000,000)
($1,147,000,000)
($1,224,000,000)
($1,337,000,000)
($1,693,000,000)
-1295.51%
144.11%
275.33%
738.24%
218.72%
-30.06%
-267.30%
79.34%
32.12%
-1196.72%
138.56%
294.17%
-76.86%
288.04%
-1374.70%
142.75%
-1492.50%
57.99%
4.79%
40.89%
353.89%
-2149.45%
-497.65%
-451.88%
-140.89%
-765.75%
81.35%
-262.01%
396.84%
-569.50%
-166.11%
55.39%
-245.29%
539.29%
5216.38%
-315.48%
138.26%
26.02%
23.33%
132.26%
-4875.00%
104.72%
Total
($2,728,826,843) $5,998,140,985
-319.81%
87.27%
87.27%
599.54%
($10,193,681,000) ($19,089,287,645)
-269.95%
87.27%
Sep|Oct|2009
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Industry Report
Dividends Up, But Growing Slower
In last years report, Rollins said that shareholders were the big
winners due to dividends and share prices. While most utilities are still
paying dividends to their shareholders, the dividends are declining
along with share prices.
Dividend policies are still fairly sacred in this industry, Rollins
said. Integrys and Great Plains both cut their dividends in 2009 and
saw an immediate hammering of their stocks. While divided payout
was up more than 6 percent from 2007 to 2008, we do not expect to
see that kind of growth from 2008 to 2009.
Generally, utility stocks are still trading at 15 to 20 percent below
their highs back in June 2008.
In addition, Rollins said another trend has emerged: For the first
time since 2002, utility stocks on average are not outpacing indices
such as the Dow Industrials and the S&P 500.
Information Managemen
Management in Utilities:
How to Prepare for the Imminent Increase in Data
originally broadcast: July 28, 2009, sponsor: SAP
www.power-grid.com
www.elp.com
Go to http://uaelp.hotims.com for more information.
Sep|Oct|2009
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 27
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Finance
60
Index Value Change (in %)
Brad Kitchens is
president and CEO of
ScottMadden Inc. He
has a bachelors degree
from Rose-Hulman
Institute of Technology
and an MBA from Duke
University. Reach
him at sbkitchens@
scottmadden.com.
40
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Authors
Stock prices can serve as a proxy for the health status of an industry. Industry fundamentalsrevenue sources and trends,
asset base, reinvestment requirements, operating and overhead costsremain significant stock cost drivers. And while
macroeconomic factors still influence the direction of electric
utility stock prices, a few industry-specific fundamentals have
helped those valuations avoid some, though not all, of the declines of the broader averages.
The collapse of the merchant power sector in the early
2000s and subsequent downturns in 2001 and 2003 caught merchant generator and electric utility stock prices in the downdraft.
Utility stock prices have since slowly climbed back from their
falloff as utilities deleveraged their balance sheets, unwound
diversification strategies, resized their competitive wholesale
businesses and refocused on their core regulated activities.
Since then and until mid-2008, electric utility stocks have performed well (or in the case of diversified utilities, roughly the
same) compared to broader indexes. (See Figure 1.)
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______________
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Finance
early 2000s, however, the industry banked on an infinite steady supply
of $4-per-million British thermal units of gas, but price escalation
through the mid-2000s proved those hopes wrong. Margins remain
vulnerable to unfavorable unhedged swings in gas prices, especially
for firms with a sizeable wholesale business. Conversely, continued
low gas prices threaten companies focused on unhedged coal and
other forms of baseload generation. Either factor may blindside the
industry and disrupt certain company valuations.
Anemic power sales. Through the first four months of 2009,
revenues for the U.S. electric industry were off by more than 4 percent
from the same period in 2008 because of flat residential sales and a
nearly 13 percent drop in industrial sales. Most industry observers
expect these sales levels to return, but concerns surround the timing
of the recovery and the possibility that sectors such as automobile
manufacturing might never fully regain their pre-recession levels of
demand. Given the high fixed-cost nature of the industry and absent
a different ratemaking paradigm, a prolonged sag in electric sales
revenues will continue to dent the industrys earnings prospects.
Rate recovery. Timely, complete recovery of prudently incurred
costs is critical for utilities. The expiration of many rate freezes in the
early and mid-2000s forced many utilities to apply for rate increases
to recover expenses incurred because of escalating fuel prices and
investments in grid-reliability upgrades and new generation capacity.
The Edison Electric Institute estimates that despite the current
recession, investor-owned electric utilities plan to commit some
$230 billion for capital projects during 2008-10. Also looming for
the industry are new and unknown costs for carbon-control measures
and other environmental mandates. With customer resistance to rate
increases, a constructive relationship with regulators will be critical
to avoid lagging or outright denial of recovery adjustments and to
preserve balance sheet strength and utility earnings.
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Finance
Authors
Casey Herman is the
leader of PricewaterhouseCoopers U.S.
Utilities Accounting
and Auditing Practice.
He has a Bachelor of
Science in economics
and accounting from
Tulane University.
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Finance
awarded because compliance requirements begin with the proposal
and application and generally end three years after final payment.
Compliance begins with the pricing included in the proposal or
budget submitted to the funding agency. If compliance requirements
associated with the cost proposal or budget are not fully understood,
it could result in future disallowance of costs by the government or
findings of defective pricing associated with contracts subject to the
Truth in Negotiations Act (TINA). Such findings can have severe
impact because they reduce the costs that can be recovered by a
company and may result in fines and penalties if certain laws, such as
TINA, are violated.
Key elements associated with proposal pricing include the
allowability of costs, methods to estimate cost categories such as
labor, ensuring proposed cost sharing conforms to the rules and
indirect costs calculated using the appropriate causal or beneficial
relationships. Also, ensuring the pricing is properly supported by
basis of estimates, historical data and other corroborating information
can help companies mitigate findings associated with pre-award
audits of the proposal or budget and reduce the risk of defective
pricing allegations. The proposal process also gives organizations an
opportunity to understand the compliance requirements that will be
applied during the performance of the contract.
Compliance during the life of an award involves many systems
and might require developing additional policies, procedures and
internal controls. The compliance requirements involve the accounting
system and related subsystems including but not limited to:
Time and expense reporting,
Labor distribution,
Procurement,
Materials management,
Billing,
Government property, and
Contract and subcontract administration
For example, the government may take an ownership interest in
equipment and real property purchased under an award. This often
results in seeking disposition instructions from the government at the
end of the project, which may have a negative cash flow impact on the
company. Understanding this up-front helps companies make the bid
or no-bid decision by considering potential pricing and negotiation
techniques that reduce the risks associated with government
property.
