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The Right FIT for California

By Tam Hunt, Director of Energy Programs, Community Environmental Council, August, 24, 2009 - California is on the precipice of passing into law a game-changing Feed-In Tariff (FIT) policy that will unleash the tremendous potential of renewable energy and provide a massive economic boost in California. more...
Article Viewed 1846 Times | 18 Comments

Cooperative Federalism

By Roger Feldman, Counsel, Andrews Kurth LLP, July, 06, 2009 - In the absence of "Cooperative Federalism" the development of so-called "Green Infrastructure," as contemplated both by the Stimulus Package and by the forthcoming initiatives from the President and Congress in the areas of energy, security, and climate change regulation, will be thwarted. more...
Article Viewed 2129 Times | 10 Comments

The Pitfalls of and Opportunities in Electric Power Deregulation

By Harry Valentine, Commentator/Energy Researcher, , June, 01, 2009 - The deregulation of several sectors of the national economy became the vogue during the Reagan administration in Washington and the Thatcher administration in the UK. Margaret Thatcher had read The Road to Serfdom by F.A. Hayek (Nobel laureate in 1976) and was inspired to privatize some of Britain's state-owned enterprises as the socialist economies of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union collapsed. Friederich Hayek had been a student of Ludwig von Mises whose treatise entitled Socialism detailed the downfalls of state ownership and state management of a national economy and how such an economy would ultimately fail. more...
Article Viewed 3217 Times | 84 Comments

Coordinated Regulation or Jurisdictional Wrestling: Which Will Produce Better Industry Performance?

By Scott Hempling, Director, National Regulatory Research Institute, May, 01, 2009 - Last month's essay began a series on the federal-state jurisdictional relationship. For interstate industries, federal-state simultaneity is unavoidable -- and good for consumers. Why, then, does this interdependency produce so much irritability? Among my illustrations: when the "federal vs. state" dispute is actually a state vs. state dispute. This month's essay explores this example in real time: namely, some states' discomfort with FERC jurisdiction over "resource adequacy." more...
Article Viewed 1668 Times | Be the first to comment on this article.

A great day for renewable energy

By Tam Hunt, Director of Energy Programs, Community Environmental Council, November, 13, 2008 - With President-elect Obama closing the deal in a resounding manner, let's review his proposed energy policies. Obama has long called for action to mitigate climate change and to decrease foreign energy dependence. Obama has not to my knowledge ever discussed peak oil, but the general rubric of "energy independence" captures some of the key features of the peak oil discussion. more...
Article Viewed 3776 Times | 48 Comments

Regulatory Resources: Does the Differential Make a Difference?

By Scott Hempling, Director, National Regulatory Research Institute, November, 10, 2008 - Effective regulation aims for excellence. Regulators must establish standards, design rewards and penalties, then evaluate. The process should induce continuous improvement in utility performance. more...
Article Viewed 2210 Times | 3 Comments

Essential to Effectiveness: Community Acceptance of Regulation's Mission

By Scott Hempling, Director, National Regulatory Research Institute, October, 08, 2008 - My first eleven monthly essays described the attributes and practices of the effective regulator. An effective regulator cannot ensure effective regulation. We also need, throughout the regulatory and political communities, acceptance of regulation's purpose. more...
Article Viewed 2345 Times | 6 Comments

Does Agency Compliance Lead to Better Emergency Plans?

By Samuel Mullen, Principal, MPS Communications & Planning, July, 30, 2008 - Through the 1970s and most of the 1980s, electric utilities were guided by few regulations covering requirements for emergency plans, outside of those at nuclear and other plants. This meant that utilities basically started with a clean sheet of paper and wrote down strategies and procedures that would, for example, lead them to a recovery following a major storm. Plans were usually organized in a three-ring binder, with logo-enhanced cover, and placed on the shelf behind the T&D manager’s desk or in the dispatch center. Several months later an exercise might be planned, but there were few or no metrics to measure results. Employees were sometimes told that their utility had a plan, but few people saw it or knew how it could affect them. more...
Article Viewed 1912 Times | Be the first to comment on this article.

By Scott Hempling, Director, National Regulatory Research Institute, July, 22, 2008 - "The hardest part of my job is the politics." more...
Article Viewed 2870 Times | 8 Comments

By Scott Hempling, Director, National Regulatory Research Institute, June, 18, 2008 - “The hardest part of my job is the politics.”
- MARC Commissioner (June 2008) more...
Article Viewed 3210 Times | 7 Comments

1-10 of 59 items listed

White Papers:

PTC, ITC, or Cash Grant? An Analysis of the Choice Facing Renewable Power Projects in the United States

Overview of Electricity Distribution in Europe

Role of CC&B-CIS in Increasing Customer Satisfaction

Case Studies:

Exploring the Economic Value of EPAct 2005's PV Tax Credits

Keeping pace with regulatory and business changes through work management and field force automation

Research Reports:

NERC Cyber Security 2006; an Overview Toward Implementation

Roadmap to Best Practices for Utility Wireless Collocation