ELP - Power of Learning

Transcription

Jan|Feb|2008
volume 86|01
www.elp.com
A Year of
Uncertainty
Capital expenditures in the
electric industry for 2007
Wind Power and
Grid Reliability
Nuclear Revival,
the Sequel
2008 Products and
Services Directory
0801ELP_1 1
1/31/08 10:47:10 AM
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1/31/08 10:47:20 AM
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0801ELP_3 3
1/31/08 10:25:44 AM
Jan|Feb|2008
86 Years of Energy Business
volume 86|01
Events 6
Generation
36 Negawatts: KCP&L’s Energy
Commentary/Letters 8
Efficiency Forum
by Matt Tidwell, Kansas
City Power & Light
Management Methods 70
Less Left, More Right
by Jim Walters, Rochester Public Utilities
FEATURES
Industry Report 14
Renewables
38 Wind Power and Grid Reliability
by Tim Poor, American Superconductor
14
T&D
40 A Smart “Smart Grid” Strategy
Capital Expenditures in the
Electricity Industry for 2007
by Nancy Spring, managing editor
with Dan Gabaldon, Booz Allen Hamilton
by Derek Booth, Cellnet+Hunt
IT/CIS & CRM
42 Emerging Communication Technologies
COLUMNS
The Power of Meter Data Unification and
Synchronization of Advanced Metering
Infrastructure (Part II)
by Kevin Walsh, SAP America Inc.
Managing Uncertainty 10
The Role of Risk Management in the
Trading Transaction Lifecycle
by Michael D. Barrett, Ernst & Young
44 How an Electric Co-op Improved
SECTIONS
Customer Service with
Document Management
by Mark Thompson, Perceptive Software
News Analysis 12
Reducing Carbon Footprints:
How Five Utilities Help Their Customers
by Alan Bouris, Ecos Consulting
38
Finance
Focus on the CFO 24
by Nancy Spring, managing editor
by Jon Arnold and Mark Morrison,
Microsoft
48 Is This an Era of Transition?
by Rod Litke, CS Week
Exclusive C Three Equity Index 25
by the C Three Group
Texas-sized Data 26
by Clayton Cook,
Lower Colorado River Authority
46 Customer Care Transformation
Buyer’s Guide
51 Electric Light & Power’s
2008 Products and Services Directory
44
Federal Loan Guarantees 28
by Mary Anne Sullivan and Sam Walsh,
Hogan & Hartson
Risk Management
Nuclear Revival, the Sequel 32
by Stephen Maloney, Towers Perrin
Centralized Energy Credit Risk Management 34
by Rahim Inoussa, PA Consulting
70
4 | ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER
0801ELP_4 4
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:25:48 AM
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0801ELP_5 5
1/31/08 10:26:14 AM
EVENTS
FEBRUARY
February 11—15, 2008
CERAWeek 2008
Cambridge Energy
Research Associates
Houston, Texas
www.cera.com
PowerGen Renewables
PennWell Co.
Las Vegas, Nevada
http://pgre08.events.
pennnet.com/fl/index.cfm
TechAdvantage 2008
Conference & Expo
National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association
Anaheim, California
www.techadvantage.org
2008 Annual Meeting
National Rural Electric
Cooperative Association
Anaheim, California
www.nreca.org
MARCH
March 9—12, 2008
Geospatial Infrastructure
Solutions Conference 31
GITA
Seattle, Washington
www.gita.org
86 Years of Energy Business
1421 South Sheridan Rd., Tulsa, OK 74112 : P.O. Box 1260, Tulsa, OK 74101
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Publisher
Michael Grossman
(918) 831-9500 : [email protected]
Editor in Chief
Steven Brown
Managing Editor
Nancy R. W. Spring
Presentation Editor
Clark Bell
Associate/Online Editor
John M. Powers
Production Manager
Dorothy Davis
Circulation Manager
Janet Orton
Circulation Director
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Tom Leibrandt
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North American Energy Group
Michael Silber
President/CEO
Robert F. Biolchini
Chairman
Frank T. Lauinger
Senior Vice President, Planning, Development &
Strategic Policy Advancement
Jayne A. Gilsinger
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER is the official print publication of
May 19 – 23, 2008 : San Antonio, Texas
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER is the official supporting publication of
February 3-5, 2009 : San Diego Convention Center : San Diego, California
March 18—19, 2008
Wind and Transmission Workshop
American Wind Energy
Association
& CanWEA
Detroit, Michigan
www.awea.org
Products and Services Directory
Judith Simers
Buyers Guide Director
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Production/Database Manager
Tammy Croft
Database Production Supervisor
Jean Gallagher
Editorial Assistant
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Sr. Input Processor
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Database Administrator
Linda Smith-Quinn
Sandy Taylor
0801ELP_6 6
ELECTRIC LIGHT & POWER, ISSN 0013-4120, USPS 858-860 is published 6 times a year in January/February, March/April, May/June, July/August,
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Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:26:19 AM
BUILDING A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE®
Don’t let aging assets
short-circuit your reliability
Reliability is a growing concern in the power industry. With good
reason. According to the North American Electric Reliability
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Enterprise Management Solutions, the management consulting
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If you want reliability, count on Enterprise Management Solutions.
0801ELP_7 7
>Reliability Strategy
>NERC Standards Compliance
>Asset Management
>Integrated Resource Planning
>Transmission Planning
>Cost Recovery
1/31/08 10:26:21 AM
Commentary
With this issue, I’m very pleased to welcome a new member to our
industry report family. Dan Gabaldon from Booz Allen Hamilton teamed up with me to write
“Capital Expenditures in the Electricity Sector for 2007.”
We’ve covered the utility financial rankings with The C Three Group and the operating
performance rankings for power plants with Energy Ventures Analysis for many years and with
the addition of this report, a gap in our industry report library is filled. Visualize it this way: the
power plants make electricity, the utilities make money, money is spent on the electric system.
I think we’ve got you covered from soup to nuts.
In the capex report, Dan characterized 2007 as a year of uncertainty. “It’s as if the background music in a
Hitchcock movie is getting louder and louder from 2004 to the present,” he said. 2007 was characterized by the
high level of renewables coming into the generation mix, the many power plant cancellations and “just sheer cost
increases.” The American Wind Energy Association’s announcement that U.S. wind power generating capacity
expanded by 45 percent in 2007, shattering all previous records, didn’t come as any surprise to him.
Dan’s insightful analysis of investments made in the industry in 2007 begins on page 14. Don’t miss his
list of five things to watch for in 2008.
Nancy Spring, managing editor
CORRECTION:
Letters
In “Table 4: Top 20 Coal Generators Ranked by Capacity Factor (2006),” p.24 of the Operating Performance
Rankings (Nov. Dec. 2007 EL&P) the location of the No. 3 ranked plant, Healy, was incorrect. Healy is
located in Alaska.
Nov|Dec|2007
ance
6
200 erform
P
ng ngs
rati Ranki
www.elp.com
Ope
volume 85|06
2007
Utility
of the
Year
FPL Group
Committed
tted to improving the
environment
onment and reducing
greenhouse gases
Dear Editor:
I am an employee at a nuclear power plant. One of my jobs involves reporting generation data to the NRC.
In the 2006 Operating Performance Rankings (EL&P, Nov. Dec. 2007), you noted that to be in the top 20
nuclear plants for generation, a plant must have 2,000 MW of capacity and multiple units. However, to be in
the top 20 for capacity factor, the playing field is somewhat leveled. What capacity factor are you using? Is
it Maximum Dependable Capacity or Design Electrical Rate as defined by the NRC or are you using some
other calculation?
Skip Olsen
Constellation Energy
Taking a leadership position
to combat global warming:
FPL Group CEO Lewis Hay III
MagazineName | Month Year 1
EL&P welcomes your letters
E-mail us at: [email protected] or mail
to Nancy Spring, Managing Editor,
Electric Light and Power,
1421 South Sheridan Road,
Tulsa, OK 74112.
Please include your full name, title, company
name, address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for clarity and length.
Tom Hewson, principal, Energy Ventures Analysis, and analyst on Performance Rankings report:
The EIA 906 data submitted by the operating companies for net power output and net capacity are used to
develop the report’s nuclear plant rankings. These data were downloaded directly from DOE. In developing
the 2006 rankings, we combined the monthly data reported separately for Units 1 and 2. These data showed
the Calvert Cliffs station having a combined 2006 net generation of 13,830,411 MWh and a net demonstrated
capacity (average of summer and winter) of 1,703 MW, giving an average station capacity factor of 92.74
percent. This performance places the station ranking at #26 for generation and #31 for capacity factor.
Had we not combined the multiple units by station, we would have had 104 reporting nuclear units and
your unit #2 would have ranked as #21 in capacity factor using the reported average net generating capacities.
0801ELP_8 8
LETTERS continued on 29
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:26:27 AM
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0801ELP_9 9
1/31/08 10:26:35 AM
COLUMN
Managing
M
anaging Uncertainty
The Role of Risk Management in
the Trading Transaction Lifecycle
The evolution of energy trading,
while relatively brief in duration, has
been dramatic. As part of electricity
and natural gas pipeline industry
deregulation, companies embarked upon
opportunities to trade and transact around
energy commodities. While different
A u t h o r companies employed varying approaches
Michael D. Barrett is a through speculative trading and “trading
senior manager in around their assets,” the rewards—and
Ernst & Young’s the risks—were significant. Now, even
energy risk after some well-documented tradingmanagement related challenges in the late 1990s and
practice. He focuses early 2000s, energy trading is alive and
on risk management well, thanks in large part to effective risk
infrastructure, controls management practices.
and analytics in the
For power and utility companies
energy, utility, refined with trading operations, Sarbanes-Oxley
products and natural established platforms to transform the
gas liquids industries. way their businesses trade commodities,
You may contact him manage risk and communicate, especially
at [email protected]. between front, middle and back offices.
Since the implementation of SOX 404 in
2002, the industry has shifted its focus
to enterprise-wide compliance and risk
management. By understanding the
impact of trading operations at every
level, senior management, financial
teams, traders and, importantly, the
company’s stakeholders and investors,
can all have full confidence in energy
trading activities and the risk management
strategies that are in place. Consider the
following current best practices of the
trading transaction lifecycle.
Tone from the top
In the past, risk management played a
part in the trading process, but it was
focused primarily on the business unit
or trading desk. Today, many power and
utility companies with trading operations
are devoting entire teams to aggregating,
monitoring, advising and recording the
potential risks associated with all daily
transactions across the corporation. A
risk strategy team, typically consisting
0801ELP_10 10
by Michael D. Barrett
of a chief risk officer, a policy committee
and a risk management committee,
establishes an overall risk strategy for the
company, evaluates risk limits for each
business unit and develops clearly stated
policies to reflect risk limits.
For the trading floor, leaders should
first define the goal of the company’s
trading activities and then strategize
what types of trades are best suited for
the overall risk management strategy.
Once the strategy is in place, they should
regularly read and interpret risk reports
from the trading organization. Above
all else, it is imperative that company
leaders understand the importance of risk
management, especially in the trading
transaction lifecycle, and communicate
with traders to understand the extent of
their activities.
Changing corporate functional areas
Old practices are giving way to new,
comprehensive approaches as key
functional areas—namely credit risk,
market risk, product control and
operational risk—shift their roles and
responsibilities. As these functional
areas oversee trading and operations,
they are working more closely with
senior management in both the day-today and overall monitoring, enabling
senior company leaders to take a more
active role in risk management. While
all four groups are independently
important, communication among
company leadership and these functional
areas has become key to understanding
corporate-wide risks and to developing
a consistent vision and approach to risk
management. Each individual area can
contribute to the company’s overall risk
management strategy.
holistic, with traders forced to understand
both how to make a profit as well as
how their transactions impact overall
company performance. Like all areas
of a company, senior leadership should
provide its traders with an understanding
of the overall corporate objectives and
work with traders to ensure that trading
activities achieve these objectives. To
assist other risk management operations,
traders should learn to accurately enter
trades into the system, be sure volumes are
balanced and help resolve discrepancies.
However, additional responsibilities for
traders should not include reporting;
ultimately, trading is their primary role.
As companies aim to utilize
personnel effectively, cross-functional
responsibilities allow organizations to
move away from the structured front,
middle and back offices. While traditional
middle offices slowly diminish, oversight
monitoring will become a separate
and distinct function and will remain a
vital part of the organization structure.
Whether the individuals responsible
are in the back office or an independent
group, their duties will include daily
confirmations, effectiveness calculations
and regressions.
Communication ties objectives together
Financial teams at power and utility
companies will be critical to connecting
the front and back offices and raising
awareness of compliance and risk
management issues across the company.
The finance and accounting organization
must understand what is going on within
the trading organization through daily
interaction and communication with
traders. Open lines of communication
will allow accountants and traders
to discuss the effect of trades on
Transitions in the trading organization
the overall business objectives and
In the past several years, the trading strategize the most effective approach
market mindset has become more for the company.
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:26:41 AM
0801ELP_11 11
1/31/08 10:26:43 AM
NEWS/ANALYSIS
i
Energy Efficiency Programs
Utility customers want to reduce their carbon footprints.
Here’s how five utilities helped them.
Author
Alan Bouris is vice
president of energy
efficiency solutions at
Ecos Consulting, where
he oversees all aspects
of program delivery to
utilities, retailers and
manufacturers. Ecos
Consulting implements
energy efficiency
programs and shepherds specifications
and program designs
through the regulatory
process. Bouris can be
reached at abouris@
ecosconsulting.com.
educate consumers about energy saving choices. At PSE, the
Residential Efficiency Program was launched in 2002 on the
heels of the West Coast energy crisis the previous year. The
utility hoped to build on the momentum for adopting efficient
lighting and to garner the cost-effective energy savings that
lighting programs offer.
To educate the public about the benefits of ENERGY
STAR products and encourage PSE residential customers to
purchase high-efficiency ENERGY STAR qualified lighting,
various retailers were called upon to participate in promotional
efforts. DIY stores, hardware stores, drug stores, grocery
stores and lighting showrooms partnered with the utility to
offer discount coupons to customers at the time of purchase.
Discounts ranged from $2 for a single “twist” compact
fluorescent lamp (CFL) to $20 for hard-wired fixtures.
Similarly, APS required retail partners to carry and
promote discounted lighting, achieved through the utilization
of an upstream lighting manufacturer buy-down approach. APS
was able to bring the cost of energy-efficient lighting products
down to a more attractive price and retail relationships were
critical in placing the affordable options at local stores.
Educating the public about their choices is a key
component of any energy savings program. Both PSE and APS
benefited from outreach events, targeted media and marketing
campaigns, in-store advertising, retail visits and training. Such
educational efforts reinforce the energy saving messages,
changing consumer behavior for the long term.
Education is king
Thinking outside the bulb
The key to successful energy efficiency programs lies with
the team associated with the project and its ability to foster
mutually beneficial relationships. A successful energy savings
program requires calling upon organizations with specific core
competencies to help execute critical components of a campaign,
including trusted trade allies, retail partners, manufacturers,
and measurement and verification
partners. The process requires patience
and a willingness to put in as much
time as necessary to produce a fruitful
partnership. A thoughtful and open
approach is critical.
Education is also imperative. For
example, ENERGY STAR lighting
programs with Puget Sound Energy
and Arizona Public Service relied on
key retail partners to promote and
While lighting is clearly a strong starting point for an energy
saving program, utilities can encourage customers to do
more by evaluating the efficiency of other products around
their homes and businesses. At Nevada Power/Sierra Pacific,
the ENERGY STAR Residential Lighting and Appliance
0801ELP_12 12
by Alan Bouris
In September 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency
reported that ENERGY STAR and other climate change
programs prevented 70 million metric tons of carbon
equivalent greenhouse gas emissions in 2006, up from 63
million in 2005. In addition, Americans saved more than
$14 billion on their energy bills. With terms like “climate
change” and “carbon footprint” taking root in the vernacular,
Americans are increasingly aware of their impact on the
environment and are seeking—and are clearly selecting—
choices that promise less harm to the environment.
Providing customers with the ability to select
environmentally friendly products and services requires
dedication and a strategic approach; the resulting reward of
a smaller carbon footprint is invaluable. Recently, several
ENERY STAR programs garnered accolades from the
American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, a
nonprofit organization dedicated to research and policy
development to advance energy efficiency. Programs
implemented by Arizona Public Service, Puget Sound Energy,
PacifiCorp Rocky Mountain Power, and Sierra Pacific/Nevada
Power were deemed noteworthy for helping customers achieve
greater energy efficiency in their homes and businesses.
The programs instituted by these utilities have succeeded
due to one primary factor: relationships. Each organization
outsourced the management of energy efficiency programs to
an experienced consulting firm, gaining vital relationships and
a higher level of expertise in the process.
EFFICIENCY continued on 22
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:26:55 AM
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Safety, Integrity, Diversity, Success
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1/31/08 10:26:59 AM
Industry Report
A Year of Uncertainty
Capital expenditures in the electric industry for 2007
by Nancy Spring, managing editor, with Dan Gabaldon, Booz Allen Hamilton
Anytime the U.S. electric system is the topic of discussion, there’s a call to action. Experts warn that the
transmission grid must be strengthened, that we need to build new power plants and that we should do
everything A.S.A.P. We must, they say, invest in the future and embrace new technologies.
It’s been years since the Northeast Blackout of 2003 and passage of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, but
there’s still a sense of urgency and frustration. We started off 2007 with a stern reminder from Edison Electric
Institute President Tom Kuhn that it was time—high time, really—to invest in America’s electric future. “More
power plants and transmission wires must be built to meet this demand,” Kuhn said. “The distribution system
needs to be modernized and expanded. And investments need to be made in technologies that can further
reduce air emissions and increase energy efficiency.”
While acknowledging that investment in the electric industry has increased, the jury’s still out on whether
the dollars are being spent fast enough and in the right places. Now that the numbers are in for 2007, we wanted
to know how the year stacked up. What was unique about 2007? What should we be watching for next?
We turned to Dan Gabaldon, a principal in Booz Allen Hamilton’s energy practice, to find out. Gabaldon
focuses on advising participants, suppliers and investors in the conventional and renewable electricity sectors.
For this report, he zeroed in on generation because “that’s the area that was most interesting in 2007.”
First and foremost, Gabaldon sees 2007 as characterized by uncertainty. “It’s as if the background music
in a Hitchcock movie is getting louder and louder from 2004 to the present,” he said. While the year brought
higher costs throughout the economy, sector specific to the power industry what was remarkable about 2007
was the rise of renewables, the level of plant cancellations and “just sheer cost increases.”
Looking back first
We begin our assessment of 2007 by placing the year in its historical context to examine the level of expenditures,
the mix and what some of the drivers are that, over a longer time horizon, explain the way money is spent.
It’s no news that there have been some big mistakes in electricity sector predictions made in the past, but
whether we use our understanding of those miscalculations to avoid the same kinds of mistakes in the future
EXPENDITURES continued on 16
0801ELP_14 14
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:05 AM
Delivering true AMI technology
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Some companies will sell you a
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meters, the security and inter-
lessly integrates with existing
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operability to share data easily
networks and IT systems using
(AMI). But collecting 15-minute
across your enterprise, and two-
standards such as ANSI C12.22,
interval data from a million
way control to every meter.
advanced meters
Web Services, XML, TCP/IP
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Data Management, which
leading hardware and software
0801ELP_15 15
the industry leader.
To learn more about how OpenWay by Itron
can support your AMI business case,
contact your Itron representative.
www.itron.com
1/31/08 10:27:17 AM
Industry Report
EXPENDITURES continued from 14
is the still-unwritten story.
“People have made mistakes in terms of electricity demand
predictions and price predictions, largely by underestimating the
medium-term impact of markets,” said Gabaldon. “The biggest
mistakes, which led in the generation sector to big overbuilds, were
made when people extrapolated from what happened in the late ’60s
and early ’70s—and even, frankly, since World War II—in terms of
demand growth.”
What happened instead was a very strong reaction to the first
oil crisis, which delinked electricity and energy demand from gross
domestic product.