Understanding requirements associated with the regulations is
important to developing a negotiating position and mitigating risk of
fraud, waste, abuse, adverse pre-award findings that may preclude
an award and adverse findings during performance of an award. For
companies new to government-funded awards, this requires early
planning to assess and compare current systems with the award
requirements so risks are understood and action can be taken to
remediate deficiencies prior to accepting an award. Failure to plan
might lead to significant government fines and penalties and negative
media coverage if fraud, waste or abuse exist or negative audit
findings result.
In addition to core system requirements, companies are subject
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In addition, entities receiving Recovery Act funding may
be required to report the total compensation of the five highestpaid individuals employed by the contractor and the first-tier
subcontractor.
Companies also must be aware that federal government
regulations may change and states may implement their own reporting
requirements. Therefore, before proposing on or accepting an award,
companies should have the proper systems and methods to stay
current on state and federal reporting requirements and to be able to
identify and capture the right data to meet reporting requirements.
Companies also should be aware that the information provided
to the government may include data that can be obtained through the
Freedom of Information Act. Therefore, protection of sensitive and
proprietary data must be a top priority.
34 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
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Celebrating 20 years as the leading annual T & D event. DistribuTECH covers automation and control
systems, energy efficiency, engineering, demand response, renewables integration, power delivery equipment
and water utility technology. No show provides more educational and networking opportunities than DistribuTECH.
Join us for our 20th Anniversary celebration!
UTILITY
floor and a dedicated conference track. All attendees, however, will be able to visit both exhibit
Utility Products Conference & Exposition focuses on the buyers and sellers of power, telecom,
PRODUCTS
floors. Full conference registration is only $175 (if registered by December 31, 2009). For more
information, please visit __________________
www.utilityproductsexpo.com.
Go to http://uaelp.hotims.com for more information.
Owned &
Produced by:
Supporting Publications:
Now Including:
Host Utility:
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Generation
f
Authors
Legislative Direction
The U.S. House recently passed the American Clean Energy
and Security Act of 2009the Waxman-Markey bill. While
the content, timing and political fate of final legislation hinges
heavily on Senate action, the major economic implications
of carbon and renewable energy goals make it important to
understand the bills core elements.
Like the existing SO2 and NOX cap-and-trade programs,
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Generation
each power plant would be responsible to obtain and retire emission
allowances (or project-based offset credits) in amounts equal to its
total calendar year emissions. When free allowance issuance ends in
2030, all regulated entities will be required to purchase 100 percent of
the allowances needed for compliance.
To assure that the value of freely issued allowances results in
customer benefits, the allowances dedicated to the sector are issued
directly to local distribution companies (LDCs). Public utility
commissions (PUCs) are assigned overseeing disposition of the
allowances issued to LDCs. Emission allowances will not be issued
to an LDC until the PUC completes a ratemaking process addressing
how it will use the allowances and reports that plan to the EPA.
The quantity of allowances issued to each LDC is based 50 percent
on its power generators historic emissions from power generated for
The quantity of allowances issued to each LDC is based 50 percent on its power generators historic emissions from power generated for retail, and 50 percent on its share of total national
electricity deliveries. The latter calculation is updated every three
years. Unused allowances can be banked for use or sale in later
years. As one of several cost-containment features, regulated entities can borrow allowances from their next year allotment at no
cost and from years beyond that with interest. A limited earlyaction crediting provision allows owners of verified early industrial emission reductions and emission offset projects to receive
federal allowances.
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Generation
c
Author
Rowan Oloman is a
freelance writer in
Vancouver, Canada.
She has a masters
degree in environmental
management from the
University of New South
Wales and a bachelors
degree in environmental
geography from the
University of Sydney.
Oloman works as
the director of
several international
conservation projects
and as a researcher for
green tech solutions.
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Generation
of Mantra Energy. The company is gaining international recognition
in carbon recycling.
The market is open for innovation, Kristof said. It is likely that
governments will soon legally mandate carbon capture from industrial
plants, and there needs to be a cost-effective way to implement it.
Mantras technology, the electro-reduction of CO2 (ERC), aims
to take CO2 directly from industrial waste gases and convert it to
formate salts, formic acid or both, which are valuable chemicals used
in industrial applications. Formic acid also has the potential to lead in
fuel cell development as a direct fuel and a fuel storage material for
on-demand release of hydrogen.
The ERC technology could provide a net revenue of up to
$700 per tonne of CO2 recycled, with a return on investment (ROI)
previously forecast at 20 percent per year, depending on local costs.
Compared with carbon capture and storage, the ERC provides
a positive ROI, not an unrecoverable cost. Plus, a demonstration
ERC unit could be installed at a clients premises within a year and
a commercial plant within two yearsmuch faster than for carbon
capture and storage.
In a speech to the United States Senate, Margie Tatro, director
of Fuel and Water Systems at Sandia National Laboratories, a U.S.
Department of Energy research center that develops science-based
technologies to support national security, advocates that carbon
recycling is the way of the future.
We must act now to stimulate this area of research and
development, Tatro said. Other countries are exploring reuse and
On the Net:
McKinsey site: http://mckinsey.com
Mantra Energy site: http://mantraenergy.com
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 39
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Generation
Econamine FG PlusSM
CO2-Capture Technology
by Dennis W. Johnson; Satish Reddy, Ph.D.; Donald E. Broeils; and James H. Brown, PE, PMP, Fluor Corp.
Author
captured 365 short tons per day of food-grade CO2 from the
exhaust of the natural gas-fired power plant at the Bellingham (Mass.) Energy Center. Fluor designed and constructed
the plant and maintained continuous operation from 1991 to
2005 (see Figure 2). The experience gained from the design,
construction and more than 14 years of operation is used to
further advance the technology.
ABSORBER VENT
D EM IN W A T ER M A K EU P
CW
CW
CW
2 -S T A G E D C C
LP
LP
S TE A M
S YS T EM
S TE A M
FLUE GAS
FROM FGD
W A ST E T O
M A K EU P
D IS PO SA L
SO LV E N T
EX C E SS
SO D A A S H
W A TER
B LO W D OW N
N aO H
Sep|Oct|2009
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Generation
This list serves as a menu of some options from which a customized plant design can be developed. Each CO2-removal application has unique site requirements, flue gas conditions and operating
parameters. Based on the given CO2-removal application, it might be
beneficial to implement only some of the enhancement features. In
this way, every plant will be optimized for its specific CO2-removal
application.
Of the 400 CO2 Fluor capture systems, there are more than 25
licensed plants worldwide that employ the Econamine FG PlusSM
Absorber
25ft Diameter
is designed to recover 70 Te/d CO2 from the flue gas produced by the
Wilhelmshaven plant while processing 20,000 Nm3/h of power plant
flue gas at a CO2 capture rate of at least 90 percent of the CO2 contained in that gas. This will be the first time that the advanced features
of the Econamine FG PlusSM system are demonstrated on coal.
technology on flue gases from oil and gas turbine power plants to
steam-methane reformers.
