In This Issue
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Commentary
Demand Response Demands Response
What the summer heat wave, and one utility’s less-than-stellar response, teaches us about communicating with customers.
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Finance
TREND: Geothermal Heats up after Fukushima
While the vast power of one form of energy below Earth’s crust (tectonic plate shifts) doomed the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan last March, using another form—heat and steam—is getting renewed attention in the wake of the Japanese meltdown.
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Legal & Regulatory
Utility Managers Ponder Rules, Money, People
What’s on the agenda for the utility industry today and into the future? Platts and Capgemini asked the industry leadership in their latest survey. The answers revolve around regulation, finance, and human resources.
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Legal & Regulatory
WTO China Ruling Could Impact Rare Earths
Uncertainty about China’s role in world trade and its current monopoly over critical rare earth minerals continues to roil supply chains in energy technology markets. Will the World Trade Organization bring China into the fold, or will China ignore the international forum that it lobbied hard to join several years ago?
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HR
How to Screw Up an Employee Complaint Investigation
The process of handling employee complaints of workplace discrimination or harassment is filled with potentially disastrous pitfalls. Here are some things to avoid.
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HR
Getting Employees to Apply Training on the Job: How to Turn Hope into Reality
Employee training is one of the most important human resource functions, and one of the most difficult to manage. But there are some proven ideas to help guide training programs in the work environment.
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Business
How to Break Down the Barriers Between Information and Operations Data
"Asset health" offers a conceptual path to integrating information technology with operations technology, thereby overcoming the common management problem of "siloed data," according to a recent study by The McDonnell Group.
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CommentaryThe Development of U.S. Shale Gas Resources: Regulation and Litigation
The rise of shale gas in U.S. energy markets has profound economic implications. It has the potential to transform the existing market and bring opportunities for new markets. But shale gas also raises regulatory challenges and the likelihood of litigation. Here’s an introduction to the issue and a primer on the regulatory and legal ramifications of the shale revolution.
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Commentary
Climate Pragmatism: Introduction
Last summer, an international group of scientists and policy analysts under the auspices of the London School of Economics launched an ambitious effort to reshape the debate over global warming policy in a document known as The Hartwell Paper. This July, a similar group followed up with a new report, titled "Climate Pragmatism: Innovation, Resilience and No Regrets," which puts the earlier work into a North American context.
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Commentary
Get Creative, Skip the Path of Least Resistance
In training for a sport, the common wisdom is "no pain, no gain." The same is true when it comes to fostering creativity in the workplace. Force yourself and your organization out of the easy path, break out of the rut, and gain as a result.