“Historically, there had been a linear relationship between GDP
and energy demand, but when you look at the data after 1973 or 1974,
they get delinked, very dramatically. Momentum was maintained in
terms of optimism—fast forward to mortgage markets today—and
people thought that the good times would continue. As a result there
was a significant overbuild.”
Similarly, Gabaldon said there was an underestimation during the
’80s when gas prices fell and there was a real demand elasticity effect.
“People underestimated demand growth because of the price impact.”
One of the themes he saw in 2007 that he believes we’ll see more
of in the future is the rippling effect of underlying prices. “People
get caught up in the challenges of engineering and of the regulatory
process in terms of getting things built and forget about the economic
fundamentals after they’ve made their decision to go forward. That
can come back to get you.”
Technological wild cards will throw off predictions, too. That
happened in the ’60s, when demand growth caused by air conditioning
was underestimated. “There was real uptick in demand growth that
wasn’t foreseen,” said Gabaldon. “So the question is, will something
happen in terms of technology going forward that could change our
existing relationships between supply and demand and adversely
impact the supply side?”
Volatility and predictability
With the delinking between GDP growth and energy growth, per capita
growth now drives demand, which in turn requires supply growth.
“That’s been true for the last few years, including 2007, in terms of
the overall capital expenditures,” said Gabaldon. “But if you look at
those levels they’re actually fairly steady in aggregate for the most part.
Distribution’s been quite steady year on year with volatility at about
8 percent over the last 10 years, but generation and transmission are
very volatile.”
Standard deviation year to year in that same time frame in terms of
“the spend” for transmission is 26 percent and for generation, 35 percent.
“That’s not too surprising,” said Gabaldon, “because the
lumpiness of those kinds of investments is much greater than you see
in distribution. They also tend to be funded differently.” He pointed out
that the public power sector spends more of its money on distribution
than do the investor-owned utilities and that public power funding
tends to be steadier.
For transmission, volatility and predictability are driven by
different factors.
“There’s been a great deal of focus on RTOs and states mandating
or allowing transmission projects to go through,” said Gabaldon. “Of
the three different sectors, we have seen transmission grow much faster
than distribution or generation across most regions of the country over
the last several years and that trend continued in 2007.”
This, he explained, is a result of EPAct 2005 and more broadly,
FERC policy, plus the fact that RTOs are running more smoothly now,
Electricity Intensity
Energy Consumption Per GDP
Energy Consumption Per Capita
20
400
19
18
350
Energy
17
16
300
15
Electricity
13
K BTU per capita
K BTU per $
14
12
11
10
9
Energy
8
7
250
200
150
100
6
5
50
4
3
Electricity
2
1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004
0
1949 1954 1959 1964 1969 1974 1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004
Source: Energy Information Administration, Census USA data; Booz Allen Hamilton Analysis
0801ELP_16 16
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:19 AM
METERING AMERICA
AMI TAKES OFF
IN THE US
LOOKING AHEAD TO
METERING AMERICA 2008
ne of the key trends in 2007 was the adoption of
Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) in the United
States.
According to the FERC’s latest review of demand response
and advanced metering utilities announced new deployments of
more than 40 million advanced meters between 2007 and 2010.
“Utilities are signing contracts, filing AMI plans with regulators,
operating AMI pilot programmes, issuing RFPs for AMI
infrastructure or consulting assistance, and announcing plans to
implement AMI,” wrote the authors of the report.
Currently smart meters are installed in about 6 percent
of homes and businesses in the USA, but if all of the new
projected deployments occur then the market penetration could
be over 20 percent by the end of 2010. Moreover, according to
industry analysts, 40 percent of all customers in the USA are
likely to have some kind of advanced metering, by the end of
2012, with about a third of these customers opting for flexible
pricing options such as time-of-use tariffs.
This trend was very apparent at the Metering, Billing/CIS
America 2007 conference and exhibition in San Antonio, Texas,
with smart metering and the issues and challenges around
deployment dominating discussions.
In the keynote address Al Lujan, executive vice president
for Energy Delivery and Solutions at CPS Energy, explained
that AMI was being driven by a combination of regulatory
impacts, new technology impacts, customer impacts and valueadded services. And, Lujan predicted, in turn it will force many
changes: “AMI creates terabytes of information that the utility
can use, and customers are clamouring for information that they
can use.”
Delegates heard that the size of the utility is no barrier to
smart metering. While it is
the big utilities in California
such as Pacific Gas &
Electric (PGE), San Diego
Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and
Southern California Edison
(SCE) that are making the
biggest headlines, with
endpoints running into the
millions, the potential for AMI
is just as viable in the many
smaller municipal utilities or
Debra Reed, President & CEO, San
cooperatives, with endpoints
Diego Gas & Electric & Southern
in the tens of thousands or
California Gas Company, will give the
even thousands. It all comes
keynote address at Metering, Billing/
down to the business case
CIS America 2008
O
0801ELP_17 17
that can be made – and that will be unique for each utility.
The second key trend that has emerged in the past year
has been the increasing focus on areas beyond the smart
meter, such as smart grids and home area networks (HAN),
with new vendors and service offerings appearing and much
attention being given to HAN connectivity in particular.
“AMI is the key, allowing communication through the electric
or gas meter into the home”, said Terry Mohn, technology
strategist at San Diego Gas & Electric Company and panel
moderator, who led Metering America 2007’s closing panel
discussion on this theme. “It will allow communication with
devices such as thermostats inside the home, opening the way
for the provision of demand response and other new services to
customers.”
A year on, the industry will be able to review these and
other trends that will come under the spotlight at Metering,
Billing/CIS America 2008. The event is expected to attract
some 800 industry participants, including 100 high-level
speakers, and 50 exhibitors from a cross-section of North
American and international electricity, water and gas utilities.
E
“F
b xte
o
be rtnig ird d nde
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HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:
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www.meteringamerica.com
1/31/08 10:27:21 AM
Industry Report
particularly in PJM.
“There’s a broad coalition of folks in the policy set and
regulatory set who recognize the value of transmission.”
Gabaldon also described the interesting confluence with a
longer-term trend that drives transmission—the 10-year bond.
“There’s a relatively tight correlation between bond yields and
transmission that explains about 20 percent or 30 percent of the
variance. That’s been accentuated by companies like Macquarie
Co. that have made infrastructure investments more fashionable.”
A lot of private equity and institutional money is looking for
investments that are rateable and long-lived and uncorrelated with
other capital market trends. Transmission projects are perfect “and
with the extra incentive rate of return from FERC and the relative
simplicity in terms of regulatory authorities compared to other
electricity related infrastructure investments, it’s kind of an easy
place for them to put their money.”
of low gas prices and high environmental prices to comply with
CO2, NOx and SOx regulations, and the fashion for low capital
intensity in terms of the capital stock.
What it all boiled down to was a significant overbuild and
more volatility.
“People think that generation is where all the action is in
terms of capital,” said Gabaldon, “but you can see that that’s not
true when you look at the actual dollars.” Investment in generation
actually is relatively steady in terms of the mix and in terms of its
overall impact.
“Although there was a lot of ‘sound and fury’ in terms of the overall
mix of capital expenditures, generation still wasn’t that big a deal even
during that up-tick. Lots of megawatts went in, but they were cheap
megawatts—one of the reasons they went in at all,” said Gabaldon. “I
don’t think we can foresee any near-term watersheds like that, but there
are two potential candidates—renewables and nuclear.”
The brink of a fourth epoch?
Generation’s different
Gabaldon said that historically, there’s actually a very steady
relationship in terms of the mix between generation, transmission
and distribution over time and that there have only been a couple of
disturbances to that. One big disturbance occurred in the ’70s and
’80s when there was a real run-up in generation. Gabaldon thinks that
was related to changes in prices and oil going out of the generation
mix, with substitutes coming in, plus the interest in nuclear.
Gabaldon pointed out another building bubble, when “the
merchant sector and all the gas came in” at the end of the ’90s,
continuing into the early ’00s. Several factors caused that bubble,
among them advances in combined cycle technology, an expectation
The history of electrification in the U.S. can be broken into three
epochs: the hydro epoch, which ran from the beginning to the ’50s,
the coal epoch that ended with take-off of new gas capacity in the
late 1980s, and the third epoch, natural gas, which started with gas
deregulation and has now trailed off. Gabaldon thinks we could be on
the brink of the fourth epoch, a return to renewables or perhaps the
arrival of nuclear. For him, that was one of the interesting trends of
2007: renewables coming on big.
“To a large degree, it was a wind story, which has replaced
what’s traditionally been our biggest renewable source, biomass,”
said Gabaldon. “I think it was driven by several factors: the
maturation of renewables markets and renewables administrative
U.S. CapEx
70,000,000
60,000,000
Distribution CAGR: 8.62%
Transmission CAGR: 11.7%
Generation CAGR 2.05%
50,000,000
$ 000’s
40,000,000
30,000,000
20,000,000
10,000,000
0
1988
1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
Source: Booz Allen Hamilton Analysis
0801ELP_18 18
Distribution
1997 1998
Transmission
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006 2007
Generation
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:22 AM
Industry Report
T&D CapEx vs 10-Year Bond
Correlation of T&D Cap Ex
and 10-year Bond Yield = 82%
50,000
45,000
16.00%
14.00%
40,000
12.00%
10.00%
30,000
25,000
8.00%
20,000
6.00%
10-year Bond Yield
T&D Cap Ex ($MM)
35,000
15,000
4.00%
10,000
T&D CapEx
10-Year Bond
5,000
2.00%
0
0.00%
1976
1978
1980
1982
1984
1986
1988
1990
1992
1994
1996
1998
2000
2002
2004
2006
procedures in various states; the maturation of project finance in
the renewables development community, which is getting a bit
consolidated so they’re able to move more quickly than they used to.
Before, they were more of a cottage industry.
“It was driven in part by the expectation of falling renewables prices
relative to conventional prices, as gas stayed high and as CO2 loomed
on the horizon. But, as we all know, the reality was that renewables
components experienced very, very significant price inflation, most
notably in wind, both for some component parts and building sites.”
For solar, the issue has been the scarcity of polysilicon capacity,
leading to significant price escalation and severe shortages. To find
supplies, there’s been quite a flurry of acquisition and alliance activities,
some players trying to lock in their current, very advantageous positions
and others just trying to find some solar panels.
“We’ve also seen thin film taking on polysilicon much faster than
most people thought was possible,” said Gabaldon.
The uncertainty is fundamentally about CO2 prices and gas
prices, and importantly,what the real price of nuclear and clean coal
will be. Renewables benefitted because from a PR standpoint or a
funding standpoint, it was a “no-brainer” to turn to them.
“However, from a social standpoint,” said Gabaldon, “Some folks
say we could look back and think this is a return of PURPA, we’re
sending crazy price signals for a laudable public policy objective, but
we’re meeting that objective in the most expensive way conceivable.”
Coal was also affected by all the uncertainty and higher costs in
2007, but instead of growing like the renewables sector, its story is
In 2007, the once hotly debated market design issue was no
longer at the forefront of concern; rather, the questions centered
around the prospect of re-regulation.
What about nuclear?
While there was a lot of talk about nuclear, shifting alliances and
recertification and relicensing activity, there was only limited
deployment of money. Even in its heyday, nuclear wasn’t predominant
enough to claim its own epoch. “But maybe that’s just around the
corner,” said Gabaldon.
The cost of uncertainty
What’s for sure is that 2007 was characterized by uncertainty and
higher costs and that “one of the manifestions of that was renewables,”
said Gabaldon. “They were affected by higher costs and you could
argue that choosing renewables was a relatively safe response to all
the uncertainty.”
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_19 19
one of contraction. While coal plants weren’t the only generation type
to be cancelled in 2007, they certainly took the biggest hit.
“The public was more vociferous in the case of coal than nuclear,”
said Gabaldon, “which is sort of interesting and reflects where many
of the more economically minded environmentalists have been for
several years.”
Some natural gas projects also fell victim to uncertainty and higher
costs and were cancelled or deferred. There, the uncertainty was partially
around market mechanisms and high capacity market functions, but
more about the relative prices of coal, CO2 and gas going forward.
ELECTRICLIGHT&POWER | 19
1/31/08 10:27:23 AM
Industry Report
Recent U.S. Generation Capacity Announcements
Online Capacity
35000
Gas
Coal
Nuclear
Cancelled Capacity
35000
Alternatives
25000
25000
20000
20000
Coal
Nuclear
Alternatives
MW
30000
MW
30000
Gas
15000
15000
10000
10000
5000
5000
0
0
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2003
2004
Year
2005
2006
2007
Year
Note: 2007 is only inclusive through the third quarter. Source: Edison Electric Insitute; Booz Allen Hamilton Analysis
When generation really had to come in, “there was old reliable
gas and renewables,” said Gabaldon. “What we’re seeing is the cost
of uncertainty. If you’re trying to find the highest average cost sources
of electricity, you couldn’t do much better than looking at peakers and
renewable projects given current economics.”
Price increases
Given the way these markets work, Gabaldon explained that generally
when there are price increases in terms of the underlying costs, the
profitability goes up—and that’s how it worked in 2007.
Last year, there were real commodity price increases, especially
in steel, and lots of supply constraints around highly specialized
manufactured products, especially for renewables. There were
also major constraints in availability of specialized engineering
procurement and construction firm skills, for clean and classic coal
and renewable projects.
“But I think there was also profit taking,” said Gabaldon. “The
reality is that all of these markets tend to be relatively supply inelastic
in the very short term.”
Idiosyncrasies of the year
In 2007, a gold rush mentality swept through the renewables sector.
Wind farm sites were scooped up and building supplies for wind and
solar became scarce.
Some real innovation in technologies like clean coal also
characterized the year, but once again, it was all about rising prices.
The price tag for quite a few integrated gasification combined cycle
(IGCC) projects, for instance, caused sticker shock.
“What’s interesting is how you can get things wrong when you underestimate the medium- and long-term impact of prices,” said Gabaldon.
U.S. Generation Capacity Additions
80,000
100%
70,000
80%
60,000
50,000
60%
40,000
40%
30,000
20,000
20%
10,000
0%
0
1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007
Other
Petro
Natural Gas
Coal
Renew
Nuclear
Hydro
1955 1959 1963 1967 1971 1975 1979 1983 1987 1991 1995 1999 2003 2007
Other
Petro
Natural Gas
Coal
Renew
Nuclear
Hydro
0801ELP_20
0801ELP
01ELP_20
20 20
2
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08
1/3
/31/08
1/0
/08 10:27:25 AM
© 2008 Dickstein Shapiro LLP. All Rights Reserved.
What’s
missing
from your natural gas power generation project?
When Competitive Power Ventures Inc. (CPV), a leading power generation development and asset
management company, launched a new natural gas power generation program, it turned to Dickstein
Shapiro’s experienced energy and corporate counsel to negotiate, structure, and document a $200 million
commitment from Warburg Pincus, a global private equity firm. CPV continues to rely on Dickstein
Shapiro’s strategic counsel to manage the many demands of project development and asset management,
and to further enhance its position as a cutting-edge competitor in North American energy markets.
WASHINGTON, DC | NEW YORK | LOS ANGELES
Prior results do not guarantee a similar outcome.
0801ELP_21 21
1/31/08 10:27:26 AM
Industry Report
In electricity markets, the equilibrium gross margin is set by the
price at which new entry occurs. As these technology and commodity
factors and constraints have their impacts—significant price increases—
we see the “knock-on-effect.” The price at which electricity has to rise
in order to bring in new entry will go up, so an equilibrium reserve
margin should tighten and the value of existing assets should go up as
well. Gabaldon said we’ve begun to see that across the board. At the
same time, the cost of new equipment has gone up and that could mean
medium-term ramifications for electricity markets.
What reserve margin do we need before new entrants are
attracted to the market? “That could make some predictions wrong
about how the supply response is going to change; it could be lagged,”
said Gabaldon. “That means existing assets could enjoy some rents
that aren’t fully baked in right now.”
Pain points are shifting
In 2007, the once hotly debated market design issue was no longer
at the forefront of concern; rather, the questions centered around the
prospect of re-regulation.
“The drama around capacity markets and whether we trust
capacity markets to build new capacity kind of went away,” said
Gabaldon. “In the Northeast, the debates were concluded with a belief
that peaking capacity was close to what it needed to be. Capacity
markets were not designed to attract base load, so people gave up on
trying to build large baseload projects based on merchant markets,
Texas being the exception.”
The pain points are shifting. The possibility of re-regulation is
lurking in the backs of many minds.
Things to watch in 2008
“People are behaving rationally in the face of uncertainty and
they’re waiting to see how it’s resolved,” said Gabaldon. While we
wait, here’s a list of five things Gabaldon suggests we watch for in
the near term:
1. Will we see a lot of asset turnover? Some of the financial
players have been sitting on the assets they bought during the
crisis for several years now and they may want to monetize.
Will we see a big turnover as the strategics buy in?
2. What more are we going to learn about the real costs and
feasibility of nuclear and clean coal (including gasification)?
Will we continue to be negatively surprised or will we turn the
corner?
3. Will some of the supply bottlenecks for renewables break?
Will there be a return to price decreases or a glut, especially
in photovoltaics? “It’s not a CalTech problem, it’s a VoTech
problem,” said Gabaldon. “You don’t need gee-whiz basic
research breakthroughs, you need to get the manufacturing
right. Blocking and tackling breakthroughs could lead to a
real discontinuity in terms of the costs and that would surprise
people.”
4. Will we see enough tightening of reserve margins that we
begin to have real reliability problems? And will that cause
further momentum toward re-regulation?
5. What will a very low dollar mean in terms of foreign incursions?
Will the foreigners finally come?
News/Analysis
EFFICIENCY continued from 12
Program folds various components into its energy efficiency strategy.
The initiative partnered with retailers to carry and promote discounted
ENERGY STAR qualified lighting. A rebate element encouraged
customers to purchase energy efficient appliances, such as refrigerators
and clothes washers.
PacifiCorp’s Rocky Mountain Power (RMP) took a different
approach, focusing not on what consumers bring into their homes,
but on what types of homes they move into. Rocky Mountain Power’s
ENERGY STAR New Homes Program promotes construction of
energy-efficient homes based on the Home Energy Rating System
(HERS). The measures modeled by HERS qualified software include
building envelope upgrades, high performance windows, controlled
air infiltration, high efficiency heating and cooling systems, tight
duct systems and more efficient water heating equipment.
RMP forged relationships with builder and trade allies,
providing training and education to create a presence in the market.
While recruiting participants from the home construction industry
was crucial to the program’s success, so was a consumer education
campaign executed to generate demand for these environmentallysound homes. The program has worked: At the start of the ENERGY
0801ELP_22 22
STAR New Homes Program in 2005, Utah had a handful of
ENERGY STAR builders; in 2007, more than 100 builders were
actively constructing ENERGY STAR homes and 3,063 homes were
ENERGY STAR certified.
Meaningful, measurable results
In order to justify the expenses of energy savings programs, it is
critical to show measurable results. For the programs highlighted here,
aggregated savings are estimated at more than two million megawatt
hours. While those in the industry have some grasp of the enormity of
this number, the average consumer may not.
It is important to provide consumers with a clear idea of what one
kilowatt hour can represent. In this case, imagine taking 472,286 cars
off the road for one year. Keep in mind that this represents only four
ENERGY STAR programs, and that consumers are also benefiting
from lower monthly bills.
It has become abundantly clear in recent years that the climate
change crisis is not a problem that can be fixed easily by one entity or
another; rather, a concerted and committed effort is required among
an array of organizations and individuals that each have the power to
tread a little more softly on the planet.
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:28 AM
0801ELP_23 23
1/31/08 10:27:29 AM
u
Finance
Focus on the CFO
Years of experience are a plus in this capital intensive industry
Utility companies in the U.S. are anticipating huge capital
improvement programs. Billions of dollars are earmarked for
the country’s electric infrastructure. Companies that provide
the raw materials for power plants and transmission lines are
also gearing up. All this activity takes money and that puts the
chief financial officer in the spotlight. What’s topmost in the
CFO’s mind?