Further ongoing enhancements of the technology occur through
select project applications. Numerous studies and proposals for applications have been completed for refineries, gas turbines and coal-fired
power plants. Active engagement in the increasing wave of activity for
potential implementation of CO2 capture to industry is essential. Table
1 shows a list of some of the studies and the range of potential application of post-combustion, carbon-capture systems for large and small
plants and natural gas and coal-fired applications. It also illustrates the
international concern for developing carbon-capture technologies.
Table 1: Selected Econamine FG PlusSM CO2-Capture Projects
Project
E.ON Energie coalfired
power plant demo
Gassnova Karsto CO2
FEED study
E.ON UK CO2 feasibility
coal plant feasibility study
10 units in Europe
SaskPower Boundary Dam
FEED study
Tenaska Trailblazer
technology evaluation
Completion
2010
July 2008
2007
1015
October 2009
Details
20,000 m3/hr in
Germany
420MW combined
cycle plant in Norway
300MW coal plant
350MW coal plant in US
Foodgrade (beverage) CO2
150MW coal plant
late 2009
January 2008
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Renewables
Solar Rising
s
Author
Robert Rogan is
eSolars senior vice
president of North
American markets.
42 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
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www.ch2m.com/power
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The concentration level achieved by the optics system is low
because it uses single-axis tracking, hence the maximum temperature
achieved is low, driving down the efficiency of the plant. The main
advantage of this technology is its maturity. Its main disadvantage
is the relatively higher cost and, at times, limited supply of materials.
CLFR technolology. In CLFR technology, mirrors track the
sun and focus on a tube where synthetic oil gets heated and goes to
heat exchangers to produce steam, or direct steam generation can
take place directly in the tubes. Unlike in trough technology, the
tubes are fixed in place, but the tracking field is still one-dimensional
and the concentration level is low (thus having lower maximum
temperature and lower operating efficiency necessitating the use of
water cooling).
Stirling engine technology. The dish Stirling engine uses a
dual-axis tracking system in a tracking dish to focus the sunlight on a
Stirling engine. Each dish system produces between 10 to 25 kW and
is considered the highest efficiency solar thermal solution available.
This technology, however, foregoes some of the most established
benefits for concentrating solar thermal in utility-scale applications.
Practically, it offers minimal economies of scale for large-scale
projects, making it more suitable for distributed power applications
under 10 MW. The dish engine technology neither provides storage
nor can be used to hybridize a traditional steam power plant.
CPV technology. Another variation of concentrating solar energy
is CPV technology, in which light is concentrated on semiconductors
that convert light energy directly to electricity. Several companies
using high-efficiency solar cells adopted this concept recently.
Solar Systems of Australia uses mirrors to focus light on an array
of semiconductors, and the California-based Amonix system uses
Fresnel lenses to focus light on individual solar cells grouped in series
and parallel.
Tower technology. Tower technology uses either direct steam
generation or molten salt technology. Both approaches have been
demonstrated in Solar One in the 1980s and Solar Two (using molten
salt) in the 1990s in California. Today, however, there are only 35
MW of commercial installation worldwide. The latest demonstration
is Spains PS-10 and PS-20 projects. The tower system uses dualaxis tracking mirrors called heliostats to concentrate sunlight on a
central receiver atop a tower. Because of the dual-axis tracking,
higher temperatures can be achieved, hence higher efficiency. Tower
technology has the potential of being the lowest-cost. The PS-10
represents typical tower technology, which uses large mirrorseach
mirror is 120 square metersthat are mounted using poles that
are dug into the ground with large motors and drives to rotate the
heliostats and track the sun.
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Executive Pad
Folio Sponsor:
Breakfast Sponsor:
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Renewables
a
Author
Steam
Turbine
Generator
Receivers
Mirrors
Condenser
Concentrating
Solar Thermal
Energy Facility
Fuel
Back to
HRSG and
Receivers
Flue Gas
Fuel
Air
Heat-Recovery Steam
Generator (HRSG)
Combined-Cycle
Plant
Gas Turbine
Generator
Site Issues
Immediate Impact
CST uses encompass industries including
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Renewables
Figure 2: Hybrid Reheat Cycle
Steam Injection Options
Steam
Turbine
Generator
Receivers
Mirrors
Condenser
Concentrating
Solar Thermal
Energy Facility
Fuel
Back to
HRSG and
Receivers
Flue Gas
Fuel
Air
Heat-Recovery Steam
Generator (HRSG)
Combined-Cycle
Plant
Gas Turbine
Generator
Receivers
Condenser
High Pressure
Pump
R O Membranes
High
Pressure
Pump
Mirrors
Salt Water
Back to Receivers
Concentrating
Solar Thermal
Energy Facility
Sep|Oct|2009
Figure 4: Desalination-Distillation
Fuel
Boiler
Receivers
Product
Water
Steam Turbine
Generator
Mirrors
Concentrating
Solar Thermal
Energy Facility
Condenser
Salt Water
Feed
Evaporators
Reject
Condensate
Back to Boiler and
Receiver
Cloud Cover
Electric
Motor Drive
Steam Turbine
Generator
Reject
Product
Water
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 47
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Author
Nancy Hartsoch is
the vice president of
marketing at SolFocus
and chairwoman
and director of the
CPV Consortium. She
received a bachelors
degree and MBA from
San Jose State
University. Reach her
at nancy_hartsoch@
solfocus.com.
48 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
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technologies like silicon PV and thin film must continue to evolve,
squeeze more energy from the cells and drive to lower cost.
But that alone wont take us far enough. There is a need for disruptive
technologies, which leverage existing technology but are more advanced
at providing benefits not achievable with current approaches.
The latest PV technology on the landscape is concentrator PV
(CPV), which is being deployed commercially and is proving its
ability to provide a new trajectory for efficiency improvements and
cost reductions.
In addition to the cost benefit, CPV meets other challenges
facing renewable energy, including distributed generation, optimized
land use, environmental sustainability and a strong roadmap to future
advancements. It is important to understand the technology before
looking for opportunities.
CPV
A CPV system converts light energy into electrical energy the way that
conventional PV technology does. The difference in the technologies
lies in the addition of an optical system that focuses a large area of
sunlight onto individual PV cells.
Also, the solar cells used in CPV systems are different from
silicon PV cells in their capability to convert large amounts of sunlight
into energy at high efficiency.
CPV systems may be thought of as telescopes trained on the
suns position and feeding the concentrated light to the cell.
Optics in a concentrator system are significantly less expensive
than the PV cell. The less cell area used per unit, the lower the overall
cost of the system.
High-efficiency PV cells and precision optics are the essential
building materials for all CPV technologies.
Optics. While there are multiple approaches to CPV systems,
SolFocus has selected reflective, nonimaging optics (customized,
precision mirrors) to collect and concentrate the suns energy (see
Figures 1 and 2).
