Power

Monthly Issue | January 1, 2010

TREND: Gas Rebounds

After years of decline amid rising prices and fears of scarcity, natural gas as a power-generating fuel is on a rebound in the U.S., driven by new finds in Texas…


Management Art and Management Science
Management Art and Management Science

Is management a science? An enormous intellectual construct developed over the past century—by business schools, consultancies, and major staff components of business firms and government agencies—is dedicated to that proposition.…


The U.S. Has a New Dash for Gas

Natural gas has reemerged as the choice for new electric generation, according to the North American Electric Reliability Corp. Does this raise new reliability issues? Electric utilities are increasingly showing…


An Economist Looks at Climate Policy

Aspects of how climate and conservation issues are presented that seem completely natural to the environmental and energy policy community can look peculiar from the perspective of an economist who…


Where Are the New Engineers?

The United States is failing to produce the trained and educated workforce needed for the demands of the future of electricity generation and transmission, according to a study last fall…


When It Comes to Nukes, Little Things Mean a Lot

Little things mean a lot. That’s the message from the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to Akron, Ohio–based First Energy Nuclear Operating Co. (FENOC) concerning consistent niggling operating problems at…


For Utilities, Derivatives Is Not a Dirty Word

The electricity industry applauds the current efforts by Congress to reform the nation’s financial markets. But we don’t believe these reforms should include new regulations aimed at some already-transparent and…