For David Hauser, group executive and chief financial
officer at Duke Energy, the main issues for his company in
2008 will be financing the capital expenditures the company
is planning. Duke Energy is one of the largest electric power
companies in the U.S., supplying and delivering energy to 4
million U.S. customers.
“My priorities in 2008 will be first, to make certain that
Duke Energy is making the right decisions on how to deploy
capital, and second, to secure the right mix of capital resources
necessary to finance the substantial capex program underway
at Duke Energy,” said Hauser. “Over the next five years, we
expect to invest around $23 billion. Most of that will be in our
regulated electric utility businesses as we make investments
necessary to meet growing customer demand on our system
and improve the environmental performance of our existing
power plants. Fortunately, Duke Energy’s strong balance sheet
will provide us with significant flexibility in raising the capital
necessary to achieve our capital investment plans.”
Stability at utilities
The average length of tenure for the CFO post across all
sectors of the economy is three to five years, according to
CFO magazine. At utilities, however, things are more stable.
Duke’s Hauser, for instance, joined Duke Power in 1973.
For the first 20 years of his career he held various accounting
positions, including controller, vice president, procurement
services and materials, senior vice president of global asset
development, and senior vice president and treasurer. He was
named acting chief financial officer in November 2003 and
group vice president and chief financial officer in February
2004. In April 2006, he was named to his current position.
“It’s always been a more staid industry,” said Richard
Jacovitz, senior vice president of Liberum Research, the largest
database of C-level executive changes at public companies.
“We’ve never seen a high level of management change over time
in utilities. It’s a much more stable, structured industry, it’s much
bigger and it runs along differently than an industry like oil and
gas, which is somewhat dependent on discovery and a variety
of other factors that play into how the company is performing.”
0801ELP_24 24
By Nancy Spring, managing editor
Table 1: C-level Changes 2007: CEO, CFO, VP, board of directors, etc.
Sector
Aero Defense
Auto
Banking
Brokers/Investment Management
Business Services
Chemicals
Computers
Conglomerates
Construction
Consumer Durables
Consumer Products
Drugs/Biotech
Energy
Food/Drink
Health Services
Insurance
Internet
Leisure
Manufacturing
Media
Metals/Mining
Other
Real Estate
Retail
Semiconductors
Software
Telecommunications
Tobacco
Transportation
Utilities
TOTALS
Percentages
Source: Liberum Research
Totals
316
355
2376
734
1367
353
595
208
270
83
788
2520
1721
816
740
1302
365
547
1382
722
1225
3945
446
733
465
787
1200
45
568
383
27357
100%
(See Table 1 for 2007 C-Level changes for all industries.)
Liberum’s change statistics for CFOs separately totaled
2,263 in 2007. The top industry sectors for CFO changes
were Drugs/Biotech—203, Energy (which includes oil & gas
companies)—151, and Metals/Mining (which includes coal
mining firms)—129. Utilities came in at a mere 21, (see Table
2). The year before, utilities registered only 23 CFO position
changes. It is indeed a stable industry.
Looking at the CFO position at eight utility holding
companies in the U.S., admittedly a very small and statistically
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:38 AM
Financee
Table 2: CFO Changes 2007
Sector
Internal
Energy
24
Metals/Mining
15
Utilities
4
TOTALS
43
Percentages
14%
Source: Liberum Research
CFO changes. National Coal Corp. (Nasdaq:
NCOC), a producer of high-quality steam
Terminated
Totals coal in Central and Southern Appalachia,
1
151 is one of the Metal and Mining companies
0
129 where there was a CFO change: Michael
0
21 Castle was appointed senior vice president
1
301 and CFO in December 2007. In an exclusive
0%
100% interview with EL&P, Castle talked about his
top three goals for 2008.
“We’re a coal mining company
A new CFO at National Coal Corp.
At the other end of the management change that supplies utilities; 100 percent of our
spectrum from the quiet world of Utilities production goes to the electric steam market
is Metals and Mining. In 2007, Liberum in the U.S. We have production in Kentucky,
FOCUS continued on 30
found that sector to be in the No. 3 spot for
Management Change Description
Joining Leaving Promotion Resigned/Retired
67
1
22
36
62
2
19
31
7
0
5
5
136
3
46
72
45%
1%
15%
24%
invalid sampling, certain patterns emerge. For
one thing, 2004 seemed to be a big year for
CFO change; for another, the CFOs of today
often put in many years at the company, like
Duke’s Hauser. (See Table 3.)
Exclusive C Three Equity Index
2007 Ends on High Note
The less regulated, the better
For all but the regulated electric and gas combination utilities, 2007 ended on a positive note. The less regulated the better in 2007, with the
least regulated electric beating all the others.
While 2007 had its bumpy moments, for the most part it ended on a positive note for 61 of our 96 component companies. Thirty-five
companies ended 2007 below where they started in 2007. Forty-one of our component companies, or less than half, outperformed the Dow
Jones Industrial Average for 2007, whereas 63 companies, or more than two-thirds, outperformed the Dow for the past five years. Less regulated
companies, gas or electric focus, continued to outperform their more regulated brethren.
The groupings of the indices have been changed to more accurately reflect how the energy industry is evolving. Many companies have
gone almost completely “back to basics” while others have continued to pursue less regulated strategies. We cut and diced this data in as many
permutations possible for client-specific projects. We took a quantitative approach to decide which company would go into which group, based on
third quarter 2007 year-to-date financial reports.
Less regulated electric focus: More than 50 percent of revenues come from sources that are not state regulated and/or more than 33 percent
of assets are not state regulated.
Less regulated gas focus: More than 50 percent of revenues come from natural gas distribution and/or more than 33 percent of assets are not
state regulated.
The C Three Group 12 Month Equity Indices
Regulated electric: No more than 20 percent of
Year-to-Date Value of $100: 1/1/2007 through 12/31/2007
revenues can come from natural gas distribution $130.00
and no more than 49 percent of revenues and 33
percent of assets can be associated with non$120
regulated activities.
LDC: No more than 20 percent of revenues can
come from electric distribution or generation
$110
and no more than 50 percent of revenues and
33 percent of assets can be associated with nonregulated activities.
$100
Regulated electric and gas combination:
More than 20 percent of revenues derived from
natural gas distribution, no more than 50 percent
$90
12/29/06 1/31/07 2/28/07 3/30/07 4/30/07 5/31/07 6/30/07 7/31/07 8/31/07 9/29/07 10/31/07 11/30/07 12/31/07
of revenues and 33 percent of assets from nonThe C Three Group Composite
LDC
Regulated Electric
regulated activities.
Less Regulated Gas Focus
Dow Jones Ind
Regulated Electric Gas Combination
The C Three Index: The non-weighted
Less Regulated Electric Focus
average of each of the companies included in the
For more, visit www.cthree.net.
groupings above.
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_25 25
1/31/08 10:27:40 AM
o
Finance
Texas-sized Data
Leading-edge technology helps the LCRA manage a wide range of resources and assets.
One public utility agency is using small display screens to cut
its coverage area down to a manageable size. Spanning the
heart of Texas, the Lower Colorado River Authority’s coverage
area stretches 29,809 square miles—an area larger than Rhode
Island, New Jersey, Hawaii or several other states.
Created by Texas state legislators in 1934, the LCRA
conservation and reclamation district employs 2,350 people
who work to provide a myriad of utility-related services
in 53 central Texas counties. The LCRA relies on mobile
technology to complete its broad-based responsibilities,
including bringing electricity to more than one million
residents, managing the lower portion of the Colorado River
in Texas and operating six dams.
The software supports a variety of functions such as
work order management, equipment monitoring and inventory
management. With handheld computers and their software,
workers can send and receive data from wherever they are
located. Being able to send and receive critical information to
A u t h o r workers at job sites enables the LCRA’s mobile staff and its
Clayton Cook has managers to manage scores of complex operations throughout
been with the Lower the agency’s vast region.
Colorado River Authority
for 27 years. He has
been the computerized
maintenance
management system
(CMMS) manager for
more than 10 years.
Cook serves as the
system owner and
functional manager of
the enterprise asset
management system
(EAM) at the LCRA.
Cook also leads the
LCRA EAM subject
matter expert team.
Contact him at clay.
[email protected].
The information bottleneck
Despite being the key agency behind a number of public
works-related projects in Texas, the LCRA is a non-profit
entity that receives no tax dollars. Unique in structure and
mission, the LCRA sells wholesale electricity
to more than 40 retail utilities, including cities
and electric cooperatives. The agency operates
3,300 miles of transmission lines
and manages the water supply for The LCRA uses mobile
technology to manage
cities, farmers and industries along
its many assets. Photo,
a 600-mile stretch of its namesake courtesy LCRA.
river between the city of San Saba
and the Gulf Coast. The LCRA also owns
16,000 acres of recreational land, comprising
more than 40 parks, natural science centers
and nature preserves.
Before they had mobile technology,
LCRA field technicians were unable to
efficiently transmit hard, actionable data
easily. Forms were completed in the field and
returned to the central office for data entry by
support staff, then managers had to wait for
information to be processed. The information
that managers and field technicians needed
on field meter readings, substation equipment
0801ELP_26 26
by Clayton Cook
conditions and maintenance work orders was locked on paper
forms that had to be moved by hand from central dispatch. It
was an information bottleneck.
Realizing this information bottleneck existed, in 2002
the LCRA’s transmission and substation group joined
with its generation group to mull over the options, which
included reviewing the products of a number of mobile
technology vendors.
With wide-ranging resources including hydroelectric
dams, a coal-fired power plant, gas-fired power plants, and
even electrical power transmission services scattered across a
large expanse, the LCRA shed its reliance on paper documents
as demands for its services grew and information had to be
processed at a much faster rate.
The benefits of modern-day effectiveness
Now, with mobile technology, field technicians can complete
more preventative maintenance on the agency’s far-flung
assets. Mobile technology also allows an organization to
end its reliance on paper-based systems for a host of other
functions. For instance, the information the LCRA receives
from its enterprise asset management (EAM) system can be
sent immediately to field workers and is no longer trapped
on static paper forms. The LCRA now has the ability to
electronically send and receive information on work orders
for repairing or replacing equipment, inventory management
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:43 AM
Financee
details and measurements for equipment monitoring.
The software the LCRA uses to stay current on its
operations and supplies comes from Syclo, a Hoffman Estates,
Ill.-based mobile software provider that also developed a
mobile platform that supports the mobile tools the agency
uses and extends the functionality of its EAM system to its
field workers. To complete its connection with leading edge
technology, the LCRA tapped the MC9000 Series mobile
computers from Motorola-subsidiary Symbol. The MC9000
is designed to operate in the kinds of harsh environments
where many of the LCRA’s facilities and assets are located.
Other benefits?
With the paperwork completion requirement eliminated
by mobile technology, LCRA field technicians had more
time to devote to following-up on work order requests and
equipment monitoring.
Since deploying mobile technology, the LCRA has
experienced an increase in the work completed per shift for
its field workforce.
The amount of preventative maintenance versus reactive
maintenance completed has dramatically increased. Assets
can be repaired or replaced before they start seriously
malfunctioning, threatening customer service.
Mobile technology has also facilitated better monitoring
of the LCRA’s assets. For example, with the new technology,
the agency can effectively inventory and maintain data on 314
nuclear measurement devices at its coal-fired power plant.
This monitoring includes validation of the devices’ physical
location, collecting information on equipment condition and
leak test results monitoring.
With the increased efficiency mobile technology enables,
the LCRA continuously meets its service level agreements
in all areas. And since the data is collected, transmitted and
stored electronically, a verifiable electronic record is compiled
for state and federal compliance reporting. Plus, those reports
are now generated in minutes.
The LCRA also saves on its labor expenses. In the old
paper days, tracking all the activities, readings and repairs
manually was labor-intensive, costly and time-consuming.
Today, those functions are automated. Since mobile technology
was implemented by the LCRA, the agency has experienced a
20 percent increase in the quality of work completed.
Soon, the LCRA will add automated scheduling
software to its list of mobile technology tools so it
can more effectively schedule workers to be at sites
for repairs, monitoring and other operations. To locate
workers such as inspectors, the LCRA will acquire global
positioning system (GPS) technology. All of the technology the LCRA employs helps it effectively serve
its customers while protecting the environment and
constructively using the area’s resources.
(Visit www.elp.com for more articles about mobile
technology.)
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_27 27
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February 25 - 27, 2008
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1/31/08 10:27:49 AM
a
Finance
Federal Loan Guarantees
Will they give the U.S. climate response a needed boost in 2008?
—Part One—
Authors
Mary Anne Sullivan,
partner in Hogan &
Hartson’s energy
practice, has more than
25 years of experience
as an energy lawyer.
She previously served
as general counsel of
the U.S. Department of
Energy and as deputy
general counsel for environment and nuclear
programs. Currently,
her practice focuses on
electricity and advanced
energy technologies
and she has assisted
several clients with loan
guarantee applications
and comments. One
client was recently
accepted to proceed to
the next stage based
on its loan guarantee
application. Contact
Sullivan at masullivan@
hhlaw.com. Sam Walsh
is an associate at
Hogan & Hartson.
Almost three years ago in the Energy Policy Act of 2005,
Congress gave the U.S. Department of Energy authority to
provide loan guarantees for innovative energy technologies.
This authority was seen by its supporters and Congress as a
tool to jump-start commercialization of climate-friendly energy
technologies that have been demonstrated at the pilot scale or
in other countries, but not yet commercialized in the U.S.
The loan guarantee program was stalled by intramural
battles within Congress and between DOE and Congress, the need
to conduct a rulemaking to guide the exercise of this authority,
and general caution by DOE. (DOE’s past experience with loan
guarantees has not been good. The caution is understandable.)
However, as we enter 2008, it appears that the program
is about to begin delivering on the promise of helping to bring
important new greenhouse gas-reducing technologies to the
marketplace. The battles with Congress have abated; the
rulemaking is finished, and the 2008 Omnibus Appropriations
Act gives DOE greatly increased loan guarantee funding.
Particularly for the most costly technologies, most notably
new nuclear power plants, some questions about the structure
and affordability of the program remain. Those questions
will be front and center as the program unfolds in the coming
months, but hopes are high that the program is about to kick
into high gear.
Good news on funding
Even though the loan guarantee program is designed to be selffunding, DOE takes the position that it must have appropriations
authority each year for the total amount of the loan guarantees
it issues. In 2006, Congress gave DOE $2 billion in loan
guarantee authority for the program; in 2007, that amount
doubled to $4 billion, even though the program was stalled by
the lack of implementing regulations; for 2008, DOE sought $9
billion. Recognizing that a significantly larger program will be
required if loan guarantees are to bring transformational energy
technologies to market, Congress has been more generous.
The report accompanying the Omnibus Appropriations Act
for 2008 authorizes $38.5 billion in loan guarantees. Report
language further directs that $18.5 billion of that go to loan
guarantees for new nuclear plants, $10 billion for renewable
energy, $6 billion for carbon capture, $2 billion for advanced
coal gasification, and $2 billion for uranium enrichment. This
should enable DOE to proceed with multiple solicitations, each
focused on a designated class of technology.
Loan structure issues resolved
In its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, DOE suggested that it
0801ELP_28 28
by Mary Anne Sullivan and Sam Walsh
would: (1) limit guarantees to no more than 90 percent of any
debt instrument; (2) prohibit “stripping” the guaranteed portion
of any such instrument from the non-guaranteed portion for
syndication or resale; and (3) require that DOE have the first
lien on all project assets pledged as collateral for the guaranteed
loan. Numerous parties argued that the loan guarantees would
be unusable with those conditions because no market exists
for a hybrid instrument composed of roughly 90 percent
federally guaranteed debt and roughly 10 percent debt that is
non-guaranteed, subordinate and, therefore, much riskier. In
addition, many argued that private lenders would never agree
to be entirely subordinate to DOE in the event of default.
The report accompanying the Omnibus Appropriations Act
for 2008 authorizes $38.5 billion in loan guarantees. DOE should
be able to proceed with multiple solicitations, each focused on a
designated class of technology.
New nuclear plants . . . .
Renewable energy. . . . .
Carbon capture . . . . . .
Advanced coal gasification
Uranium enrichment . . .
.
.
.
.
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.
.
.
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.
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.
.
.
.
.
$18.5 billion
. $10 billion
. . $ 6 billion
. . $ 2 billion
. . $ 2 billion
DOE took those concerns seriously and in the final rule DOE
changed all three conditions.
First, DOE eliminated the firm 90 percent cap,
indicating it would consider guarantees up to 100 percent
of a debt instrument, although it did not commit itself to
guaranteeing 100 percent of every debt instrument covered
by the program. In an unexpected turn of events, DOE said
that where 100 percent of a debt instrument is guaranteed,
the debt must be issued by the Treasury Department’s Federal
Financing Bank, not by commercial lenders. While this
means less of a role for Wall Street, it may reduce the cost of
the debt, a plus for project developers.
Second, in cases where it guarantees 90 percent or less
of a debt instrument, DOE eliminated the prohibition on
stripping the guaranteed portion of the debt from the nonguaranteed portion. Thus, debt can be resold in parts based on
the differing risk profiles attached to the guaranteed and nonguaranteed portion of a loan. When DOE guarantees more
than 90 percent of a debt instrument but less than 100 percent,
the prohibition on stripping remains.
Finally, irrespective of the level of guarantee, DOE
stated that it would no longer insist that the non-federally
guaranteed portion of project debt be subordinate to the
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:52 AM
Financee
Register today!
guaranteed portion. Instead, DOE will retain control over the
disposition of assets, but it will agree to a pari passu structure
with other lenders, giving them a proportional recovery from
collateral in the event of default.
Although DOE may guarantee up to 100 percent of a
given debt instrument, the law limits loan guarantees under
the program to 80 percent of project costs. Therefore, DOE
also considered what, if any, constraints it might impose on
the remaining 20 percent of financing. DOE did not impose
a hard numerical floor on the equity contribution of project
sponsors, but it stressed that it would take the type and
amount of equity contributions into account when deciding
which projects to select. DOE is clearly looking for project
sponsors to be at risk, alongside the government, if a project
is to receive a guarantee.
[Part Two of this article will be published in the March/April
issue.]
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Bob Heile, Chairman, ZigBee Alliance, CA, USA, on
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meter system design
continued from 8
(Several units have calculated capacity factors >100
percent, suggesting that many may not have updated their rated
capacities or use permitted output capacities.) The individual
components for the Calvert Cliffs station by unit contained in
this DOE 906 database are as follows:
Unit #1
Capacity
850 MW
Unit #2
853 MW
2006 Output
Capacity Factor
6,438,340 MWh
86.5%
(no generation for 3/06)
7,392,071
99.0%
Skip Olsen: Thanks, Tom. It seems like everyone uses a different
reference point. Your generation values are not what is reported
to the NRC, but what is used for DOE. This accounts for the
difference in what you state we produced and what I have.
The DOE uses negative generation. If a unit is not producing
power but continues to use power it results in negative generation,
which for DOE and financial reasons is important. The NRC is
concerned with power generation only. This makes sense from
the view of reactor fuel usage and core life. Negative generation
gives the appearance, math-wise, that you are putting fuel back
in the reactor: produce 100 MW output, used 30 MW while
shut down = net generation of 70 MW. However, for NRC, you
produced 100 MW and had 0 generation while shut down, not
-30 MW. It’s all a matter of reference.
CCNPP-1 did have a capacity factor (mdc) of >100% in
2005. We had a great 365 days with one minor outage (in hours
not days).
My only negative feeling about your methodology is that you
combine a site’s generation and average it out. We will probably
never be in your ranking since we have a unit down each year for
refueling, but at least now I know why we aren’t there!