Solar Cell
Primary Mirror
Optical Rod
25
20
15
10
5
0
2009
2010
2011
2012
Sep|Oct|2009
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Renewables
Low cost driven by high efficiency. There are two factors to
understand related to cost.
First is efficiency. The biggest impact on the cost of delivering
solar energy is system efficiency. CPV has the highest efficiency
levels: nearly twice that of most PV.
These efficiency levels are increasing steadily upward with
tremendous headroom before they begin to approach any theoretical
limits for the cell technology.
The second thing to understand is manufacturing costs. From a
volume manufacturing perspective, CPV is in its infancy. As volumes
accelerate, manufacturing costs come down rapidly as they have done
in automotive and electronics industries.
Also, CPV systems (using SolFocus CPV as the comparison)
typically have only 50 percent of manufacturing costs driven by
materials, whereas for PV, it is around 80 percent material costs. This
is another factor contributing to the rapid cost-reduction map for CPV
technology.
When you combine the increasing efficiency and decreasing
manufacturing costs, CPV leads the industry in its cost-of-energy
reduction potential. Also, there is an ability to ramp quickly with
CPV.
Because CPV systems use little, specialized PV material and
are built primarily from readily available materialsin the SolFocus
design, this is glass and aluminumsupply constraints are not an
issue.
CPV also has a much lower cap-ex requirement than other solar
technologies. This is an important element of rapidly building capacity
as the deployment of CPV systems moves from a projected 30 to 50
MW this year to gigawatts of capacity in the not-so-distant future.
High energy output. CPV will provide the highest energy
output per megawatt installed of any PV technology (see Figure 2).
When hot, silicon PV and thin film suffer temperature degradation
resulting in a much lower energy production as temperature rises.
On the contrary, the multijunction cells used in CPV systems do
not suffer from significant temperature degradation. Energy producers
get the highest energy output per megawatt installed with CPV.
30
25
20
15
10
5
0
2008
2009
2010
2011
2012
This chart illustrates the upward trajectory for efficiency improvements with CPV
technology.
Source: Manufacturer-reported efficiencies from industry reports
50 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
CPV solutions are changing PVs in many ways. Deployment of groundmounted, utility-scale systems is growing dramatically. The cost of solar
energy in the fastest-growing solar markets is falling rapidly.
The environment benefits from clean energy created with a small
carbon footprint and environmental impact. Politicians, industrialists
and environmentalists talk of the new energy future. With industry
support of full commercialization and deployment, CPV will be a
critical element of that future.
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TION &
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BEMaGS
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T&D
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W
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Go
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to http://u
formation.
for more in
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Energy Management
c
Author
Richard Fioravanti is
director of Storage
Applications & Support at
KEMA Inc. Reach him at
800-892-2006 or visit
http://kema.com/pspm.
Carbon taxes or caps, higher oil and natural gas prices, worries
about oil availability and increased fuel switching are increasing the penetration of renewable generation resources into
our transmission and distribution networks. In the U.S., many
states are setting renewable portfolio standards to stimulate renewable energy adoption. As deployment of these generation
devices increase, many state and federal agencies, independent
system operators (ISOs) and utilities are examining their impacts on the electricity grid and weighing options to ensure
continued reliability. The additional volatility introduced to the
grid by renewables might require a greater need for regulation
services to balance network load and generated power.
Fast-response, high-performance, energy storage systems
have been attracting considerable interest as a means to mitigate these issues. The use of storage for frequency regulation
can improve electric grid system reliability, efficiency and
flexibility. In ISO environments, they represent a new option
for grid operators, as well as a potential revenue opportunity
for operators of the storage devices.
In considering such systems, complex questions must be
addressed:
What capacity and duration (energy-to-power capacity
ratio) is needed for storage devices to respond to persistent calls for regulation service in each direction?
How will large amounts of storage impact overall system
performance?
Can automatic generation control algorithms be designed
to take advantage of the fast-acting capabilities of the
emerging storage technologies?
Are high-performance energy storage systems more effective than conventional generation resources in meeting
regulation service requirements?
low durations (energy-to-power ratios of less than 12 minutes) might be unsuitable, depending upon a particular
systems area control area characteristics. By decreasing
dependence on traditional generation units, there might
be added benefits, such as reducing system maintenance
costs and adverse emission effects.
The effectiveness of a storage device increases if the automatic generation control unit is adapted to take advantage
of a fast-response device so that it also needs to be repaid
to restore its energy levels within a finite period. The area
control error improves, and more important, the ability to
use a storage device shortens durations, resulting in lower
regulation service costs.
A storage device responding to a filtered area control error signal is more effective than conventional generation
at providing automatic generation control regulation,
in terms of system area control error performance. This
strongly implies that a lesser amount of regulation can
be procured using storage vs. conventional resources and
used as the primary resource for responding to area control error.
The economics of a storage device are favorable at todays
price levels for regulation and real-time energy purposes.
The overall cost-effectiveness of a storage device for regulation also depends on capital costs, which vary among
technologies. These costs should come down over time.
Two of the most common, fast-response energy storage systems include advanced batteries and flywheels. Compressed-air
energy storage (CAES), though not considered a fast-response
system, is gaining popularity because of its ability to scale for
larger implementations. The available technologies vary in capital costs, production costs, capacity, energy density, power and
energy ratings, cycle life and efficiency. But they all can enhance
the stability and quality of electricity networks.
A battery storage system can be desirable because it offers
relatively high efficiency as high as 90 percent or better. Technologies range from lithium-ion, advanced lead-acid and flow
batteries such as sodium sulfur and zinc bromine. Batteries offer
high capacity and independent power and energy ratings. For
small-scale electricity storage, the redox (reduction oxidation)
flow battery provides an interesting alternative.
A flywheel energy storage system rotates a disk at a high
speed and retains the energy by slowing down the flywheel.
The kinetic energy of the disk is stored as electricity. Flywheel
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Energy Management
interest is increasing because they can charge and discharge power
quickly. Studies have shown that advanced storage technologies for
regulation can result in lower carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and
nitrogen oxide emissions when compared with traditional storage
systems. When maintenance, operation and equipment lifetime
costs are compared against those for traditional fossil fuel-based
power technologies, flywheel technology has been shown to deliver
regulation services at the lowest cost.
A CAES system involves the use of renewably generated or
off-peak electricity to compress air. When electricity demand later
peaks, the compressed airoften stored in a coal mineis heated
with natural gas and goes through turbo expanders to generate
electricity. A compressed-air system can have great graphical impact
for implementations of more than 100 MW.
Another option is being explored: a North Sea energy island.
This man-made island would store power from an offshore wind
farm. The concept is the initial result of an ongoing KEMA feasibility
study with the civil engineering firm Bureau Lievense and technology
illustrators Rudolph and Robert Das for Dutch energy companies. The
design incorporates an inverse offshore pump accumulation station.
