Power

Monthly Issue | September 1, 2010

"Perfect Citizen" Program to Protect the Power Grid

The federal government’s super-secret National Security Agency (NSA) has launched a beefed-up program designed to protect civilian and government infrastructure from hostile cyber attacks, according to multiple press accounts. Among…


Addressing Smart Grid and Consumer Info

With state regulators increasingly insisting on near-term consumer benefits from costly smart grid deployment, the federally backed Smart Grid Interoperability Panel (SGIP) is accelerating development of a national standard that…


Where HR Meets Legal

One of the most daunting and difficult chores facing human resource professionals at all companies is handling whistleblower claims, where the law seems increasingly stacked against the employer. This summer,…


How "Framing" Can Bamboozle Regulators

Robert Frank, a Cornell University economics professor, writes about the difference between false advertising and “promotional puffery.” Our laws ban the former but allow the latter because, he says, we…


Energy and Water: A Matter of Interdependence

The long-term development and production of energy resources will inescapably affect or interact with other natural resources. Biofuels may compete with cropland and put upward pressure on food costs. Siting…


Why September Marks the New Year

While the New Year officially begins Jan. 1, in my mind, the year really begins the day after Labor Day. That’s when the schools go back in session after summer…


TREND: Solar Doldrums

While the Obama administration in Washington is lauding solar energy as a major part of an alleged transition to renewable energy, the U.S. companies that make solar modules to turn…