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_29 29
Contact: Julia Former: [email protected]
Phone: +27 21 700 3500 / 888 559 8017 (US)
Fax:
+27 21 700 3501 / 413 487 6276 (US)
Premier media partner:
Presented by:
Supporting associations:
February 20 - 22, 2008
San José, CA, USA
www.metering.com/design
1/31/08 10:27:54 AM
Finance
FOCUS continued from 25
Tennessee and Alabama. We’re a small company, I think the smallest
publicly traded coal mining company in the country, but now we have
a new CEO who’s been here about 15 or 16 months. I’ve been here
since December.
Table 3
Company
American Electric Power (NYSE: AEP)
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK)
Edison International (NYSE: EIX)
Entergy (NYSE: ETR)
FPL Group (NYSE: FPL)
Idaho Corp. (NYSE : IDA)
Pepco Holdings Inc. (NYSE:POM)
Southern Co. (NYSE: SO)
Became CFO
2004
2004
2004
2004
2001
2004
2007
2003
Joined Company
2000
1973
1971
1999
2001
1996
2007
1980
“My number one goal as chief financial officer here is to grow
the company both organically and by doing some acquisitions and/
or mergers in the Central and Southern Appalachia area. We did an
acquisition in Alabama that we closed on in October. I was an outside
consultant on that transaction and was intimately involved in a lot of
the due diligence and in putting that deal together.
“The second goal I have is to provide as much assistance as I can,
utilizing my background in the industry, to help our operating guys cut
costs anyway we can. When this company was started in 2003/2004,
for instance, fuel prices were 78 cents a gallon, now it’s $3-plus. There
have been some drastic increases in costs throughout the industry that
have driven our costs up. Coal prices are up over the last four years but
the cost for mining coal is also up drastically. I’m going to try to bring
as much of my knowledge to help us reduce our costs and understand
where some areas are that we might be able to benefit from.
“Thirdly, my goal is to help our company understand that we
are in a mining business. We need to focus on what we do best—
coal mining in the eastern part of this country—and hopefully
attract some additional operating and financial expertise. We have
been a very financial-oriented company in the past. We’ve had a lot
of financial expertise from the board and management on down and
we have focused on what our comfort zones have been in the past
versus some of the operating issues. We’ve probably focused on
some other areas and not necessarily on the day-to-day activities of
a mining company.”
Before joining National, Castle ran his own professional practice,
initially doing tax and accounting work for small coal companies. As
the Central Appalachia coal industry started picking up, he helped
coal operators to grow or sell their companies, acting as controller or
CFO for several smaller companies as an outsider not an employee.
Prior to that, he served as CFO at Quaker Coal Company and at one
of the largest thoroughbred stallion complexes in the U.S, Spendthrift
Farm. “It was really fun. I looked out my window and there was
Sham, who finished second to Secretariat in two of the Triple Crown
races. His paddock was right next to my office.”
After working in such diverse industries, we asked him where
he’d like to go next. “Hopefully this will last for quite some time at
National but my next step will be the beach or a golf course.”
0801ELP_30 30
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Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:27:57 AM
0801ELP_31 31
1/31/08 10:28:01 AM
n
Risk Management
Nuclear Revival, the Sequel
This time could be different, but don’t forget we’ve been here before.
Author
Stephen Maloney is a
consultant with Towers
Perrin. Maloney has
more than 30 years of
experience in energy asset
valuation, trading risk
management, and nuclear
reactor economics, risk
assessment and safety
in North America and
Europe. He has advised
executive committees
and due diligence teams
concerning investment,
mergers, acquisitions, and
divestitures in the
energy, chemical,
financial services, and
telecommunications
industries.
Nuclear energy is enjoying a revival in the U.S., driven by
the exceptional performance records of the current fleet, high
margins available to nuclear baseload plants and evolving
regulatory preferences for power sources with low greenhouse
gas emissions.
Some nuclear plant operators have certainly demonstrated
they can profitably meet rising energy needs. In September
2001, the Nuclear Energy Institute reported an industry
average net capacity factor of 93.7 percent. Current operating
costs are under 2 cents per kWh. A typical nuclear operator
sells forward to investment-grade counterparties some 90
percent of its capacity at more than $50/MWh. Anyway
you do the math, that’s a money machine. There aren’t too
many other generating options looking as good as that. Not
surprisingly, everybody wants to get into the pool.
It looks like there’s plenty of room in that pool, too. The
U.S. Energy Information Administration projects a 40 percent
growth in electricity demand over the next 20 years or so.
Unfortunately, a successful operating experience is not
a predictor for a successful nuclear construction program. In
U.S. experience, constructing and licensing nuclear power
plants has been marked by overruns, delays and volatile
goverment energy and regulatory policies.
This time, most people are saying it will be different.
This time, U.S. officials point out, an applicant doesn’t
have to pursue a construction permit and then an operating
license. In the old system, intervenors would get “two bites”
in their efforts to use the regulatory process to make a plant
too expensive to complete. Today, it’s one-stop shopping with
a combined construction and operating license (COL) before
construction gets a green light.
This time, early applicants also get “no fault” insurance
if license reviews by Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC)
staff trigger construction delays. And, rather than relying on
subjective quality assurance criteria and evolving plant design
and construction standards, plant performance standards are
supposed to be frozen in the ITACC process (inspections, tests,
analysis, and acceptance criteria). No longer will reviewers
have a free hand to reinterpret requirements. No longer will
license hearings be forums for intervenors to sail in with
speculative hypotheses or imaginative claims requiring an
eleventh-hour redefinition of safety requirements.
In addition, production tax credits are now available for
plants that submit their COL applications by December 31,
2008. And don’t forget the loan guarantees for greenhouse
gas reduction technologies. Or the fact that nuclear plants
can hold out the promise of securing non-recourse project
0801ELP_32 32
by Stephen Maloney
financing backed by the government in lieu of the traditional
mortgage bonds.
Vendors, too, are promising this time will be different.
This time, they say, it won’t take a decade or more to
design and build a nuke. Buyers get a standardized design,
pre-approved by the NRC, and can count on construction
techniques proven offshore to deliver in a few years rather
than a decade or more.
With the promise of a nuclear money machine
shimmering on the horizon just a few years away, with the
government promising a commitment to nuclear power
through financing, tax and regulatory policies, and with
vendors promising to build it better, faster and cheaper,
everybody in need of baseload capacity and constrained by
greenhouse gas policies wants a piece.
Déjà vu or lessons learned?
Let’s not forget, however, we’ve been here before.
For many years, regulatory standards were volatile. When
confronted by industry complaints of “moving goalposts”
a generation ago, the Atomic Energy Commission and the
NRC promised stability in design reviews by publishing
standard review plans, regulatory guides and branch technical
positions. Unfortunately, the development, revision and
interpretation of these standards took years to stabilize.
Volatile federal energy policies bordered on cruel and
unusual punishment. After encouraging utilities to invest in
nukes with limited capacity for spent nuclear fuel pools, the
government subsequently killed off reprocessing initiatives.
With no place to send spent nuclear fuel and limited pool
capacity, operators faced the prospect of premature shutdown.
The Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 1982 promised to build a
repository and have it ready to take the spent nuclear fuel in
1998. Today, the government continues to collect fees and the
repository’s construction remains years away.
Nor is this the first time we’ve heard about vendors
offering standardized designs. Many of the same vendors
offered standard designs some 40 years ago.
Unfortunately for the industry, the fire at Browns
Ferry in 1975 called attention to weaknesses in electrical
standards. The dynamic and static loads on essential safety
structures in a design basis accident constantly changed as
accident analyses became more robust. Resolutions to other
generic and unresolved safety issues were backfit on plants
in the midst of construction. As a result, construction periods
doubled and even tripled. The costs for many plants would
grow three to five times above original estimates. The Three
Mile Island accident in 1979 halted progress on the few plants
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:28:08 AM
Risk Management
still under construction and triggered several rounds of costly safety
backfits that continued into the mid- to late 1980s.
Some argue that Three Mile Island also killed off the nuclear
construction boom. But while this was a contributing factor on the
death certificate, rising interest rates and slowing electricity demand
growth provided more compelling reasons for companies to abandon
or cancel nuclear plant orders.
Companies and ratepayers also experienced sticker shock when
the bills came due. Many utilities took significant haircuts introducing
their plants into the rate base. Companies with plants under construction
faced staggering risk premiums to finance their completion, bankrupting
a number of smaller companies. In 1983, the Washington Public
Power System (WPPS) defaulted on $2.25 billion in municipal bonds
associated with its nuclear construction program. The WPPS default
remains the largest municipal default in U.S. history.
For years after all of this, the financial community was more willing
to invest in offshore economies with decades of default history before
considering a nuclear plant in the U.S. Companies operating nuclear
power plants often paid a premium for their financing. Companies
without a nuclear portfolio often proudly announced their “nuclearfree” status in annual reports. After all, nuclear operators faced the risk
of stranded investments, outage replacement power costs, inestimable
liabilities storing spent nuclear fuel awaiting a federal repository, and
the threat of premature shutdown from state or federal decisions.
New age promises
Throughout all the challenges, the nuclear plant operators soldiered
on and got better at running plants. At the same time, NRC shifted
focus from continuous improvement of plant designs to continuous
improvement of plant operations. Today, nuclear plants are expected
to run well above 90 percent, compared to the average operating rates
of 50 percent to 60 percent in the 1970s.
The pressurized water and boiling water reactor designs of the
1960s are now a mature technology mastered by a mature nuclear
operating industry and are less subject to “moving goalposts” for safety
and operating standards. Along the way, the nuclear fleet consolidated
through company mergers, acquisitions and industry exits. Today,
there are 25 nuclear operators, when a decade ago there were 45.
The vendors also enjoy the benefits of a maturing technology.
Advanced nuclear designs incorporate design features that improve
upon the original “standard designs.” Most of these improvements
target safety issues identified in NRC design reviews, generic
safety issues and risk assessments of decades ago. For example, the
pressurized water reactor was long known to be susceptible to the risk
of a reactor accident and a sustained loss of all station electric power
(a “station blackout”) that could in turn disable active safety systems
and prevent the removal of decay heat. This accident sequence was
declared an unresolved safety issue by the NRC in the mid-1970s and
was the subject of a rulemaking in the mid-1980s. Westinghouse’s
AP1000 employs passive safety systems and is not as susceptible
to the station blackout accident. The AP1000 also promises to be
cheaper to build.
The AP1000 received an NRC final design approval in 2004
and final certification in 2006. GE’s ESBWR is a competing passive
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_33 33
reactor that promises to reduce capital costs by some 20 percent.
Other advanced reactor designs are offered by UniStar (a joint venture
between Areva and Constellation) and Mitsubishi.
Reasons for caution
Still, history tells us that preconstruction certification does not preclude
problems. Just as the FAA often encounters technical issues after
an aircraft is certified and flown for some time, it’s clear NRC will
encounter similar issues with certified reactor designs. What’s unclear
is the nature of problems that will arise. Time and experience will tell.
As for the need for nuclear power, the past teaches that future
demand growth doesn’t always happen. Moody’s, for example,
sees some parallels between the WPPS default and today: rising
construction costs and the potential for demand reduction. The rating
agency advises caution in nuclear plant planning and analysis.
Vendors would like to believe the vendors can duplicate the
Japanese construction experience here at home. Certainly time-tomarket delivery mitigates that risk.
But energy policies in countries where offshore construction
experience has been a success are often premised on world views that
aren’t always shared in the U.S. Not everyone wants a nuke (or a wind
turbine for that matter) down the road. And “down the road” can mean
30 miles or more away.
As matters currently stand, operators like keeping their options
open about adding to their nuclear fleets. The COL provides a licensee
the option to build a nuclear plant. Exercising that option is another
matter. The application will cost some $40-$80 million, which can be
viewed as an option premium.
Presently, it’s not obvious the option is in the money. To actually
build a plant will cost more than $5 billion. Investments of this scale
are in the “bet the farm” category and exceed the market capitalization
of most companies. WPPS bet the farm at a time when nuclear seemed
like a “sure thing.”
The Nuclear Energy Institute observes that the energy loan
guarantee program is “a critical factor in corporate decisions to
proceed with new nuclear projects, and in facilitating construction
financing and access to capital.” Such guarantees permit project-based
financing, offer greater leveraging in capital structures, and promise
potentially lower electricity costs.
In this light, it’s interesting that Entergy Corporation recently
announced its intent to spin off its merchant nuclear fleet. The
unregulated business runs six nuclear facilities in the Northeast and
Midwest (three in New York state where there’s constant political
pressure to shut plants down). Entergy’s merchant fleet generates a lot
of cash and has little debt. In a “man-bites-dog” story, we’ve finally
reached a point where analysts see Entergy’s commercial reactors as
both a hedge for their regulated business (specifically, sovereign and
risk) and a significant and reliable cash generator. Who knew?
Freed from the parent, Entergy’s nuclear business would be in a
better position to take on debt than if it stayed married to Entergy’s
regulated business.
And so we live in an era where nukes are money machines and
natural hedges, but the risk of building one is difficult to quantify. We
are fortunate to live in interesting times.
1/31/08 10:28:10 AM
t
Risk Management
Energy Credit Risk Management
Confronted with a new paradigm, energy firms centralize the management process.
Author
Rahim Inoussa is a
principal consultant in
PA Consulting’s global
energy practice in
New York. His areas of
expertise are risk management, risk system
implementation, structured finance lending,
and financial analysis
techniques. He has led
or worked in a variety
of strategy and risk
management assignments in the energy and
capital markets sectors.
Inoussa would like to
thank Sid Jacobson, a
managing consultant
in energy trading and
risk management at
PA Consulting Group,
for his contributions
to this article.
The recent exponential growth in the energy commodity
markets—with record risks and record returns—has changed
the rules of credit risk management across energy markets
and for their participants.
Credit risk management is becoming increasingly
complex, driven by various sources ranging from counterparty
financial health, covenants in contracts, market price volatility
and others, requiring energy firms to have data, systems and
procedures that enable them to account more effectively
for their exposure to counterparty default and collateral
management across business activities.
However, many energy market participants still have
weak credit risk management tools and processes. These
data and tools, when they exist, have been mostly deployed
in isolation at various business units or related to only a
sub-set of trading activities. The tools are disparate across
many areas of the credit, treasury and accounting functions
and often have disparate sources of data. As a result, energy
market participants are exposing themselves to unforeseen
risks of large unexpected losses and inefficient use of scarce
risk capital.
What’s confronting energy firms is the new paradigm of
credit risk management. Implementing a proactive approach
to centralize the credit risk management process is a good
response.
A centralized approach
A centralized approach will deliver three key benefits: a single
view of credit risk exposure made possible by centralizing the
risk function, aggregating all data and identifying all contract
terms and conditions by counterparty and their parent
company to affiliate relationships; reliable credit risk metrics
through the implementation of advanced analytics, enterprisewide credit risk management systems and processes; and
optimized use of collateral through proactive management of
collateral requirements led by more reliable, insightful and
regular information.
Provide single view of credit exposure
In the past, the most common misstep by energy firms was
managing credit risk in silos. They often managed credit assets
on a transaction-by-transaction basis without an integrated
view of the overall portfolio exposure across the enterprise.
Most energy firms were unlikely either to fully understand
their exposure to extreme credit loss or to react quickly to
potential adverse credit events (uncertainty around Enron or
Amaranth, for example).
0801ELP_34 34
by Rahim Inoussa
A centralized approach to credit risk enables energy
firms to fulfill this missing integrated view of the portfolio.
First, by centralizing the credit risk function, usually
accompanied by the creation of a credit risk manager
position, top management gives a clear signal to the rest of
the organization of the importance of credit risk management.
Credit now has a seat at the decision table. This step empowers
credit risk managers and enables them to have their influence
on shaping the terms and conditions of new transactions.
Credit risk managers are actively involved with traders
in the origination, structuring and collateralization of new
transactions. Counterparties are fully monitored beforehand
and new transactions are concluded taking into account their
marginal contribution to the overall credit portfolio through
metrics such as Potential Future Exposure (PFE) or Credit
Value-at-Risk (CVaR).
Second, by centralizing all counterparty information
and aggregating all contract credit terms and conditions in
an integrated database, a single view of credit exposure is
made possible. This ability to measure, monitor and forecast
current and potential credit exposures across the entire firm
on both the counterparty level and the portfolio level is
vital. The centralization of all credit terms and conditions
has become more imperative because energy contracts are
increasingly complex, despite standardization efforts made
by the industry through the use of ISDA, EEI or NAESB
templates. Contract netting arrangements, collateral triggers
and margin calls can be optimized better. This single view of
exposure allows the credit risk manager to react quickly to
any deterioration in counterparty risk and request additional
collateral if necessary.
Implement reliable credit risk metrics
Implementing enterprise-wide tools is essential in order to
obtain the single view of counterparty exposure described
above and produce meaningful and reliable credit risk metrics
such as current and potential future exposure, expected
credit losses or CVaR. However, implementing a scalable
and consistent enterprise risk management framework is a
challenging task for many energy firms.
To manage credit risk effectively at the enterprise level,
energy firms have to integrate substantial quantities of data
on exposure, netting agreement, collateral, and payment in
addition to a variety of other relevant credit information.
Generally, enterprise-wide tools use both vendor solutions and
bespoke builds to fill out a target application architecture that
delivers the required capabilities by the credit risk function.
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:28:12 AM
Risk Management
Therefore, there are four steps that
inevitably will take place in order to build a
robust enterprise-wide credit risk system:
1. Strategic design of system
architecture
2. Custom-built components
3. Vendor solutions
4. Bringing it all together
First, building a robust enterprise-wide
credit risk system starts with a strategic design
of sound system architecture. Exposure
calculation
methodologies,
workflow
processes or credit analytics will most
certainly continue to advance; the design of
an integrated credit risk architecture needs to
be flexible to embrace these changes.
The challenge faced by energy credit
risk managers when managing credit risk at
the enterprise-wide level is one of three-order
elements: Obtain high quality input data
from disparate sources from external rating
vendors, market risk systems for mark-tomarket position to accounting systems for
receivable and payable; accurately quantify
credit risk exposure; and produce highlevel as well as detailed portfolio analytics
and reporting for strategic credit management decisions.
Therefore, a vital ingredient to enable
credit systems to deliver value is to create
a well-crafted architecture along these three
elements.
Second, software providers will have
to unbundle the component functionality
contained in packaged applications. One
firm may want to purchase the exposure
management from an exposure and limit
system, the workflow component from a
collateral package and the PFE calculator and
the scoring models from an analytics engine.
Third, once the “off-the-shelf” system
components are identified and required
internal models built, the next step is to
reassemble the different pieces of the puzzle
to get a enterprise-wide picture of credit risk.
Historically, bringing all the parts together
as an integrated system has been the most
challenging for energy firms. Therefore, the
key for a successful enterprise-wide credit
risk system is not only the technology, but the
implementation strategy.
A good implementation strategy
requires careful consideration of the
organization, its roles, the supporting
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_35 35
protocols and accompanying procedures. It
should address two key fronts: how to break
the silos and bridge together in a modular
approach components that have been isolated
in disparate credit systems and processes,
and how to manage the complex changes in
processes, structures and roles introduced by
the new credit risk architecture.
Adopting these implementation steps and
strategy will enable energy firms to achieve
higher accuracy in their data collection, credit
risk exposure quantification and effectiveness
of credit risk management, while avoiding
future large incremental systems investment.
Optimize use of collateral
Given the rapid increase of the use of
collateralization in the energy markets, the
need to pro-actively manage use of scarce
capital is growing imperative to company
health. In fact, the International Swaps
and Derivatives Association estimates that
the percentage of collateralized energy
transactions has risen from 16 percent in
2003 to more than 50 percent in 2006 (ISDA
Margin Survey, 2006).
Credit risk management strategy
and systems are useless if collateral is not
properly managed, but when it comes to
collateral, many energy firms still have their
collateral management group separated from
the credit risk group.
A centralized and proactive credit risk
approach breaks this mold and calls for an
integration of collateral management within
the credit risk group. This integration will
deliver benefits in two ways, by optimizing
the risk-return equation of collateral use and
proactively managing liquidity problems.
A key benefit of integrating collateral
management within the credit risk management
group or with tight dotted-line accountability
is the possibility for both groups to work
together in the negotiations of the contract
terms for the collateral agreements.