On the island when there is a surplus of wind energy, the excess would
be used to pump sea water out of the interior subsurface lake into the
surrounding sea. Upon a wind shortage, sea water would flow back
into the interior lake through commercially available generators to
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Energy Management
Outage Management
and Customer Relationships
a
Author
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Energy Management
system payback within five years. Equally important was a strong
resurgence in public trust.
Just four years after the 1998 disaster, a government report
showed that NIEs customer service performance was better than
the aggregated performance of electricity companies in Great Britain
when compared against each of the eleven Guaranteed Standards.
Complaints fell 58 percent to 25 in one year. And the annual
complaint rate3.5 per 100,000 tariff customersbeat the average
for British companies (84 complaints per 100,000 customers).
Complaints fell further the following year.
That NIE should only have 17 official complaints recorded
against it from a customer base of 720,000 is a credit to all the staff at
NIE in its role as Northern Irelands public electricity supplier, said
Gerry Donnelly, then head of consumer affairs at the U.K.s Office of
Electricity Regulation (Ofreg). The excellent approach to customer
service over the past number of years has seen complaints decline
rapidly, making NIE one of the best customer-facing electricity
companies in the United Kingdom.
Such lessons have not been lost on other utilities. Nova Scotia
Power, for instance, has ensured that its outage management system
can handle up to 13,000 calls per hour3 percent of its entire
customer base.
Hawaiian Electrics use of customer communication from its
outage management system has halved its number of incoming calls
during outages.
Positive stories abound.
New Technologies
Moving communication from inbound callers to all outage-affected
customers has evolved as a second wave in better customer and grid
interaction.
Between 2004 and 2006, the number of utilities using outbound
outage calls more than tripled from 9 to 30 percent, according to
research firm Chartwell.
Next, many utilities are moving outage communication to the Web
by displaying outage maps. Doing so initially seemed counterintuitive
given the suspicion that few people experiencing power outages could
access the Internet.
Today, however, an increasing number of mobile phones and
similar devices can provide access even when power is out in the
immediate vicinity.
Utilities that have taken this step generally report that displaying
outage maps reduces call center volume. It also improves relationships
with the media by giving all news outlets equaland equally up-todateinformation they can report.
Broadening outage communication is not without problems, of
course. Utilities report grappling with such issues as:
When should reporting start? A fallen tree that eliminates power
at a mountain vacation home scarcely seems worthy of an
Internet map. What about 500 residences in Chicago? Or 500
residences in a town of 700?
How frequently should information be updated? Every hour?
That is probably too little. Every minute? Probably too much.
Somewhere, there is a happy medium.
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A Utility Perspective
We needed a centralized system, said Catherine Powers,
vice president of forecasting and member services at Old
Dominion Electric Cooperative (ODEC) in Glen Allen, Va.
We had an old legacy billing system that we realized needed
to be moved into the 21st century.
It took almost a year to the dayJune 1, 2008, to June
1, 2009for ODEC to evaluate its meter data management
(MDM) and billing needs, select a vendor and go live.
Similar stories can be told as many times as there are
utilities. ODEC executives realized its problemthat it
needed one version of the truthabout two years ago, Powers
said.
The generation and transmission cooperative is owned by
11 cooperatives in the PJM power load, and it gets meter data
from a variety of sources. Members own and operate some
400,000 meters serving about 1 million member-owners in
Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and North Carolina. Retrieving
that data then translating it into something comprehensible
were labor-intensive, physical chores, Powers said.
Historically, I would talk to Tom, and he would go to a
file cabinet and add numbers, she said. Weve never really
had data available.
Or was it simply unreachable? Tom Chamberlin works
as ODECs MDM and billing project lead. The cooperatives
small staffit hovers around 100 employeesmeant one
employees absence could create numerous potential hold
ups.
For example, if Chamberlin were to treat the family to
a weeklong vacation, he might be welcomed back by coworkers forming a line at his desk. If he were sick, they could
take a number, and if he were to take a long lunch, getting
dessert to go might be a good idea.
After Chamberlin had performed his calculations, hed
heave over the results in overwhelming mounds of paper,
Powers said.
56 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
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A Vendor Perspective
A Canadian, next-generation billing company
says the it word or phrase of 2010 will be
software as a service (SAAS), at least in
the utility world. Remember it, because its
already a big deal in other industries and dayto-day lifepeople just dont realize theyre
already using it.
If people are familiar with Yahoo Mail,
thats software as a service, said Frank
Hoogendoorn, Cognera Corp.s co-founder
and executive vice president of business
solutions. You can log on and use that
service. For a lot of people, its free, but you
can pay for an upgrade.
The SAAS poster child is salesforce.
com, he said. Its the leader in customer
relationship management and cloud
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p
Author
David Owens is
executive vice
president of Edison
Electric Institute.
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CS Week
Planning for Another
Challenging Year
Late last summer when the presidential campaign and subprime mortgages were top-ofmind issues for most Americans, the CS Week Executive Advisory Panel (EAP) recognized
that a slowing of the economy they had detected would impact CS Week, as well.
These leaders in products and consulting services serving the meter-to-cash utility
industry consciously added even more value, pertinence and immediacy to the content of the
workshops they were suggesting to the CS Week board of directors.
Recognizing that a slowdown would pinch utilities travel and education budgets, CS Week had to give
prospective attendees solid justification to attendand even more to learn.
Next year also will require proven return for utilities to spend even scarcer education dollars. Our
vendors benefited this year from the number of attendees who justified their trips visiting exhibitors as they
searched for solutions.
Top speakers and meaningful presentations are the heart of every venue at CS Week. The annual Call
for Presentations 2010 has gone out. We encourage each reader to consider speaking at CS Week next year
in Nashville, Tenn.
Further information is available at http://csweek.org. Click on Call for Presentations on the home
page.
CS Week has reconfigured the Customer Experience Lifecycle again to incorporate the significant
changes in meter-to-cash and the larger utility world, this time adding a smart grid track.
The functionality and programs of energy efficiency and conservation are well incorporated under the
smart grid functional track.
AMI and MDM remain distinct tracks in the meter-to-cash life cycle.
CS Week originated 34 years ago as CIS Conference and focused on customer billing and closely related
functions. CS Week 2010 will mark our fourth year as a comprehensive educational forum serving the breadth
of meter-to-cash utility services.
It is fascinating to watch the advent of new players in the smart metering environment. Who could
have predicted that Google, Microsoft and Cisco Systems would extend their business services to gather
information from end users to help consumers manage their energy usage and costs?
This was undreamed of as an option even two years ago. Consumers are not tied to utilities anymore for
generation or utility management. Smart utilities, meters and homes are spreading as buildings and appliances
become profoundly more efficient.
What is your utility doing to train customer service representatives (CSRs) for the ever-changing calls
they receive? Do they have to transfer callers for answers, and what does that do to customer satisfaction?
As the frontline in utility customer service, they merit fresh training on these new questions and
answers. The return on investment begins when CSRs dont have to transfer calls but can answer customers
questions.