With collateral function closely aligned
with credit, credit risk managers can leverage
collateral as a trade enabler rather than
viewing it simply as a post-trade operations
function. Credit risk managers are in a
position to help identify the right assets to
use or receive for collateral, given credit
concentration and liquidity constraints, as
CREDIT RISK continued on 37
1/31/08 10:28:13 AM
k
Generation
Negawatts
KCP&L’s energy efficiency forum was a catalyst for community conversation.
Kansas City Power & Light’s commitment to energy
efficiency first gained momentum in 2004 during the
planning phase for the region’s energy plan. Striking the
right balance to manage the issues of increasing demand,
economic growth, energy efficiency, affordability, clean air
and healthy environment was a delicate process. Through
collaboration with several stakeholders, KCP&L came up
with a Comprehensive Energy Plan that invests in several
areas: new generation, including renewable wind energy;
innovative energy efficiency, affordability and demandresponse programs; infrastructure improvements; and
proactive environmental investments.
The company believes that collaborating with the
community and its customers is the best way for all to become
more efficient users of electricity and to responsibly manage
demand while reducing the community’s carbon footprint.
In September 2007, Kansas City Power & Light and partners
hosted the Kansas City Energy Efficiency Forum. Partners
Author
included the Kansas Energy Council, Missouri Energy
Matt Tidwell is the Development Association (MEDA), Aquila, Mid-America
public affairs director Regional Council (MARC), Greater KC Chamber, Sierra
at Kansas City Power Club and AARP.
& Light.
KCP&L delivers power
to more than 500,000
customers in western
Missouri and eastern
Kansas, covering a
service territory of
4,600 square miles.
The company has more
than 4,000 MW of
efficient generation
assets in operation or
under construction.
Community-wide collaboration
The forum served as the beginning of a community-wide
collaboration on the energy issues facing the region.
Stakeholders from across the region came together to explore
how to use natural resources in a more efficient, sustainable
and healthy way. The invitees included community and
civic leadership, government officials, environmental, lowincome and senior stakeholder groups, channel partners and
utility company employees. Each had a different viewpoint
but they shared a common future. Turnout at the forum
exceeded expectations, with more than 550 in attendance.
The forum had three objectives. The first was to learn
from a series of panelists who engaged everyone in the
audience in dialogue. Two distinguished panels of experts
addressed energy efficiency, first in the U.S. and later, in
the region. Joel Swisher, leader of the energy and resources
team for the Rocky Mountain Institute, facilitated both
panels. (See sidebar.)
Robert Cox, Sierra Club president, offered insight
into what it takes to get a community involved. “I think it’s
important to cooperate,” said Cox, “particularly a utility
company [with its] residential or commercial users….If the
company wants [them] to engage in a certain program, it
requires a certain level of education as to what the benefits
0801ELP_36 36
by Matt Tidwell
will be for the user, but with that kind of trust and the
knowledge base that’s built, then the utility company is
able to proceed with a program that requires investment on
its part.”
The second objective of the forum was to imagine
the possibilities for energy efficiency in a world where the
public wants ample affordable energy, protection of natural
resources and a growing, robust economy. The group’s
diverse experience and insights strengthened its ability
to identify the needs and challenges facing the region.
Imagination can become actionable. Ken Baker, senior
manager of sustainable regulation at Wal-Mart, talked about
the strides Wal-Mart is making in re-thinking its everyday
operations, with LED exterior signage, radiant floor
heating or capturing waste heat from refrigeration for use
in restrooms.
“I think what we’re seeing here in the region is that …
utility leadership, governors and mayors want to do more,”
said Ashok Gupta, program director for air and energy,
Natural Resources Defense Council. “Now the question and
At KCP&L’s September 2007 energy efficiency forum, Joel
Swisher, leader of the energy and resources team for the
Rocky Mountain Institute, facilitated two panels.
National panelists included:
Joe Wharton, principal, The Brattle Group
Juan deBedout, manager of electric power and propulsion,
General Electric
Robert Cox, president, Sierra Club
Ken Baker, senior manager of sustainable regulation,
Wal-Mart
John Coffman, energy consultant, AARP
Ashok Gupta, program director for air and energy, Natural
Resources Defense Council
The regional panel on energy efficiency included:
Bill Downey, president and chief executive officer,
Kansas City Power & Light
Lewis Mills, public counsel, Office of Missouri Public Counsel
David Warm, executive director, MARC
Commissioner Robert Clayton, Missouri Public Service
Commission
Steve McDowell, principal, BNIM Architects
Mark Fogal, executive director, Missouri Votes Conservation
Jim Zakoura, principal, Smithyman & Zakoura
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:28:19 AM
Generation
the debate has been engaged. I think on the policy-making side, you’re
also seeing the interest and in the next year or two I’m optimistic we’re
going to see real leadership coming from Kansas, Missouri and the
whole region in terms of real policies on energy efficiency and the
reduction in global warming pollution.”
The regional panel discussed many of the local barriers and
successes involved with energy efficiency adoption. Mid-America
Regional Council Executive Director David Warm enlightened
the group on the need to look at energy efficiency in the long term
through sustainable community plans. He believes that with smarter
growth techniques, cities can design communities to be much better
at conserving energy. Steve McDowell, BNIM Architects, pushed
for regulation of how buildings are designed. “We can make hybrid
houses,” said McDowell. “We can make hybrid churches. We can
make hybrid city buildings if we put our minds to it.”
The third objective of the forum and its subsequent meetings
was to build a framework for action. Together the group can create
local, state, regional and even federal policies that support energy
efficiency. Part of that building process is to find and encourage a
positive business model for energy efficiency—one where energy
efficiency is treated as a “first fuel” and part of the industry’s future
energy portfolio requirements.
And now, the energy efficiency conversation continues in
multiple arenas. In December, the sponsors hosted three events at three
different locations around the Kansas City metropolitan area. Each
event had the same agenda: sharing the information gathered at the
first forum, discussing potential legislation for Missouri and Kansas
targeted at enabling energy efficiency, protecting consumers and
other legislative initiatives, and soliciting feedback and suggestions
from participants.
What is a “negawatt”?
Amory B. Lovins, co-founder and chairman of the Rocky Mountain
Institute, coined the phrase “negawatt.” Negawatts represent the
power saved from one application that is then available for another.
For instance, energy efficient light bulbs “generate” negawatts of
saved energy use. Negawatts are used to compare the cost of conservation measures with the cost of increasing power production.
Lovins has written manyy books on energy
gy ppolicyy includingg “Soft EnTowards
Durable
ergy Paths:: To
Tow
ward
ward
wa
rdss a D
urable Peace” and “Small is Profitable.”
(Visit www.elp.com for more articles on energy efficiency.)
CREDIT RISK continued from 35
well as determine the risk-return characteristics of the asset serving
as collateral. They can also optimize the use of collateral through
cross-product margining. In doing so, credit risk managers transform
collateral management into a value driver for the firm.
Proactive management of liquidity problems
Another key benefit of centralized collateral management is the
proactive management of financial liquidity. With the integration
of collateral management in the risk management team comes
the centralization of the responsibility for monitoring changes in
the counterparty risk exposures, as well as the evaluation of the
impact in the credit and liquidity risk profile of the firm when
counterparties are approaching their rating triggers. Credit risk
managers can take their existing collateral agreement and run “whatif” scenarios to determine the counterparties that need changes in
their collateral terms as market and credit conditions change. If
the credit risk group has a Potential Future Exposure (PFE) engine
for counterparty risk analysis, adding collateral and netting terms
in the simulation framework can provide early warning signals of
potential problems as well as a full liquidity analysis in the event
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_37 37
of rating downgrades.
Best practices
Today, the focus for many energy firms is to adopt an enterprise-wide
centralized credit risk management approach, as it gives an integrated
view of risk. Best practices in credit risk management should
demonstrate centralization, standardization, proactive management of
collateral and efficient tools for managing exposures.
The next (new) generation of credit risk systems will be found
inside each energy trading firm as a customized solution that optimizes
existing and vendor systems with business specific models. Energy
firms should recognize that they will not need to invest heavily in
new credit risk systems to achieve this enterprise-wide view of credit
risk. They need to invest in a careful architecture design that builds
up on vendor systems and selectively develops in-house models to
supplement any identified gap. They also need to invest in managing
the changes in terms of the roles and responsibilities of the credit
function as well as procedures and processes to ensure a successful
implementation. Finally, energy firms should similarly recognize the
need for a centralized and integrated collateral management within
the credit risk function.
1/31/08 10:28:21 AM
a
Renewables
Wind Power and Grid Reliability
Innovative solutions help wind farms meet grid interconnection standards.
by Tim Poor
As wind-generated electricity continues to play a larger role
in the worldwide power supply, electric utilities increasingly
grapple with the challenges of connecting that power to the
grid while maintaining system reliability.
Wind offers an environmentally friendly, utility-scale
renewable resource to meet the ever-increasing demand
for power, but its interaction with the grid is unique. Some
countries have adopted interconnection standards for new
wind farms, and in some cases, utilities are requiring that wind
farms provide dynamic reactive compensation, similar to what
a fossil fuel synchronous-type generator would provide. This
enables wind-based resources to provide equivalent voltage
stability support to the grid at the point of interconnection.
Author
Tim Poor is vice
president and deputy
general manager for
AMSC (American
Superconductor) Power
Systems. He joined
AMSC in September
2001 as director of
sales and business
development for power
electronic systems.
In May 2007, he
was appointed to his
current position.
stability of the greater power grid.
Low voltage ride-through (LVRT) is another requirement
for wind farms—the ability of generators to remain stable
and connected during normally cleared electrical faults on a
transmission grid. These faults, which often result from natural
causes such as lightning strikes, in some cases can cause a
large transient voltage depression across wide network areas.
Typically, conventional synchronous generators are permitted
to trip off line only in the case of a permanent fault on a
directly connected circuit. Fault ride-through requirements
are currently defined in most regions of the world where a
large number of utility-scale wind farms are being installed.
Other common interconnection requirements for wind
turbines include operating continuously up to rated output
Reactive power and fault ride-through
within normal grid voltage ranges, maintaining a constant
Unlike the dynamic voltage support provided by terminal voltage, and remaining connected during small step
conventional power sources such as coal-fired plants, voltage changes.
reactive power derived from wind farms in some cases
To protect the integrity and smooth operation of the
cannot be provided dynamically or in continuously variable transmission grid, a handful of countries around the world
amounts. Accordingly, a growing number of grid operators have adopted interconnection standards for new wind farms
are requiring wind farms to possess the same range of power that explicitly require the wind farm to provide certain
factor compensation and dynamic reactive power capability amounts of dynamic reactive compensation—Australia,
as conventional generation sources. To meet this requirement, New Zealand, Canada, Spain and the United Kingdom
many wind farms today are employing innovative systems among them. Some of the strictest regulations are found
that regulate grid voltages and
in the U.K. and some provinces in Canada. Of
provide dynamic reactive power The voltage regulation system at Kettles Hill
course, interconnection standards vary from
wind farm in the Canadian province of Alberta.
support, thereby enhancing the
country to country (and between individual
Kettles Hill utilizes the AMSC D-VAR system.
provinces or states) depending on
Photo courtesy of American Superconductor.
local grid characteristics and utilityspecific requirements.
For instance, (see chart, p. 39)
Canadian utility SaskPower, the
principal supplier of electricity for the
province of Saskatchewan, has adopted
wind farm power factor capability
requirements of 90 percent leading
(supplying VARs to the system)
to 95 percent lagging (absorbing
VARs from the system) at the high
voltage point of interconnection
(POI) to the grid, as well as wind
turbine fault ride-through and in
some cases post-fault system voltage
recovery requirements.
Ontario’s IESO (Independent
Electricity
System
Operator),
responsible for the day-to-day
0801ELP_38 38
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:28:30 AM
Renewables
Regulating Body
Alberta Electric System Operator (AESO)
SaskPower
Independent Electric System Operator (IESO)
Hydro Quebec
Power Factor Requirements
90% leading to 95% lagging PF at wind farm medium
voltage collector bus
90% leading to 95% lagging PF at high voltage POI
90% leading to 95% lagging PF at generator terminals
95% leading to 95% lagging PF at high voltage POI
Fault Ride Through Requirements
Minimum of 15% remaining voltage for 625ms at the POI
Minimum of 30% remaining voltage for 150ms at POI
Ability to ride through worst case faults identified
Minimum of 0% remaining voltage for 150ms at POI
Source: AMSC
operation of the province of Ontario’s electrical system, has
taken similar steps by enacting wind farm power factor capability
requirements of 90 percent leading to 95 percent lagging at the
generator terminals and wind turbine fault ride-through requirements
for worst-case contingencies affecting the wind farm.
Current state of the U.S. grid connection standards
While U.S. regulatory authorities have yet to adopt specific dynamic
reactive compensation requirements, existing interconnection
requirements for U.S. wind farm installations are outlined under the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Order 661-A. Finalized
in May 2005, the order focuses on voltage regulation and LVRT but
includes several unique characteristics.
Regarding LVRT, the order requires wind farms to remain
in service during any three-phase fault resulting in transmission
voltage as low as zero volts, as measured at the high voltage point
of interconnection (POI) to the grid, and that is normally cleared
(4–9 cycles) without separating the wind farm from the transmission
system. Wind farms installed prior to Dec. 31, 2007 are allowed to
trip off line in the case of a fault depressing the voltage at the POI to
below 0.15 p.u., or 15 percent of nominal voltage.
The order does not associate a specific timeframe or speed
of response requirement for supplying reactive power on a postcontingency basis, providing wind farm developers and owners
with significant latitude in addressing these requirements. The
interconnecting utilities, however, on a case-by-case basis, are allowed
to enforce more stringent rules if they can demonstrate through power
system simulations that enhanced capability is needed to support the
reliability of the grid.
Reactive power solutions
Fortunately, there are innovative solutions readily available that
allow wind farms to successfully comply with varying global grid
interconnection requirements. Classified as Flexible AC Transmission
System (FACTS) devices, static compensators (STATCOMS) or static
VAR compensators (SVC), these solutions provide dynamic reactive
power capability that allows them to meet grid interconnection
standards. For example, American Superconductor’s D-VAR system
is a proprietary STATCOM system that monitors and regulates wind
farm voltages and power factor, and instantaneously stabilizes voltage
levels by injecting dynamic reactive power into the grid.
Among the ranks of U.S. wind farms to have adopted reactive
compensation solutions are the 80 MW Caprock Wind Ranch, located
20 miles southeast of Tucumcari, N.M., and the 10 MW HRD Hawi
Wind Farm, located near Upolo Point on the Island of Hawaii. These
wind farms are utilizing AMSC’s D-VAR devices to provide both
Wind turbines. Photo courtesy LVRT and steady state power factor correction. Caprock, which
of American Superconductor.
was connected onto a major Southwestern U.S. transmission
grid in 2004, was the first wind farm to utilize a FACTS device to
provide LVRT capability. Many wind farms in the U.K., New Zealand
and Australia have also deployed reactive power solutions.
More wind to come
The rapid acceleration of wind energy adoption is expected to
continue for many years to come. According to the American Wind
Energy Association, approximately 31 billion kilowatt-hours (kWh)
were generated by wind power in the U.S. in 2007 and the Global
Wind Energy Council projects that wind power capacity will double
from 74,223 MW in 2006 to 149,500 MW in 2010.
Given the unique characteristics of wind generation and the trend
toward larger wind parks, it is likely that more projects will require
dynamic reactive compensation as a condition of interconnection.
Centralized FACTS systems provide an effective means of addressing
these requirements.
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_39 39
1/31/08 10:28:35 AM
t
T&D
A Smart “Smart Grid” Strategy
Considering the needs of distribution engineers now will pay dividends in the future.
Too often, the terms “smart grid” and “smart metering”
are used together or even interchangeably, as if they were
two sides of the same investment coin. Utility distribution
operations communication issues deserve more careful
consideration within the larger industry smart grid dialogue.
Advanced metering is a fundamental enabling technology
for the smart grid, but utilities should pause and pay careful
attention to the hard-earned, pragmatic wisdom of their
distribution operations engineers. After all, they’re the ones
who work day-to-day to keep the lights on for customers. In
the areas of system monitoring, control and security, utility
engineers have brought the following distribution operations
communication smart grid issues to our attention.
Monitoring and control
Author
A 19-year veteran of
the utility automation
industry, Derek
Booth is smart grid
general manager for
Cellnet+Hunt. You may
contact him at derek.
[email protected].
Utility monitoring and remote control of distribution
substations with SCADA gained mainstream prevalence
in the ’90s and the trend has accelerated in the past several
years. Modern substation automation technology provides
utilities with a new platform to cost-effectively extend system
monitoring and control out into distribution feeders, but this has
also exponentially expanded the requirement set for effective
two-way communications to remotely controlled devices such
as reclosers, cap banks, voltage regulators and switches.
As power utilities adopt new substation communication
infrastructure in the form of powerful new remote terminal
units and substation data concentrators capable of capturing
unprecedented amounts of new equipment telemetry data
received from a growing array of intelligent electronic devices
(IEDs), the dedicated copper links between control house
equipment and substation equipment will gradually give way
to new, higher bandwidth, digital methods of communication
connectivity. This need for increased communication and
bandwidth capabilities, coupled with tighter and more
granular control schemes, suggests the need for a strategic
perspective on communication technology options that bridge
the historical gap between the substation and the “last mile”
of primary and secondary distribution feeders delivering
power to customers.
Utilities working on advanced metering programs and
rate cases should consider, and work to fund, communications
networks/capabilities to address more than just advanced
metering connectivity. Smart grid communications planning
should consider opportunities across the entire service
delivery value chain—from supply source all the way into the
consumer’s home—to help all market participants manage
energy better.
0801ELP_40 40
by Derek Booth
From our proprietary research and from ad hoc
conversations with both distribution engineers and senior
executives in the utility community, we’ve learned that
utilities consistently cite improved customer service,
enhanced reliability, and lower outage management times
as some of the top benefits discussed within advanced
metering reviews at their respective companies. In some
of these same conversations, utility engineers cite a range
of distribution automation projects they feel will help
immediately address these very same issues. In some cases,
utility engineers still have problems gaining funding or
mindshare for these projects.
Distribution communications security
Security was once a somewhat relative term across utility
departments, and distribution operations have historically
operated on network environments that were separate from
back-office systems. NERC recently clarified security with its
CIP standards that set the bar for utilities and vendors alike.
Utility CIOs who deem their information technology assets
secure within the current confines of CIP-005 (electronic
security perimeters) will need to begin planning for increased
integration between internal business and operations control
networks. While it’s common wisdom that utilities work to
keep control systems and business networks separated with
carefully controlled integration access points, the reality is
that there will be more, not less, required interaction between
control networks and utility business application networks
under smart grid scenarios in the future. Complete isolation
of control networks is not a practical solution going forward.
Utilities should pay careful attention to the hard-earned, pragmatic
wisdom of their distribution operations engineers.
From a resource planning perspective, utility executives
in larger investor-owned utilities should work today to
dedicate in-house, full-time, staff resources to security
functions in smart grid strategy, resource and rate recovery
planning. Likewise, cooperative distribution utilities and
distribution-focused municipalities should place both
physical and architectural security capabilities at the top of
their distribution communication issues list when considering
ever larger proportions of customer demand management and
distributed energy resources in their integrated planning.
The consensus view from many engineers in our
customer community is that going forward, utility IT security
and distribution network management roles will require
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:28:46 AM
T&D
a rare breed of engineer, one who combines knowledge of both
information and operations technology, as power technology and
digital communication and control functions continue to fuse under
smart grid programs. Security will evolve into a dedicated (core
competence) engineering function that utilities, regardless of size,
should add into their resource planning under smart grid scenarios.
These smart grid security specialists will give careful
consideration to not only the architectural security characteristics
of distribution communications options (encryption, redundant data
path designs, proven upgradability), but also to the physical risks and
the susceptibility of highly visible and vulnerable communications
targets in the field.
Finally, from the NERC report “Top 10 Vulnerabilities of
Control Systems and Their Associated Mitigations,” the following
foundational recommendations should be given increased attention
in light of recent events: “Develop a risk management plan that
identifies and documents a risk-based assessment methodology to
identify critical assets…and perform background personnel checks
on persons with access to sensitive systems and ensure that vendors
and contractors have performed similar tests.” Utility companies
entrust staff with tremendous responsibility for the safety and security
of field crews and the general public. Rigorous utility staff and vendor
screening/background checks are not indicative of a lack of trust; they
represent sound risk management policy in the context of smart grid
planning for the future.
Utility smart grid communication strategy, planning and
deployments should consider more than just the communications
requirements of advanced metering. Consideration of the needs of
distribution engineers will pay utilities dividends down the road while
ensuring that today’s advanced metering communication investments
are positioned to deliver additional value for the larger smart grid of
(Visit www.elp.com for more on the smart grid.)
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Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_41 41
1/31/08 10:28:49 AM
i
IT/CIS & CRM
Emerging Communication
Technologies
The power of meter data unification and synchronization of advanced metering
infrastructure, Part II
In Part I of this series, published in the Nov. Dec. 2007 issue
of Electric Light & Power, we discussed the ways today’s
utilities are increasingly using improved communications
technology and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI)
to balance electrical supply and demand while being
environmentally aware and responsible. (Visit www.elp
to view the archived issue.) Utilities have begun to lay
much of the groundwork either because they recognize
that there is tremendous benefit to grid stabilization
and meeting energy demand through curtailment programs
or because they are responding to regulatory requirements
in “greening” their assets. The true innovation enabling
the next frontier in responsible energy consumption,
however, is the implementation of technologies that put the
customer at the center of the decision for participating in
Author
available programs.
Kevin Walsh is a utilities
The mass market—namely, consumers—is the sole
industry principal for remaining untapped arena where the ability to control
SAP America Inc. the load still exists. Studies have shown that when these
customers have the technology to keep themselves
informed, they will actively reduce consumption to lower
their bills. They have also shown interest in contributing to
the global initiative that will help to reduce the “greenhouse
effect.” This article explores the ways in which utilities are
using today’s technologies to empower customers to both
save money and help the environment through reduction of
CO2 and demand. In doing so, a whole host of technologies
come into play.
Imagine…..
Imagine a world where you wake on a hot summer morning
and receive an e-mail on your PDA or an automated text
message on your phone from your utility informing you of a
special weather-related opportunity to participate in a “green
energy” program that benefits the environment and could
save you money. You decide to log onto www.MyUtility.
com\MyHome. You take a look at your consumption pattern
during a similar peak period in the last few years and realize
that you would like to take advantage of this special offer.
You click on the large “Accept” button and…voila! You have
just participated in the initiative to reduce greenhouse gases
and you have taken a step toward lowering your energy costs.
How does this happen?
To enable consumers, utilities leverage the basic AMI
0801ELP_42 42
by Kevin Walsh
infrastructure and systems that measure, collect and transport
energy usage and other field data from advanced devices such
as water, gas and electric smart meters and communicate the
relevant data to the customer, either on request or on a predefined schedule. The AMI infrastructure is a component of
the intelligent grid and is the enabler for consumers to assist
in the reduction of localized peak capacity that will have a
direct and measurable impact on global warming.
The mass market—namely, consumers—is the sole remaining
untapped arena where the ability to control the load still exists.
Here is a checklist of components that participate in a
complete AMI solution:
■
Smart Meter – The Smart Meter is a field device that
measures and collects energy consumption (the cash
register for a utility) and other events at a premise. In the
mass market, that’s the residence. It also is the gateway
between the HAN (Home Area Network) and LAN,
(Local Area Network) of the AMI system, which is part
of the communication path for the utility to send and
receive data between the fields and the back office.
■
Home Area Network (HAN) – The HAN is an in-home
network that connects devices such as smart appliances,
lighting, home heating and cooling systems, security
systems and others into one network to be controlled
through a “smart display” or the Internet. This enables
local load control, either voluntarily by the customer or
by the host utility. Technologies in play for the HAN
might include advanced automation techniques that
apply Internet protocol addresses to home devices,
enabling device management via the Internet and Web
2.0 browser user interfaces and widgets.
■
Local Area Network (LAN) – The LAN is one leg of
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:00 AM
IT/CIS & CRM
M
enterprise
applications
will include the Customer
Information System (CIS),
also referred to as Customer
Relationship
and
Billing
(CR&B) systems, Enterprise
Asset Management (EAM)
Systems, Demand Management
Systems (DMS) and potentially,
Outage Management Systems
(OMS). Truly integrated, endto-end enterprise offerings—
“meter to cash” from
the utility perspective
A sample view
or “meter to decision
of a consumer’s
energy profile.
to participate in a
demand curtailment
program” from the customer
perspective—will have the
advantage in this field.
Or the alternative…..
the journey in an AMI solution; it is the area in which the AMI
solution transports smart meter data to field concentrators.
The field concentrator is the field device that collects the
data from several smart meters or devices and leverages
radio frequency (RF), power lines (PLC), broadband or other
communication technology to transport the data from the
meters to the concentrators.
■
Wide Area Network (WAN) – The WAN component of the
AMI solution could use the same technology as the LAN
but could also leverage existing communication infrastructure
at the utility such as fiber, Internet, etc., to backhaul the data
to an AMI head-end system. The head-end is the command
center for the AMI solution and manages the communication
network implementing the required or desired meter
reading schedules and enacting other meter and communicationrelated commands.
■
Meter Data Unification and Synchronization System (MDUS)
– The MDUS, at a high level, is the central repository for all
the AMI field data such as meter data, events, etc., from all of
the various concentrators and head-end systems that participate
in the AMI communication network. The MDUS synchronizes
with the commercial systems and is a message broker between
the front/back offices and the field, for instance, when messages
are generated from the call center to perform on-demand reads.
■
Back and front office applications – Benefits of AMI enablement
depend a great deal on the level of integration between the MDUS
and the business systems or applications. Important dependent
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_43 43
From the utility perspective,
implementing even a few of
these technologies will constitute a major project and could keep
utility resources and associated vendors occupied for several years.
But today’s savvy utility executives understand the alternative: to site,
select, build and operate a new fossil-based power plant, which would
involve having to navigate a potentially volatile fuels market, track
emissions and satisfy North American Electric Reliability Corporation
requirements, among many other costs. Therefore, utilities are
increasingly taking the more forward-thinking approach and initiating
implementation of these exciting future applications.
Utilities must keep in mind that the most expensive portion of an
AMI project lies with meter procurement and deployment. Utilities
that are just embarking on this path should seek to take advantage
of the competitive market environment for meter and integration
service providers.
While efficiencies in meter selection are certainly possible,
utilities should not make sacrifices in the area of front- or back-office
integration. The success of future progressive utility programs will
directly correspond to the strength of integration and the degree to
which the utility can begin with the end in mind. The utility should
seek to provide a robust AMI infrastructure, based on open and
standard protocols, that scales to the meter data challenge; offer the
right programs at the right time to the mass market; and plan for
effective, efficient front- and back-office business processes, such
as on-demand billing and payment options, meter disconnection/
reconnection and area outage detection and restoration.
Finally, while the typical mass-market customer could remain
blissfully unaware of the technology backbone required to provide his
energy curtailment choices, that same customer may greatly value the
chance to “think globally, but act locally” while reducing his energy
(Visit www.elp.com for more articles on AMI.)
bills.
1/31/08 10:29:03 AM
i
IT/CIS & CRM
Document Management
South Carolina co-op MCEC improved customer service and productivity.
Author
Mark Thompson, senior
business development
manager at Perceptive
Software for the
energy and utility
marketplace, focuses
on strategic customer
solutions related to
document management.
During his tenure in
the energy and utility
sector, Thompson has
dealt extensively with
key utility operations
issues, including
document management,
regulatory compliance
(Sarbanes-Oxley),
auditing cycles and
customer service
operations. Contact him
at mark.thompson@
imagenow.com.
In recent years, the Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative
(MCEC) service area has seen an explosion of residential,
industrial and commercial development. With such rapid
growth in its customer base, the not-for-profit electric
distribution utility, headquartered in Lexington, S.C.,
implemented many improvements to increase efficiency. One
concern was its reliance on manual processes and how that
would hamper its ability to grow and provide satisfactory
customer service.
Customer satisfaction is a top priority for MCEC, which
is owned by more than 40,000 member-owners, making it the
fifth largest of the 20 electric cooperatives in South Carolina.
Together, the co-ops serve more than 500,000 members
located across 70 percent of the state.
Employees all across MCEC spent hours filing and
retrieving hard copies of documents. When customers had
questions about an invoice, they typically called MCEC for
details. Answering inquiries about older documents was
difficult because they were archived in file cabinets and
sometimes, no copies were kept at all.
MCEC’s document imaging system offered very
limited functionality and was installed on just one computer.
Associates would have to wait to use a single workstation
to access the documents they needed to complete their
work. The system was used for
archiving, but its limited indexing
and search capabilities made finding
documents difficult.
To ensure its growth would not
be held back by the inefficiencies of
paper processes, MCEC began to look
for a document management solution
to streamline administrative duties and
enable MCEC associates to properly
service customers. The co-op selected
an enterprise document management,
imaging and workflow software for use
in the customer service, accounting and
finance departments. It was integrated
with a financial application suite and
several homegrown applications that
run on an Oracle platform. Integration
establishes a direct connection
between business system records and
documents stored in the document
repository, enabling users to retrieve
supporting documentation directly
0801ELP_44 44
by Mark Thompson
from their business system screens.
Improving information sharing
MCEC converted 300,000 existing document images from a
proprietary format into TIFF files that were imported into the
new system. Instead of waiting to use a single workstation
to access these documents, users can now instantly retrieve
them. The browser-based complement to the client extends
instant document access to employees at other locations.
Allowing employees in remote locations to immediately
retrieve documents has improved information sharing between
offices. Instead of calling headquarters and waiting for faxes
to arrive, employees immediately pull up the information
they need on their screens.
Speeding Customer Service
Though it is just one part of MCEC’s commitment to excellent
customer service, its document management software improves
the ability to quickly answer customers’ billing inquiries by
putting exact copies of bills, applications and other documents
at employees’ fingertips.
Now vendors send documents electronically to MCEC.
MCEC uses the software to capture these PDF files, which
contain the front and back sides of bills, and automatically
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:09 AM
IT/CIS & CRM
M
imports the data. Applications, customer correspondence and other
documents are also scanned or imported into the document management
system. To access a bill, a customer service representative simply types
in identifying criteria, such as a customer’s name or service number.
Previously a CSR could not access a copy of an older bill but now he
or she can instantly view the bill in question and resolve issues while
the customer is on the phone.
Time savings
Prior to implementing a document management system, digging
through paper files was a frustrating and time-consuming process.
Storing documents electronically has reduced labor-intensive tasks.
Staff members are more productive because they are no longer
dealing with reams of paper. The moment they scan documents, the
information becomes available to authorized users anywhere.
Another difficulty MCEC experienced with manual archiving
was that documents were typically grouped by a single identifier, such
as vendor name. MCEC associates were unable to search for a certain
document by another criterion. With the document management
system’s flexible indexing options, MCEC employees have the ability
to find and quickly retrieve invoices, purchase orders, checks and other
documents using multiple search queries, without leaving their desks.
The time savings are particularly noticeable during busy budget
periods. Managers used to go to the accounting department, locate
the correct file cabinet and then sift through a large file to find the
correct invoice. With a manual system, it could take up to 30 minutes
to locate the right document, but now the invoice is instantly available
on the manager’s desktop.
Collaboration has also improved at MCEC with concurrent
document access to multiple authorized users. Instead of sharing
a single imaging workstation or retrieving paperwork from file
cabinets, employees across the MCEC network immediately
retrieve pertinent documents regardless of their location. The entire
accounting department can view a document simultaneously, another
big time saver.
Document management is one of the initiatives that helps
MCEC remain a leader in the region. Now, after seeing that solution’s
benefits, MCEC administrators have decided to broaden the scope
of their document management project. As MCEC can devote
resources to planning expansion, it will continue to roll out document
management to streamline processes across the enterprise, extending
the solution to the human resources and administration departments
and putting it to work to manage engineering documents as well. As
the solution develops and more opportunities arise at MCEC, more
features, such as workflow, will be implemented to realize an even
greater return on investment.
When we have more information than the
W
magazine can hold, we’ll include it in the
m
online version at www.elp.com. Find the
o
iissue you want and read the rest of the
story. And while you’re there, stick around.
s
We cover the electric industry with news,
W
webcasts, podcasts, newsletters and
searchable archived issues of Electric
Light and Power.
❱❱❱❱ www.elp.com: The end of The End.
Jan|Feb|2008
0801ELP_45 45
1/31/08 10:29:17 AM
a
IT/CIS & CRM
Customer Care Transformation
Unified architecture can be the solution to customer chaos and agent vertigo.
Authors
Jon Arnold is managing
director, worldwide
utilities industry, at
Microsoft. Arnold has
more more than 25
years of IT experience,
with half of that time
in utilities. He has been
a featured speaker
at many conferences
and testified before
Congress and the FERC
on utility technology
issues. You may contact
Arnold at Jon.Arnold@
microsoft.com
An agent is signing up a valuable new customer. She or
he switches between various applications, many requiring
different log-in IDs, to describe product choices, complete
the credit check and create a new account. The next call is a
customer billing question, followed by an outage report, each
requiring the same “swivel-seat” phenomenon that puts the
agent’s focus on systems instead of the customer. Besides the
potential for a nasty case of vertigo for the agent, this backand-forth between applications lengthens calls, can lead to
costly errors and frustrates both agents and customers.
Utilities are faced with the high cost of customer
interaction and the chaos caused by higher customer
expectations and churn and employee turnover in a
competitive, deregulated market—all driving the need for
change. Major upgrades or replacing legacy applications can
be a risky, complex and costly step that many utilities are
not ready to take. Plus, these legacy systems are often highly
customized and not properly documented, putting utilities
at risk of losing needed functionality. However, the market
is forcing them to eliminate or minimize these issues and
improve their customer care process.
New information technology tools and processes are
available that enable dramatic improvements in the utility
call center, transforming the customer experience into a
competitive advantage for the company, its agents and
customers. The solution lies in creating a unified architecture
that integrates all customer care channels into one framework.
by Jon Arnold and Mark Morrison
Within this framework, all contact channels, including selfservice, are synchronized in real time.
A utility’s biggest pain points
Utilities often augment their large customer information
systems (CIS) and customer relationship management (CRM)
systems with additional applications and channel capabilities.
This leaves fragmented and separated applications for each
different task, causing productivity and quality issues. In this
scenario, system user interfaces are commonly ill-defined
and do not have a global view of the customer, which causes
agents to play the system back-and-forth game. These
multiple legacy systems create major integration problems,
do not integrate people and processes and also make training
difficult, expensive and confusing.
According to Žarko Sumić, vice president, energy and
utilities at Gartner, as utilities struggle with aging legacy
applications, giving their CIS and call center environments
a facelift instead of replacing the entire system is a practical
approach. “Modernizing the system in phases provides
immediate incremental benefits to service while also
opening the door to new channels so that utilities can remain
competitive,” said Sumić.
There are some new major CIS revisions now underway
that are designed to improve customer service and reduce
support costs. Two major utilities, one in North America and
TRANSFORMATION continued on 67
Aggregating customer information
across all interaction points
makes it easy for busy customers
to use self-service channels while
lowering the overall cost to serve.
Mark Morrison, head
of marketing and
alliances, global utilities
practice, Infosys, has
more than 15 years of
consulting, marketing
and sales experience
in the IT industry.
Source: Microsoft
0801ELP_46 46
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:21 AM
0801ELP_47 47
1/31/08 10:29:26 AM
CS Week
Is This an Era of
Transition?
In the world of meter-to-cash as well as the larger utility industry, perhaps the greatest
truism is that this business is ever-changing, ever-evolving.
An article in the Seattle Times highlighted several facets of the paradigm shift facing
gas, electric and water/wastewater utilities alike. Optimistically describing its electric
generation future last September as “gassier and windier,” within months Puget Energy
chose to sell itself to a consortium of private investors to ensure funding for the power plants and equipment
required to keep up with surging demand and to comply with sustainable energy mandates.
As with the recent privatization of TXU, the investors have committed to reduce pollution and
emissions plus increase expenditures for efficiency measures. Both utilities and their prospective owners
worked with regulatory authorities, environmental awareness groups, the public and their employees to
gain broad support for their need to change.
Although Puget Energy is the parent company of Washington state’s largest electric and gas utility,
in the larger market it is a medium-sized utility with a stagnant stock price. The company faced capital
expenditures of $5 billion over the next five years to fulfill the growth in demand for energy as well as
comply with requirements for renewable energy. That $5 billion stands in sharp contrast to the $500 million
it raised over the past five years through three stock offerings.
Does this mark an era of transition? Is the utility industry turning from mergers and foreign ownership
to privatization? Puget Energy certainly represents a modern utility driven by capital needs far beyond the
model of a merger candidate.
The national media has not yet grasped the future of increased energy and utility costs because the
reality of it is still a few years off and obscured by attention to environmental issues and global warming.
In truth, the greater story is the strategic planning and innovative solutions being developed by the
utilities, compounded by the immediate need for vast amounts of capital investments, regulatory support
and tax incentives. Public or private, investor-owned, munis or co-ops, the challenges are almost beyond
comprehension.
To meet the needs of electric, gas and water/wastewater utilities, CS Week works with recognized
leaders in the industry to identify issues impacting their businesses today and far into the future, then
focuses the workshops, CS Week College, CS Week Synergy Groups and CS Week Executive Summit on
those issues for CS Week Conference. Join us in San Antonio, Texas, May 19-23, 2008, for the energy,
expertise and commitment to education that the future demands right now.
Rod Litke, COO, CS Week
For more information, please visit www.csweek.org
0801ELP_48 48
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:29 AM
0801ELP_49 49
1/31/08 10:29:32 AM
Introducing...
the Utility Products Conference & Exposition.
Coming February 2009!