Sep|Oct|2009
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 59
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T&D
Author
Thomas F. Garrity is
vice president and
senior consultant
of high-voltage
systems at Siemens.
60 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
source for San Francisco, the smart HVDC Power Link Universal System (PLUS) technology for the transmission link
will supply reactive power support for enhanced voltage control to the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. grid. The innovative
voltage source converters will provide +/- 145 MVAR of reactive power at Pittsburgh and +/- 170 MVAR at the Potrero
Converter Station in San Francisco. The voltage support capability of the HVDC PLUS technology is an example of the
Siemens smart grid control for enhancing grid performance.
The voltage source converters at the heart of the HVDC
PLUS solution employ insulated gate bipolar transistors
(IGBT) semiconductor devices configured in a modular
multilevel converter (MMC), which provides many switching
steps to reduce harmonics, minimize losses and reduce highfrequency noise. The multilevel converter design virtually
can eliminate the need for alternating current (ac) harmonic
filters in most cases, thereby contributing to significant space
savings. Another advantage of the design allows the use of
standard ac transformers.
Converter station construction is progressing, and the
submarine cable will be laid this fall to achieve the March
2010 service date. The commissioning phase and system
and transmission tests are scheduled to be complete by
February 2010. Figure 2 shows progress on the Pittsburgh
converter station.
The underground segment of the HVDC cable terminations have been completed at the Pittsburgh Converter Station, and the location of the cables in the direct current (dc)
switchyard is shown in Figure 3. These cables will connect
to the submarine cable portion of the dc link to complete the
Figure 2: Air core reactors installed in the ac switchyard at Pittsburgh, Calif.,
with the valve hall in the background
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Figure 5: DC cable terminations at the Potrero Converter Station
transmission path between Pittsburgh and Potrero (see Figure 4). The
submarine cable is scheduled to be installed in October-November using a special cable-laying vessel designed for this purpose. The submarine cable is manufactured in one continuous length for each pole that
will span the entire length of the bay.
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T&D
Figure 7: Foundations for the
major equipment and site
grading started at Elmhurst
Faced with a pressing need to do more with fewer resources, Kansas City Board of Public
Utilities (KCBPU) looked to technology to help transform the way the utility maintained network
information. Join Matt Kreig and Pat Morrill from KCBPU, and Pete Southwood from Autodesk as
they discuss the technology that has allowed KCBPU to model their network for efficiency gains
and how that is helping them to better serve their customers and keep rates low.
Sponsored by:
62 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
Sep|Oct|2009
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PennEnergy
WHAT IS IT?
PennEnergy.com is the only source you need for energy news, research, and insight.
Nowhere else will you nd this much energy-related content in one location.
www.PennEnergy.com
Go to http://uaelp.hotims.com for more information.
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T&D
DENALI T&D MARKET INDEX
130
Base Year=2007
Actual
Forecast
120
110
100
90
09 . 09 . 10 . 10
08 . 08 . 08 . 08 . 09 . 09
07 . 07 . 07 . 07
l.
l
l
r
r
r
r
t
t
n.
n
n.
ct Jan
Ju Oc
Ju Oc
Ju
Ja
Ja
Ja
Ap
Ap
Ap
Ap
O
T&D Materials
T&D Services
T&D Index
www.power-grid.com
www.elp.com
www.utilityproducts.com
UTILITY
64 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
PRODUCTS
conference & exposition
Sep|Oct|2009
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Classifieds
Market!
KNOW YOUR
Ad Index
Ad index name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . PG# . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Web address
Aclara Technologies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.AclaraTech.com
Applied Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.appliedmaterials.com
Autodesk Web Cast . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.elp.com
NE
RELE W
A S E!
Solar Taurus 60
PennEnergy.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.PennEnergy.com
PennWell Archived Web Casts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.elp.com
Sep|Oct|2009
1 (800) 931-8573
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 65
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COLUMN
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Bleed it Out
By Robert Wilson Jr.
Author
Robert Evans Wilson
Jr. is a motivational
speaker and humorist.
He works with
companies that want
to be more competitive
and people who want
to think like innovators.
For more information,
visit http://jumpstart
yourmeeting.com.
Half a century ago, marketing consultant James Vicary pulled a hoax on the
American people as a way to promote
his advertising agency. He reported that
he flashed the words Drink Coca-Cola
and Eat popcorn on the screen for a
millisecond during a movie in a theater
and caused large numbers of people to
visit the concession stand. He called the
effect subliminal advertising. Subliminal means that the effect functions below
the threshold of consciousness. Years
later, when others failed to duplicate his
results, Vicary admitted that he made the
whole thing up. Nevertheless, the myth
continues.
Is there any advertising that works
below the threshold of consciousness?
Yes, much advertising is clearly designed to speak to consumers on a subconscious level. Ads are created to get
you to relate to the setting; background
music; age, race and gender of the actors; their clothing; and the activities in
which they are involved. The idea is that
you will recognize yourself in these people and make the connection, Ah, this is
66 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
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Make the proven choice today. Contact us for more information about
Elsters EnergyAxis System: 800.786.2215 or energyaxis.com
Go to http://uaelp.hotims.com for more information.
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AND GET
THE LEADER
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the utility of the future. Find out more at
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EnergyWorkforce
For the industrys career-minded professionals Fall 2009
Energy Cycles
Shouldnt Deter the
Next Generation
Separating Yourself
Post-Renaissance
Innovative Recruiting
Targeting Passive
Professionals
A s u p p l e m e n t t o P e n n W e l l p u b l i c a t i o n s w__________________________
ww.PennEnergyJOBS.com
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J O I N A M E R I C A S C H A M P I O N O F
NAT U R A L G A S
NYSE:CHK
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BEMaGS
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EnergyWorkforce
JOBS INSIGHT
Networking To Top Talent OR Networking
Your Way to Top Talent
OP- ED
Separating Yourself Post-Renaissance
ENERGY WORKFORCE
Energy Cycles Shouldnt Deter
the Next Generation
RECRUITERS PRACTICUM
Innovative Recruiting- Targeting Passive
Professionals
POWER-GEN INTERNATIONAL
2009 Conference Schedule
12
ADVERTISERS INDEX
Aerotek Energy Services ............................................................................................................................... 5
Chesapeake Energy Corp .......................................................................................................Inside Front Cover
Brent Eklund
Petroleum Account Executive
720 535 1264
beklund@pennwell.com
www.PennEnergyJOBS.com
________________________________
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J O B S
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i n s i g h t
t would seem that during an economic slump, finding employees would be one of the
easiest tasks. The truth is, finding top talent is still quite difficult.
An unemployment rate over 9% means companies are sifting through an even larger sea
of unemployed people to find their talent. Unfortunately, many employers are still working
within the status quo of hiring methods. It is commonplace to post a job, wait for the resumes
to pour in and select talent based on those resumes. As the old saying goes, work smarter
not harder. Updating the recruitment strategy is a crucial step to increasing the number of
talented individuals joining your company. So what should your new strategy look like? It
is actually not a novel approach at all. Your strategy should be about leveraging the art of
networking. Although many talk about the importance of networking, it is still a second rate
practice in most organizations.
One efficient way of networking is through social
Networking should be
networking sites such as LinkedIn. Social networking
has become popular in the last couple of years, but its
an ongoing activity
benefits are not being maximized to the fullest. Targeted
regardless of whether
searches should replace posting openings as the most
or not
nott you
you currently
cur
urre
rent
ntl
tly
ly have
hav
ave a position open. It is
used recruitment practice. Strategically recruiting top
important to build up your arsenal of identified talent
talent includes identifying potential candidates with
similar skills, experience and even industry experience.
for openings you have now and in the future.
Networking technology puts important information at a
hiring managers fingertips.
A second important type of networking is through face-to-face events. Face-to-face
meetings give a recruiter or hiring manager one more dimension of detail. Job fairs are
certainly one way of face-to-face networking, but they are really only one step up from sifting
through resumes. A more effective networking strategy should include industry events. Just
like online targeted recruitment, industry events provide an entire pool of potential candidates
from a given industry. HR and hiring managers should become skilled at observing and
evaluating people at these events; as if watching on-the-job interviews in progress.
Many of the people you target at these events will be gainfully employed and may not be
looking for employment. Do not let this be a discouraging factor. Everyone is willing to hear
about an opportunity. This opens the door to a long-term connection. There will also be some
individuals actively seeking out new employment at conferences and tradeshows. Pay attention
to this active candidate pool as well. If they are trying to get in front of you at an event, they are
more savvy than the person who did nothing more than apply to an advertisement.
Networking should be an ongoing activity regardless of whether or not you currently
have a position open. It is important to build up your arsenal of identifi ed talent for openings
you have now and in the future. The quality of individuals you identify through networking
will be greater because you have not limited your pool of candidates to only those who apply.
Sincerely,
Stanna Brazeel,
Manager, Staffing and Salary Administration, Human Resources
PennWell
E ne rgyWork f orce
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Do more
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exploring collaborating
here.
Do more with your career. Do more with your life. Right here in Houston at the
energy company behind the worlds longest subsea pipeline. DoMoreHere.com
__________
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OP-ED
The aptly dubbed meltdown that set in late last year and its
lingering aftermath has continued to weigh on the refining
sector. From 2001 to 2008, refiners were printing money with
fat margins on gasoline & diesel and major integrated oil
companies were even happier with the crude run up to $140+/
bbl. Most refiners were investing in their physical and people
assets. Mandates for Ultra-Low Sulfur Diesel, ethanol as
oxygenate and environmental upgrades became an acceptable
cost of doing business. All of these investments created
an intense demand for a wide variety of engineering and
economic disciplines. These were good times.
Todays look is that while crude oil has backed off 50 percent
from the historic high prices of last year, the demand
destruction caused by refined products prices has held
firm. Bottom line? There is little margin in the complex
manufacturing process of refining, and where you cannot find
margins, there is little support for investment. Welcome back
to the good old days, when the refining business was not a
profit centermake money on the crude, process at near cost,
then make money on the sale of taking the product to market.
The demand in todays refining job market is about maintaining
assets. There is a fair amount of hiring taking place for
disciplines of reliability, maintenance, safety, instrumentation,
Continued on page 7
E ne rgyWo rk f orce
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The things that make you unique may also make you uniquely qualified. Thats
why, at Aerotek, we take the time to find the person behind the resume. We dig deeper to discover
the very best qualities inside you. Qualities that inspire. Qualities employers look for. Qualities you
may not even know you had. Because at Aerotek, we send only one perfect candidate to fill one
perfect opportunity. And we want it to be you. People. Fit. Perfectly.
Project Managers
Welders/Fitters
Pipeline Inspectors
800.977.6499
Geologists
Career Placement
Specialists
SM
www.aerotek.com
_____________
Specialty Operators/Technicians
Project Administrators
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ENERGY WORKFORCE
E ne rgyWo rk f orce
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OP-ED
Continued from page 4
inventory for the inevitable upturn in prices. The greatest challenge these same
companies face is having an adequate workforce to support this activity when that
recovery begins.
There is no question that hiring interns and new employees has slowed for most,
if not all, companies during the past 12 months. We need to be careful that we
dont let the pendulum swing too far and exacerbate the workforce issue facing our
industry as many reach retirement age over the next few years.
Hats off to the Offshore Energy Center and in particular, Sandra Mourton, the
Executive Director, for hosting such a great event. As an industry, we need to
maintain efforts to continue to attract talent and encourage students to seek careers
in oil and gas and once again the Industry Salute to Interns event proved to be a
great opportunity to convey this message. EW
We encourage your feedback on this or any PennEnergyJOBS EnergyWorkforce article. Please send
your comments to feedback@PennEnergyJOBS.com
En er gy Wo r k f o r c e
Currently seeking
Transmission
Network supervising
and senior engineers,
and project managers
For more information on our
exciting career opportunities
and to apply for these positions,
please visit our website at:
www.worleyparsons.com and
click on Employment.
WorleyParsons is an Equal Opportunity
Employer M/F/D/V.
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R e c r u i t e r s
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P r a c t i c u m
A Qualified-Best Match
This process starts with articulating exactly who your ideal
candidate is.
With a systematic approach to candidate profiling, you
should be able to identify the hard and soft skills, experiences
and attitudes, education and background that a candidate
should possesstraits that will ultimately translate into a top
performing employee.
One way to identify your best match candidate profile is by
interviewing your current top performers and isolating the
common traits that they all share.
Once you know exactly the type of candidates you are looking
for, you can begin to identify where you might find them.
easier to find; that is, they probably have their resume posted
on a few job boards, are leaning heavily on their network of
professional associates to assist them in their search, and are
calling companies directly to learn about current and future
opportunities of employment.
Passive candidates are typically employed and satisfied with
their employer and are content in their current role. That is not
to say that if the right opportunity presented itself, they would
not be interested in learning more. However, they are most
likely not out in the field broadcasting their desire to find a new
opportunity. These professionals are probably looking to move
a bit slower, will have more questions, and will likely be a bit
more hesitant to risk leaving a good job for a new challenge and
increased risk.
Active and Passive candidates are not different people with
different skills sets and abilities. Candidates from one group are
not necessarily any better or worse than the other, they are just
at different points in their employment cycle.
Candidate interest and availability can be quite dynamic and
is dependent upon a number of factors. Changes in current
management, workloads or personal circumstances can
accelerate the transition from passive to active candidate. In
extreme cases, layoffs, natural disasters, lost contracts and other
forms of sudden shifts can lead this to happen overnight.