UTILITY
UTILITY PRODUCTS CONFERENCE & EXPOSITION
PRODUCTS
February 3 – 5, 2009 | San Diego Convention Center | San Diego, CA
www.utilityproductsexpo.com
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Produced by:
0801ELP_50 50
Flagship
Media Sponsor:
Supporting
Publications:
™
conference & exposition
®
1/31/08 10:29:34 AM
products
2008 Products and Services Directory
products
energy efficiency
led bulbs
LEDtronics Inc
environmental controls
electrostatic precipitators
McGill AirClean LLC
MikroPul
Pratt & Whitney
emissions monitoring
equipment
continuous
Clean Air Engineering
ECOM America
E Instruments Group LLC
Emerson Process Management
IMR Inc
IMTEK Environmental Corp
Markland Specialty Engineering
Ltd
MikroPul
MKS Instruments Inc
Puget Safety Equipment Co
Sierra Instruments Inc
The Staplex Co
multi-pollutant emissions
control
ECOM America
EMEC Americas Inc
IMR Inc
MKS Instruments Inc
3M
flue gas conditioning
Benetech Inc
ECOM America
IMR Inc
McGill AirClean LLC
Wahlco Inc
flue gas desulfurization
Babcock Power Inc
Babcock & Wilcox
McGill AirClean LLC
nitrogen oxide control
systems
selective catalytic reduction
(scr)
Babcock Power Inc
Babcock & Wilcox
Fuel Tech Inc
Pratt & Whitney
Wahlco Inc
selective non-catalytic
reduction (sncr)
Fuel Tech Inc
Wahlco Inc
0801ELP_51 51
other
Bird-X Inc
Membrana
scrubbers
Babcock & Wilcox
MikroPul
generation/power plant
equipment
boilers
Babcock & Wilcox
Bryan Boilers
Caterpillar Electric Power
International Power Machinery Co
Membrana
Pratt & Whitney
Taylor Technologies Inc
cogeneration systems
Belyea Co Inc
Cummins Power Generation
IMAL Turbo Generators
Solar Turbines Inc
Wärtsilä North America Inc
cooling towers
Condenser & Chiller Services Inc
distributed generation
equipment
Solar Turbines Inc
gas turbines
Atlantic Projects Co Inc
Belyea Co Inc
Powmat Ltd
Pratt & Whitney Power Systems
Rochem Technical Services
Siemens Power Generation
Solar Turbines Inc
large hydroelectric systems
Clifton Corp
INCON
National Electric Coil
standby power systems & ups
Chloride
Coverteam Electric Machinery
Generac Power Systems Inc
Katolight Corp
LaMarche Manufacturing Co
Lightguard
MQ Power
Russelectric Inc
S&C Electric Co
Tungstone Power Inc
Wilmore Electronics Co Inc
Winco Inc
steam generators
Areva Inc
Babcock Power Inc
Babcock & Wilcox
Bryan Boilers
Governor Control Systems Inc
steam turbines
Belyea Co Inc
Turbo Parts LLC
information systems &
technologies
am/fm/gis
Advantica
Byers Engineering Co
DeLorme Mapping
GeoSpatial Innovations Inc
NMT Corp
n Oracle Corp
(See ad page 53)
SoftWright LLC
Telvent Energy
asset management
AAID Security Solutions Inc
n Black & Veatch Enterprise
Management Solutions
(See ad page 7)
Boreas Group LLC
Daffron & Associates
Datria
DeLorme Mapping
IBM
n IBM
(See ad page 11)
INCON
Infor Public Sector
LogicaCMG Inc
MDSI Mobile Data Solutions
Mincom
n Oracle Corp
(See ad page 53)
Utility Asset Management
Sciences Inc
computer hardware
Aegis Technologies Inc
Commonwealth Associates Inc
Data Comm for Business Inc
(DCB)
DRS Tactical Systems
Gamber-Johnson LLC
Highland Technology
Industrial Defender Inc
Microhard Systems Inc
Moducom
n Oracle | SPL World Group
(See ad page 53)
Reliable Power &
Controls/Process Control
Solution
n Schweitzer Engineering
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
SunGard Energy Systems
Versitron Inc
computer software
Boreas Group LLC
Comsquared Systems Inc
Conversant Inc
CYME International T&D
ESP
Excelergy
n Exstream Software
(See ad Back Cover)
LA Grime & Associates Inc
AcroServices
Measurement Systems
International
Metavante Corp
Moducom
NeuCo Inc
NMT Corp
Primavera Systems Inc
Professional Designers &
Engineers Inc
RiskAdvisory (A Division of SAS)
SISCO Inc
The Structure Group
Sciences Inc
computer-aided design &
engineering
power plant design
Design Engineering Analysis Corp
Safe Engineering Services &
Technologies Ltd
Sumatron Inc
Walter Dow Associates Ltd
t & d line design
customer services
billing/e-billing
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:43 AM
information systems & technologies
Excelergy
n Exstream Software
(See ad Back Cover)
Infor Public Sector
Metavante Corp
Mincom
(See ad page 53)
products
customer information systems
Conversant Inc
Excelergy
IBM
Mincom
LiveData Inc
Mauell Corp
Measurement Systems
International
Metretek Inc
Microsol Inc
Phoenix Contact
SNC-Lavalin Inc
SymCom Inc
distribution automation
Advanced Control Systems
Bow Networks
n Cannon Technologies Inc
(See ad Inside Front Cover)
(See ad page 53)
customer relationship
management
EnvoyWorldWide
n Exstream Software
(See ad Back Cover)
demand response
MeterSmart
Trilliant Networks Inc
distribution automation
systems & equipment
controls & instrumentation
Acces I/O Products
Acromag Inc
Arbiter Systems
Control Center LLC
Control Microsystems
Control Technology Corp
(DCB)
Dranetz - BMI
Duncan Instruments Canada Ltd
EAO Switch Corp
Electroswitch
HD Electric Co
ICMI (Inductive Components
Manufacturing Inc)
Intek Inc
Joslyn Hi Voltage
KECO Engineered Controls
Ludeca Inc
Ltd
Mauell Corp
Phoenix Contact
Planar Systems Inc
Raytek Corp
Remote Automation Solutions
Ross Engineering Corp
Rotek Instrument Corp
S&C Electric Co
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
CGI Group Inc
Cleaveland Price Inc
Comverge Inc
Cooper Power Systems
H&L Instruments LLC
Hubbell Power Systems
Manufacturing Inc)
n Itron Inc
(See ad page 15)
Microsol Inc
Open Systems International Inc
(OSI)
S&C Electric Co
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
Telescada
Telvent
n TWACS by DCSI
(See ad page 5)
outage management systems
AFL Telecommunications
(See ad page 61)
Campbell Scientific Inc
Dranetz - BMI
ESP
Fluke Corp
H&L Instruments LLC
ICONICS
0801ELP_52 52
SISCO Inc
SNC-Lavalin Inc
SUBNET Solutions Inc
Telescada
Telvent
Telvent Energy
Triangle MicroWorks Inc
Versitron Inc
emissions trading
ESP
Triple Point Technology Inc
energy trading
NewEnergy Associates A Siemens
Co
SoftSmiths Inc
The Structure Group
risk management
FISO Technologies Inc
Co
SoftSmiths Inc
settlement
FirstPoint Energy Corp
SoftSmiths Inc
enterprise resource planning
(See ad page 35)
load management systems
CGI Group Inc
Control Center LLC
dataVoice International
GE Energy
LiveData Inc
n Oracle Corp
(See ad page 53)
Planar Systems Inc
S&C Electric Co
Tantalus Systems Corp
Telvent Miner & Miner
n Twenty First Century
Communications
(See ad page 49)
scada
Acromag Inc
n CalAmp DataCom
(See ad page 61)
Catapult Software
n Itron Inc
(See ad page 15)
Co
(OSI)
SNC-Lavalin Inc
TAC
USA Technologies
mobile computing
handheld
laptop
Gamber-Johnson LLC
pen-based
Gamber-Johnson LLC
mobile workforce
management
n CalAmp DataCom
(See ad page 61)
energy transaction software
n OpCon Technologies
(See ad page 3)
Serveron
Solon Manufacturing Co
Spirax Sarco Inc
SymCom Inc
Telescada
Tungstone Power Inc
USA Technologies
Weschler Instruments
data acquisition systems
Acces I/O Products
Arbiter Systems
Bow Networks
n CalAmp DataCom
(DCB)
Federal Pacific
GE Energy
H&L Instruments LLC
Manufacturing Inc)
ICONICS
LiveData Inc
LocateUnderground.com
Microsol Inc
Moducom
(OSI)
Planar Systems Inc
Russelectric Inc
Laboratories Inc
demand side management
systems
AEMC Instruments
Brayden Automation Corp
Catapult Software
Comverge Inc
Electro Industries/GaugeTech
MeterSmart
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
n TWACS by DCSI
(See ad page 5)
energy management systems
AES Corp
Ametek Power Instruments
Comverge Inc
Dranetz - BMI
CGI Group Inc
Datria
DeLorme Mapping
IBM
n Itron Inc
(See ad page 15)
LogicaCMG Inc
NMT Corp
(See ad page 35)
plant/process systems
controls & instrumentation
Acces I/O Products
Acromag Inc
Areva Inc
Control Center LLC
Draper Inc
EAO Switch Corp
Electroswitch
FLIR Systems
Fluke Corp
Highland Technology
Intek Inc
LaMotte Co
Ludeca Inc
Ltd
Measurement Systems
International
Membrana
MKS Instruments Inc
Motion Industries
Myron L Co
Namco Controls
Raytek Corp
Sure Flow Products LLC
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:45 AM
The Complete Solution For
Utilities
Customer Care and Billing
Network Management
Meter Data Management
Mobile Workforce Management
Load Profiling and Analysis
Work and Asset Management
Business Intelligence
Financials, CRM and More
Oracle Utilities
Comprehensive. Integrated. Mission-critical.
oracle.com/industries/utilities
or call 1.800.275.4775
Copyright © 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved. Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation and/or its affiliates.
Other names may be trademarks of their respective owners.
0801ELP_53 53
1/31/08 10:29:46 AM
power delivery equipment
products
SymCom Inc
USA Technologies
Weiss Instruments.com
WIKA Instrument Corp Electrical
WIKA Instruments Canada Ltd
performance, diagnostic,
optimization
John R Robinson Inc
Motion Industries
NeuCo Inc
Power & Energy Systems Services
UE Systems Inc
simulation software
Advantica
power delivery equipment
cable life extension
UTILX Corp
cable restoration and
condition assessment
UTILX Corp
UtilX® Corporation, the global
leader in life-extension technologies, provides proprietary
CableCURE® cable rejuvenation,
along with CableWISE™ system-wide condition assessment,
including cable testing, and has
restored more than 80 million feet
of unreliable power cable.
FLIR Systems
HD Electric Co
Highland Technology
Landis+Gyr Inc
n Reel-O-Matic
Salisbury Electrical Safety LLC
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
n Sensus Metering Systems
(See ad page 55)
n SmartSynch Inc
(See ad Inside Back Cover)
Solid State Instruments
Spirax Sarco Inc
Sumatron Inc
3M
overhead line equipment/
hardware/structures
ACA Conductor Accessories
Arnco Corp
Avistar Inc
BURNDY Products an FCI Co
GLP Hi-Tech Power Products Inc
HD Electric Co
Hercules Industries Inc
The Homac Cos
Johnson Brothers Metal Forming Co
Joslyn Hi Voltage
Power Delivery Products Inc
Radar Engineers
n Precision Quincy Corp
(See ad page 57)
meter reading equipment
n Elster Electricity LLC
(See ad page 9)
E-Mon LLC
GE Energy
Hexagram Inc
Landis+Gyr Inc
Metretek Inc
n Reel-O-Matic
(See ad page 41)
(See ad page 55)
n SmartSynch Inc
Teltone Corp
Tru-Check Inc
meters/metering devices
AEMC Instruments
Arbiter Systems
Badger Meter Inc
S&C Electric Co
Terex Utilities
power quality/conditioning
AEMC Instruments
Behlman Electronics
Calnetix
Electronic Specialists Inc
Fluke Corp
John R Robinson Inc
Megger
Meter-Treater Inc
Phoenix Electric Corp
Power Monitors Inc
Power Standards Labs
Russelectric Inc
S&C Electric Co
Tungstone Power Inc
substation equipment
Behlman Electronics
Federal Pacific
(See ad page 9)
E-Mon LLC
0801ELP_54 54
FLIR Systems
IMCORP
Johnson Brothers Metal Forming
Co
Radar Engineers
Reef Industries Inc
S&C Electric Co
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
wire & cable
(See ad page 41)
construction/structures
automatic meter reading
systems and equipment
Badger Meter Inc
G&W Electric Co
The Homac Cos
INCON
Joslyn Hi Voltage
Ox Creek Energy Associates Inc
Parkline Inc
S&C Electric Co
Alcan Cable
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
Serveron
Signalcrafters Tech Inc
Tech Products Inc
Teltone Corp
Telvent
n TWACS by DCSI
(See ad page 5)
surge suppressors/protectors
Meter-Treater Inc
Phoenix Contact
Positron Inc
SuperPower Inc
system protection equipment
Electroswitch
G&W Electric Co
IKV Tribology Ltd
Parkline Inc
Positron Inc
Reef Industries Inc
S&C Electric Co
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
Tech Products Inc
3M
3M
American Wire Group
AWG stocks power cables, bare
aluminum conductors, substation
control cables, service drop cables, guy wire - static wire, bare
copper ground wire,
copperweld/alumoweld cables,
OPGW and fiberoptic cables.
Arnco Corp
IMCORP
SuperPower Inc
3M
UTILX Corp
renewable/alternative
generation
biomass
Babcock & Wilcox
VSI Satech Inc
geothermal
small hydroelectric systems
Clifton Corp
solar/photovoltaics
VSI Satech Inc
wind power
transformers
custom
Power House Tool Inc
SuperPower Inc
distribution/padmounted
Belyea Co Inc
distribution/substation
Belyea Co Inc
Federal Pacific
Waukesha Electric Systems Inc
high-voltage
Belyea Co Inc
Positron Inc
transmission & distribution
towers and poles
underground system
equipment/hardware
Almetek Industries
Arnco Corp
Avistar Inc
G&W Electric Co
The Homac Cos
security
data/information systems
Bow Networks
Draper Inc
ICONICS
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
n SmartSynch Inc
Teltone Corp
Versitron Inc
physical
Chloride
Colorado Video Inc
Lightguard
Parkline Inc
Safety Flag Co of America
Southwest Microwave Inc
Tech Products Inc
3M
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:47 AM
0801ELP_55 55
1/31/08 10:29:50 AM
business & financial
services
business & financial
accounting
Gulf States Energy
business process outsourcing
Alliance Data
BillMatrix Corp
consulting (general)
Advantica
Ardmore Power Logistics
customer care
billing/e-billing
Alliance Data
BillMatrix Corp
n CS Week Inc
(See ad page 23, 31)
EnvoyWorldWide
n Exstream Software
(See ad Back Cover)
MasterCard International
Nexus Energy Software
(See ad page 7)
(See ad page 53)
KEMA
Power System Engineering Inc
Primesouth
Engineers Inc
Sargent & Lundy LLC
Western Union Payment Services
financial advisors/consultants
Power System Engineering Inc
Sargent & Lundy LLC
legal
n Dickstein Shapiro LLP
(See ad page 21)
marketing/public
relations/advertising
n Cross Country Home Services
(See ad page 47)
services
market research/competitive
intelligence
Gulf States Energy
Sargent & Lundy LLC
payment services
BillMatrix Corp
personnel management
Primesouth
risk management
Benetech Inc
Interliance Consulting Inc
KEMA
NYMEX
Sargent & Lundy LLC
utility debt buyer
n Asset Acceptance LLC
(See ad page 57)
call centers
American Society for Quality
The AnswerNet Network
n CS Week Inc
Datria
EnvoyWorldWide
IQ Services
NCO Financial Systems Inc
(See ad page 53)
credit & collections
(See ad page 57)
n CS Week Inc
Communications
(See ad page 49)
customer information systems
Alliance Data
(See ad page 7)
n CS Week Inc
Conversant Inc
IQ Services
TMG Consulting
customer relationship
management
n CS Week Inc
(See ad page 47)
n Exstream Software
(See ad Back Cover)
0801ELP_56 56
IQ Services
TMG Consulting
outsourcing
n CS Week Inc
(See ad page 47)
TMG Consulting
Communications
(See ad page 49)
telemarketing
n CS Week Inc
education services
classroom education
Brookfield Engineering
Laboratories Inc
International Quality Consultants
Inc
AcroServices
The Light Brigade Inc
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
SoftWright LLC
Sumatron Inc
online education
AcroServices
(See ad page 35)
energy services
aggregation
energy audits
Gulf States Energy
energy efficiency
AES Corp
Brown Engineering Co
Conco Systems Inc
(See ad page 47)
KEMA
Motion Industries
POWER Engineers
Spirax Sarco Inc
energy services company
(esco)
Corix Utilities
n Day & Zimmermann NPS
(See ad page 13)
Primesouth
monitoring & verification
AES Corp
Conco Systems Inc
Intek Inc
MeterSmart
Power Monitors Inc
Serveron
performance contracting
(See ad page 13)
project management
Bechtel Power Corp
CH2M HILL
n CS Week Inc
Corix Utilities
(See ad page 13)
Northeast Technology Corp
Reliable Power &
Solution
Technologies Ltd
Sargent & Lundy LLC
S&C Electric Co
Stanley Consultants
STV Group Inc
Utility Consultants Inc
retail services
(See ad page 47)
utility audit services
IMCORP
energy trading
power exchanges &
scheduling
Allegro
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:51 AM
testing services
NYMEX
The Structure Group
risk management
Allegro
NYMEX
environmental
air pollution control services
Benetech Inc
Fuel Tech Inc
Midwest Industrial Supply Inc
Reliable Power &
Solution
Sargent & Lundy LLC
Scott Specialty Gases
environmental engineering
Bechtel Power Corp
CH2M HILL
Clifton Corp
POWER Engineers
Sargent & Lundy LLC
Stanley Consultants
STV Group Inc
power delivery services
engineering/construction
Bechtel Power Corp
Beta Engineering
CH2M HILL
Jenike & Johanson Inc
POWER Engineers
Technologies Ltd
Sargent & Lundy LLC
S&C Electric Co
Stanley Consultants
STV Group Inc
Weidmann Systems International
meter reading services
Corix Utilities
Tru-Check Inc
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tree-trimming
Terex Utilities
information technology
Doble Engineering Co
Enspiria Solutions Inc
n IBM
(See ad page 11)
KEMA
data conversion
gis services
n Autodesk
(See ad page 59)
n ESRI
(See ad page 63)
POWER Engineers
it consulting
n CS Week Inc
Rolta International Inc
Sargent & Lundy LLC
Telvent Energy
TMG Consulting
supply chain/e-procurement
systems integration
Catapult Software
n CS Week Inc
LogicaCMG Inc
Mauell Corp
POWER Engineers
Laboratories Inc
(See ad page 3)
SISCO Inc
0801ELP_57 57
security services
cybersecurity
KEMA
Laboratories Inc
Nationwide Purchaser of Charged-off Debt Since 1962
services
asset management
Aaron Schwartz 586.446.1837
www.AssetAcceptance.com/elp
(See ad page 3)
testing services
analytical
American Stress Technologies Inc
Laboratories Inc
Fuel Quality Services Inc
Laboratory Services
The M&P Lab
cable assessment testing
UTILX Corp
combustion diagnostics &
testing
Gas Turbine Efficiency Inc
inspection services
American Stress Technologies Inc
Areva Inc
Conco Systems Inc
Condenser & Chiller Services Inc
International Quality Consultants
Inc
Laboratory Services
Osmose Utilities Services Inc
Ox Creek Energy Associates Inc
S&C Electric Co
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:52 AM
companies
Alcan Cable
Areva Inc
Beta Engineering
Peachtree City, GA; 770-632-8878,
toll-free: 866-800-2243; FAX:
770-632-8810;
[email protected];
www.autoaccessid.com
Atlanta, GA; 770-394-9886; FAX:
770-395-0005;
[email protected];
www.cable.alcan.com
Lynchburg, VA; 434-832-3000; FAX:
434-832-3840; www.us.areva.com
Pineville, LA; 318-487-9599; FAX:
318-442-1741; george.brashear@
betaengineering.com;
www.betaengineering.com
Dallas, TX; 214-237-8000; FAX:
214-526-7076; [email protected];
www.allegrodev.com
Duncan, SC; 864-486-7361, toll-free:
800-866-3454; FAX: 801-749-0000;
[email protected];
www.acasolutions.com
Acces I/O Products
San Diego, CA; 858-550-9559,
toll-free: 800-326-1649; FAX:
858-550-7322;
[email protected];
www.accesio.com
Accurate Controls CRS Inc
Braintree, MA; 617-872-2610; FAX:
781-843-7053;
[email protected];
www.accuratecontrolsinc.com
Acromag Inc
Wixom, MI; 248-295-0880, toll-free:
800-881-0268; FAX: 248-624-9234;
[email protected];
www.acromag.com
Allegro
Alliance Data
Dallas, TX; 972-348-5100; FAX:
972-348-5106;
[email protected];
www.alliancedata.com/utility
Almetek Industries
Hackettstown, NJ; 908-850-9700;
FAX: 908-850-9618;
www.almetek.com
Ambient Corp
Newton, MA; 617-332-0004; FAX:
617-332-7260;
[email protected];
www.ambientcorp.com
Milwaukee, WI; 800-248-1946; FAX:
www.asq.org
American Stress Technologies
Inc
Cheswick, PA; 724-410-1030; FAX:
www.astresstech.com
Norcross, GA; 770-446-8854,
toll-free: 800-831-7223; FAX:
770-448-0957;
[email protected];
www.acsatlanta.com
Advantica
Mechanicsburg, PA; 717-724-1900;
FAX: 717-724-1901;
[email protected];
www.advanticagroup.com
American Superconductor
Westborough, MA; 508-836-4200;
FAX: 508-836-4714
American Wire Group
Arnco Corp
Elyria, OH; 440-322-1000, toll-free:
800-321-7914; FAX: 440-322-1001;
[email protected];
www.arncocorp.com
Asplundh
Willow Grove, PA; 215-784-4214;
FAX: 215-784-4405
Warren, MI; 586-446-1837;
[email protected];
www.assetacceptance.com
(See ad page 57)
Manchester, VT; 802-362-2114; FAX:
802-362-2119;
[email protected];
www.atlanticprojects.com
Avistar Inc
Albuquerque, NM; 800-687-4196;
FAX: 505-241-2485;
[email protected];
www.avistarinc.com
Babcock Power Inc
Worcester, MA; 508-852-7100; FAX:
508-854-3800;
[email protected];
www.babcockpower.com
Hallandale, FL; 954-455-3050,
toll-free: 800-342-7215; FAX:
www.buyawg.com
Babcock & Wilcox
Badger Meter Inc
Barberton, OH; 330-735-4511; FAX:
www.babcock.com
Wausau, WI; 715-843-3072; FAX:
715-843-3270; www.aegistech.us
414-371-5932;
[email protected];
www.badgermeter.com
Bechtel Power Corp
Phoenix, AZ; 602-443-5000, toll-free:
800-564-1223; FAX: 602-889-6117;
www.aegistech.us
Rochester, NY; 585-263-7700; FAX:
585-262-4777;
www.ametekpower.com
Frederick, MD; 301-228-6000;
www.bechtel.com
AEMC Instruments
Hauppauge, NY; 631-435-0410,
toll-free: 800-874-6727; FAX:
www.behlman.com
Foxborough, MA; 508-698-2115,
toll-free: 800-343-1391; FAX:
www.aemc.com
companies
AES Corp
Peabody, MA; 978-826-7660; FAX:
978-535-7313;
[email protected];
www.advancedamr.com
Spartanburg, SC; 864-433-0333,
toll-free: 800-235-3423; FAX:
www.afltele.com
Albert Products Inc
Springfield, IL; 217-529-9600;
www.carhoe.com
0801ELP_58 58
Princeton, NJ; 609-921-7450,
toll-free: 866-229-7180; FAX:
609-688-8709;
[email protected];
www.answernet.com
Behlman Electronics
Arbiter Systems
Paso Robles, CA; 800-321-3831;
FAX: 805-238-5717;
[email protected]; www.arbiter.com
Lakewood, OH; 216-502-0640,
toll-free: 800-220-0971; FAX:
216-502-0641;
[email protected];
www.ardmorelogistics.com
BillMatrix Corp
Dallas, TX; 214-750-2700, toll-free:
800-596-0221;
[email protected];
www.billmatrix.com
Bird-X Inc
Chicago, IL; 312-226-2473, toll-free:
800-662-5021; FAX: 312-226-2480;
[email protected];
www.bird-x.com/elp
Overland Park, KS; 913-458-3440;
[email protected];
www.bv.com/consult
(See ad page 7)
Booz Allen Hamilton
Dallas, TX; 214-746-6553
Boreas Group LLC
Denver, CO; 303-744-2108; FAX:
303-744-2128;
[email protected];
www.boreasgroup.us
Bow Networks
Calgary, Canada; 403-640-8412;
[email protected];
www.bownetworks.com
Loveland, CO; 970-461-9600,
toll-free: 888-272-9336; FAX:
www.brayden.com
Laboratories Inc
Middleboro, MA; 508-946-6200;
FAX: 508-946-6262;
[email protected];
www.brookfieldengineering.com
Des Moines, IA; 515-331-1325; FAX:
515-331-1375;
[email protected];
www.brownengineeringcompany.com
Applied Metering Technologies
Pico Rivera, CA; 562-801-5688; FAX:
562-801-5689;
[email protected];
www.appliedmetering.com
Woodstock, IL; 888-743-7320; FAX:
815-356-3051;
[email protected];
www.outriggerpads.com
n Autodesk
San Rafael, CA; 415-507-5000;
FAX: 415-507-5100;
www.autodesk.com
(See ad page 59)
Wilmington, MA; 978-988-4903;
FAX: 978-988-4990;
[email protected];
www.ametekpower.com
Aegis
Bigfoot Construction
Equipment Inc
Belyea Co Inc
Easton, PA; 610-515-8775; FAX:
610-515-1263;
[email protected];
www.belyeapower.com
Benetech Inc
Montgomery, IL; 630-844-1300,
toll-free: 800-843-2625; FAX:
630-844-0064;
[email protected];
www.benetechusa.com
Bryan Boilers
Peru, IN; 765-473-6651; FAX:
765-473-3074;
www.bryanboilers.com
Bullex Digital Safety
Menands, NY; 518-689-2023,
toll-free: 888-428-5539; FAX:
518-689-2034;
[email protected];
www.bullexsafety.com
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:55 AM
Autodesk: Leveraging Design
to Improve Asset Information
Utility Industry Challenges
The Autodesk Approach
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fh[Z_Yjij^WjZ[cWdZ\eh[b[Yjh_Y_jom_bb_dYh[Wi['/f[hY[djdWj_edm_Z[
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Efficiency:J^[h[_ih_i_d]Yedikc[h_dj[h[ijWdZfWhj_Y_fWj_ed_d
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Knowledge Transfer:Kj_b_j_[im_bb^Wl[jeYef[m_j^j^[h[j_h[c[dj
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M_j^7kjeZ[iaiebkj_edi"kj_b_j_[iYWd[nj[dZj^[h[WY^WdZlWbk[e\
“Autodesk solutions for utilities make it easy for all
departments to integrate, access and share design and
as-built information--in their business processes.”