That being said, the true measure of your best candidate has
less to do with her state in seeking out a job, and more to do
with how she measures up to your companys best match
candidate profile.
E ne rgyWo rk f orce
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R e c r u i t e r s
En er gy Wo r k f o r c e
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P r a c t i c u m
The following steps will guide you in ensuring that you stay on
track through the process:
Hold an information-gathering session. Use your first
conversation to open dialogue and learn about interested
individuals as potential candidates. Have them tell you a
little about themselves first. Dont go too fast, even if the
match seems perfect. Provide the person with a brief, highlevel overview of the job, and schedule an exploratory call
sometime later. Be a bit vague, and mention the importance
of the job to the companys strategic direction. This approach
also gives you the option of networking with the candidate
and meeting with professionals they feel are top performers.
Shift decision-making from a short-term emphasis to
a more long-term one. The basic goal of the preliminary
discussions is to have the candidate consider the strategic and
tactical issues associated with making a change and accepting
a new opportunity. Too often, candidates lose interest
and opt out early because the recruiter did not effectively
communicate the short-term goals and the long-term growth
opportunities. Understanding the candidates needs and
balancing the correct message will give a candidate enough
short-term information to understand how she can make an
immediate impact and enough long-term information to get
her excited about future projects and goals.
Dont rush the process. Passive candidates need time to absorb
the information you provide. While you can try to speed the
process along, you dont ever want to come across as being
desperate. Ask questions and listen. If youre talking too much,
youre pushing. Its better to find out what the candidate would
need to know to move to the next step in the evaluation process.
Scheduling an informal meeting, such as a lunch date, is a
great way to build your relationship and understand what she
is currently doing, and what underlying concerns or questions
you will need to address as your recruiting process continues.
Create competition. Of course, the goal of this exercise is
to move this professional from candidate status to applicant
status as quickly as you both deem appropriate. Once you
are sure this candidate is a top professional and you have
addressed her major concerns, it is time to create a sense of
urgency. A great way to do this is by informing the candidate
that there are a number of professionals showing great
interest in the opportunity, but you consider her to be a
top candidate. Remember, a great job is always better when
theres competition.
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R e c r u i t e r s
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P r a c t i c u m
Set the table. Invite the candidate to the office to meet the
team. In sports, as in recruiting, nothing is more important
and beneficial than utilizing the home court advantage.
When every employee the candidate will meet with
works together and understands her role in the recruiting
process, the candidate will have a true understanding of
the companys culture and atmosphere and will be better
equipped to make the decision to join the organization.
Learn Why...
You Should Post Your Resume
on PennEnergyJOBS.com
When recruiting passive candidates, use a professional, stepwise approach to provide them with small doses of information
that keep them engaged. You will know youre successful when
the candidate starts asking you more questions, calls to see how
the interview went, or asks about the other candidates.
FREE Resource!
Job Seeker Tools
Post Resumes/CVs
Search Jobs
Career Ignition Blog
Career e-Newsletter
Energy Workforce Career Guide
Job Tip Videos
Career Fairs
Global jobs for global job seekers
PennEnergyJOBS.com
10
We encourage your feedback on this or any PennEnergyJOBS EnergyWorkforce article. Please send your comments to feedback@PennEnergyJOBS.com
E ne rgyWo rk f orce
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9!
OR 200
F
E
T
A
D
E
H
AVE T
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December 8 10, 2009 ~ Las Vegas Convention Center Las Vegas, Nevada USA
CPC 101
Room N102
CPC 102
Room N103
CPC 103
Room N107
HALF-DAY WORKSHOPS
8:00 AM
5:00 PM
CPC 301
Room N103
CPC 302
Room N107
CPC 303
Room N108
CPC 304
Room N111
CPC 501
Room N101
Capital Project
Analysis at Power
Plants
Turbine Generator
Failures: Prediction
and Prevention
Lost Efficiency:
Finding Low Hanging
Fruit
8:00 AM
12:00
PM
1:30 PM
3:30 PM
Environmental
Issues II
Fossil
Technologies I
Fossil
Technologies II
Room N103
Room N111
Room N107
Room N108
NOx Control:
Issues and
Strategies
Mercury Test
Results and Issues
Modern Coal
Plants & Design
Developments
Material Handling
Challenges and
Solutions
9:30 AM
11:30 AM
The Stimulus
Plans Effect
Advanced
Generation
Technologies
Three Optimization
Approaches to be
Cost-Effective
Today Panel
Discussion
Regulatory Issues
and Environmental
Compliance
CO2 Abatement
Strategies
How Carbon
Capture Affects
Plant Design
Biomass and
Biomass Co-Firing
Considerations in
Coal-Fired Power
Plants
1:30 PM
3:30 PM
Renewable
Electricity
Standards and Their
Impact on the
Electric Power
Industry Panel
Discussion
Smart Grid,
Renewables
Integration and
System Security
Transmission
Trends Affecting
Power Generators
Innovations in
Gasification and
IGCC
12
Mega-Session
Room N112
E ne rgyWork f orce
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HALF-DAY WORKSHOPS
CPC 104
Room N108
Power Plant Construction
Management
A Guide to Survival
1:00 5:00
PM
CPC 502
Room N102
Temperature
measurement and
Data Acquisition in
Power Plants
1:00
5:00 PM
CPC 403
Room N115
Intellectual Property
Fundamentals for Renewable
Energy Developers, Licensors
and Licensees
CPC 503
Room N101
CPC 504
Room N102
CPC 505
Room N113
Key Considerations
and Best Practices in
EPC Contracting for
Wind Farms
(Developers
Perspective)
Combustion
Dynamics in Gas
Turbine Power
Plants
Renewable Energy
I
Renewable Energy
II
Room N113
Room N112
Room N114
Combined Cycle
Technology
Update
Advances in
Gas Turbine
Technology
Wind Power
8:00 AM 5:00 PM
each day
CPC 201
Room N109
Heat Rate Awareness and
Carbon Reduction
Gas Turbine
Technologies
Biomass Market
and Technology
Developments
BEMaGS
TWO-DAY COURSES
CPC 402
Room N101
Gas Turbines An
O&M Perspective
On-Site Power
Plant Performance
II
Room N101
Room N102
Performance
Improvement
Through Instrument,
Control and
Electrical Systems
Emerging Clean
Technology
Innovations
How Distributed
Energy
Technologies will
Integrate with
Tomorrows
Smart Grid
Panel Discussion
Plant Maintenance
Steam Turbine
Reliability,
Availability &
Efficiency
Energy Storage
Asset Optimization
Combustion
Optimization and
Boiler Cleaning
Utility-Scale
Solar Power
Room N117
Net Zero:
Blending
Technologies to
Achieve Grid
Independence
Plant Performance
I
Mega-Session
Room N114
Renewable Power Survival
Panel Discussion
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