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Asset Information
Challenges
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Do more with less:JkhdekjgkWb_jomehagk_Yaboiej^[oYWd0
8k_bZijWdZWhZ_pWj_ed_djej^[[d]_d[[h_d]fheY[ii
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Get the right information to the right people at the right time.
M_j^7kjeZ[ia"kj_b_j_[iYWdb[l[hW][Z[i_]dje_cfhel[Xki_d[iifheY[ii
WdZZWjWgkWb_jo$
JOAN THARP, INGENUITY COMMUNICATIONS
autodesk.com/utilities
7kjeZ[ia_iWh[]_ij[h[ZjhWZ[cWhae\7kjeZ[ia"?dY$"_dj^[KI7WdZ%ehej^[hYekdjh_[i$7bbej^[hXhWdZdWc[i"fheZkYjdWc[i"ehjhWZ[cWhaiX[bed]jej^[_hh[if[Yj_l[êbZ[hi$7kjeZ[iah[i[hl[ij^[h_]^jje
Wbj[hfheZkYje\\[h_d]iWdZif[Y_ÅYWj_ediWjWdoj_c[m_jêkjdej_Y["WdZ_idejh[ifedi_Xb[\ehjofe]hWf^_YWbeh]hWf^_YWb[hhehij^WjcWoWff[Wh_dj^_iZeYkc[dj$(&&-7kjeZ[ia"?dY$7bbh_]^jih[i[hl[Z$
0801ELP_59 59
1/31/08 10:29:57 AM
Burlington Safety Laboratory Inc
Burlington Safety Laboratory
Inc
Burlington, NJ; 609-387-3404,
toll-free: 800-220-2120; FAX:
609-387-3406;
vo’[email protected];
www.burlingtonsafety.com
Manchester, NH; 800-346-4175;
FAX: 800-346-9826;
[email protected];
www.fciconnect.com
Burns & McDonnell
Engineering
Kansas City, MO; 816-333-9400;
FAX: 816-333-3690;
[email protected];
www.burnsmcd.com
Atlanta, GA; 404-843-1000, toll-free:
888-263-6447; FAX: 404-843-2000;
[email protected]; www.byers.com
n CalAmp DataCom
Waseca, MN; 507-833-8819; FAX:
507-833-6748;
[email protected]
(See ad page 61)
Calnetix
Cerritos, CA; 562-293-1660; FAX:
www.calnetix.com
Logan, UT; 435-753-2342;
[email protected];
www.campbellsci.com
Minneapolis, MN; 763-595-7777;
FAX: 763-595-7776;
[email protected];
www.cannontech.com
Catapult Software
Auckland, New Zealand;
649-489-9944, toll-free:
888-489-9949; FAX: 649-489-9955;
[email protected];
www.catapultsoftware.com
Mossville, IL; 309-578-6298,
toll-free: 800-321-7332; FAX:
www.cat-electricpower.com
CCH Group
Riverwoods, IL; 847-267-7000
Chloride
Burgaw, NC; 910-259-1000; FAX:
800-258-8803;
www.chloridesys.com/contactus.asp
Christie Digital Systems
Cypress, CA; 714-236-8610,
toll-free: 866-880-4462; FAX:
714-503-3375;
[email protected];
www.christiedigital.com
n CS Week Inc
Sherman, TX; 903-893-3214; FAX:
903-893-6136;
[email protected];
www.csweek.org
Palatine, IL; 847-991-3300; FAX:
www.cleanair.com
Condenser & Chiller Services
Inc
Chino, CA; 800-356-1932; FAX:
909-590-3446;
[email protected];
www.ccs-tubes.com
Continental Field Machining
Vr-TESCO LLC
(CFM/VR-TESCO LLC)
Elgin, IL; 800-323-1393; FAX:
847-895-7006;
[email protected];
www.globalfield.net
Control Center LLC
Orlando, FL; 407-304-5200; FAX:
407-304-5201;
[email protected];
www.controlcenter.net
Trafford, PA; 724-864-4177;
[email protected];
www.cleavelandprice.com
Kanata, Canada; 613-591-1943,
toll-free: 888-267-2232; FAX:
613-591-1022;
[email protected];
www.controlmicrosystems.com
Click Software
Cleaveland Price Inc
Burlington, MA; 781-272-5903; FAX:
781-272-6409
Clifford of Vermont/A Power &
Telephone Co
Bethel, VT; 800-451-4381; FAX:
802-234-5006;
[email protected];
www.cliffordvt.com
Clifton Corp
Clifton, SC; 864-579-2000;
[email protected]
Colorado Video Inc
Boulder, CO; 303-530-9580,
toll-free: 877-247-0349; FAX:
303-530-9568;
[email protected];
www.colorado-video.com
Commonwealth Associates
Inc
Jackson, MI; 517-788-3000; FAX:
517-788-3003;
[email protected];
www.cai-engr.com
Norcross, GA; 800-592-3766; FAX:
770-734-5379;
[email protected];
www.comsquared.com
Comverge Inc
companies
East Hanover, NJ; 973-884-5970,
toll-free: 888-525-5565; FAX:
973-884-3504;
[email protected];
www.comverge.com
Hopkinton, MA; 508-435-9595,
toll-free: 888-818-2600; FAX:
508-435-2373;
[email protected];
www.ctc-control.com
Conversant Inc
Joplin, MO; 800-770-8047; FAX:
417-781-6859;
[email protected];
www.conversantinc.com
Pewaukee, WI; 877-277-4636; FAX:
262-691-9330;
[email protected];
www.cooperpower.com
Montreal, Canada; 514-845-6195;
FAX: 514-227-5256;
[email protected];
www.cybectec.com
Corix Utilities
Surrey, Canada; 604-575-3330,
toll-free: 866-575-3330; FAX:
604-575-3429;
[email protected];
www.corix.com
Corning Optical Fiber
Corning, NY; 607-248-2000, toll-free:
www.corning.com
FAX: 612-378-8051;
www.converteam.com
CGI Group Inc
Montreal, Canada; 514-228-8800,
toll-free: 800-390-6033 ext 3768;
FAX: 514-228-8878;
[email protected];
www.utilitysolutions.cgi.com
CH2M HILL
Englewood, CO; 303-771-0900,
toll-free: 888-242-6445; FAX:
720-286-9250;
[email protected];
www.ch2mhill.com
0801ELP_60 60
Minneapolis, MN; 763-574-5000,
toll-free: 877-769-7669; FAX:
763-574-5298;
[email protected];
www.cumminspower.com
www.cyme.com
Bowling Green, MO; 314-569-9693,
toll-free: 800-325-0208; FAX:
314-569-9679;
[email protected];
www.daffron.com
(DCB)
Dewey, IL; 800-432-2638; FAX:
www.dcbnet.com
Datamatic
Plano, TX; 800-880-2878; FAX:
www.datamatic.com
Allen, TX; 972-390-8808; FAX:
972-359-7864;
[email protected];
www.datavoiceint.com
Datria
Englewood, CO; 303-728-1300,
toll-free: 800-583-9509; FAX:
www.datria.com
Lancaster, PA; 717-481-5600; FAX:
717-481-5615;
[email protected];
www.dznps.com
(See ad page 13)
Del Mar Avionics
Irvine, CA; 949-250-3200, toll-free:
800-854-0481; FAX: 949-261-0529;
[email protected]; www.dma.com
DeLorme Mapping
Yarmouth, ME; 207-846-7000; FAX:
207-846-7054;
[email protected];
www.delorme.com
Design Engineering Analysis
Corp
Canonsburg, PA; 724-743-3322;
FAX: 724-743-0934; [email protected];
www.deac.com
n Dickstein Shapiro LLP
Washington, DC; 202-420-2200;
FAX: 202-420-2201;
www.dicksteinshapiro.com
(See ad page 21)
Diversified Technologies
Services Inc
Conco Systems Inc
Verona, PA; 412-828-1166,
toll-free: 800-345-3476; FAX:
412-826-8255;
[email protected];
www.concosystems.com
n Cross Country Home
Knoxville, TN; 865-539-9000; FAX:
www.dts9000.com
Services
Ft Lauderdale, FL; 866-603-8585;
FAX: 954-846-2401;
[email protected];
www.crosscountry-home.com
(See ad page 47)
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:29:58 AM
Federal Pacific
Electroswitch
Weymouth, MA; 781-335-5200; FAX:
781-335-4253;
[email protected];
www.electroswitch.com
Watertown, MA; 617-926-4900;
FAX: 617-926-0528;
[email protected];
www.doble.com
Raleigh, NC; 919-212-4800;
[email protected];
www.elsterelectricity.com
(See ad page 9)
Donaldson Co Inc
EMEC Americas Inc
FAX: 952-887-3843;
[email protected];
www.donaldson.com
Ashby, MA; 978-368-0000, toll-free:
800-998-3632; FAX: 978-386-0002;
[email protected];
www.emecamericas.com
Dranetz - BMI
Emerson Process
Management
Edison, NJ; 732-287-3680, toll-free:
800-372-6832; FAX: 732-248-1834;
[email protected];
www.dranetz-bmi.com
Draper Inc
Spiceland, IN; 765-987-7999; FAX:
www.draperinc.com
Melbourne, FL; 321-727-3672; FAX:
321-725-0496;
[email protected];
www.drs-ts.com/walkabout
Duncan Instruments Canada
Ltd
Toronto, Canada; 416-742-4448;
FAX: 416-749-5053;
[email protected];
www.duncaninstr.com
EAO Switch Corp
Milford, CT; 203-877-4577; FAX:
203-877-3694;
[email protected];
www.eaoswitch.com
Pittsburgh, PA; 412-963-4000; FAX:
412-963-3644;
[email protected];
www.emersonprocess-powerwater.com
Emerson Process
Management
Solon, OH; 440-914-1261, toll-free:
800-433-6076; FAX: 440-914-1271;
[email protected];
www.raihome.com
E-Mon LLC
Langhorne, PA; 215-752-0601,
toll-free: 800-334-3666; FAX:
www.emon.com
Greenwood Village, CO;
303-741-8400; FAX: 303-799-6766;
[email protected];
www.enspiria.com
Envision Utility Software Corp
Eaton Cutler-Hammer
San Marcos, TX; 512-353-6000;
FAX: 512-392-5428;
[email protected];
www.envworld.com
Moon Township, PA; 412-893-3300;
FAX: 412-893-2129
EnvoyWorldWide
ECOM America
Gainesville, GA; 770-532-3280,
toll-free: 877-326-6411; FAX:
770-532-3620;
[email protected];
www.ecomusa.com
EDS Utilities Division
Plano, TX; 972-605-5159; FAX:
972-605-5097; www.eds.com
Langhorne, PA; 215-750-1212; FAX:
215-750-1399;
[email protected];
www.einstrumentsgroup.com
Electrical Builders Inc
Clear Lake, MN; 320-743-5511,
toll-free: 877-297-0616; FAX:
320-267-3655;
www.electricalbuilders.com
Westbury, NY; 516-334-0870; FAX:
516-338-4741;
[email protected];
www.electroind.com
Natick, MA; 508-655-1532, toll-free:
800-225-4876; FAX: 508-653-0268;
[email protected];
www.elect-spec.com
Electro Rent Corp
Duluth, GA; 770-813-3008, toll-free:
800-688-1111 ext 3008; FAX:
770-813-6906; www.electrorent.com
0801ELP_61 61
Bedford, MA; 781-482-2100; FAX:
781-482-2199;
[email protected];
www.envoyworldwide.com
ESP
Mountain View, CA; 650-968-9000;
FAX: 650-691-6984;
[email protected];
www.esp-net.com
n ESRI
Redlands, CA; 909-793-2853; FAX:
909-793-5953; www.esri.com
(See ad page 63)
ETAP-Operation Technology
Inc
companies
Irvine, CA; 949-462-0100, toll-free:
800-477-3827; FAX: 949-462-0200;
[email protected]; www.etap.com
Excelergy
Lexington, MA; 781-372-5000;
[email protected];
www.excelergy.com
n Exstream Software
Lexington, KY; 859-296-0600; FAX:
www.exstream.com
(See ad Back Cover)
Federal Pacific
Bristol, VA; 276-669-4084; FAX:
276-669-1869;
[email protected];
www.federalpacific.com
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:00 AM
First Data
n Itron Inc
Liberty Lake, WA; 800-635-5461;
FAX: 509-891-3932;
www.itron.com
(See ad page 15)
First Data
ICONICS
Omaha, NE; 402-222-6214; FAX:
402-222-5588; www.firstdata.com
Ft Lauderdale, FL; 954-462-7404;
FAX: 954-761-8768;
[email protected];
www.govconsys.com
Foxborough, MA; 508-543-8600;
FAX: 508-543-1503;
[email protected]; www.iconics.com
Gulf States Energy
Monmouth, UK; 44-16-008-69120;
FAX: 44-16-008-69101;
[email protected];
www.ikvlubricants.com
Itronix
Fort Worth, TX; 817-738-4709; FAX:
817-738-2573;
www.gseconsultinglp.com
G&W Electric Co
Blue Island, IL; 708-388-5010; FAX:
708-388-0755; www.gwelec.com
Simpsonville, SC; 864-963-8147;
FAX: 864-963-8148;
[email protected];
www.investco-industrial.co.uk
Tyngsboro, MA; 978-648-3300; FAX:
978-649-3399;
[email protected];
www.jenike.com
IMCORP
John R Robinson Inc
Storrs-Mansfield, CT; 870-427-7620;
FAX: 860-427-7619;
[email protected];
www.imcorptech.com
Long Island City, NY; 718-786-6088;
FAX: 718-786-6090;
[email protected];
www.johnrrobinsoninc.com
IMR Inc
Johnson Brothers Metal
Forming Co
Beaverton, OR; 503-425-5100; FAX:
503-425-5010; www.firstpoint.com
Quebec, Canada; 418-688-8065;
www.fiso.com
HD Electric Co
Waukegan, IL; 847-473-4980; FAX:
847-473-4981;
www.hdelectriccompany.com
FLIR Systems
North Billerica, MA; 978-901-8000;
www.goinfrared.com
Fluke Corp
Everett, WA; 425-347-6100, toll-free:
800-443-5853; FAX: 425-446-5116;
[email protected];
www.fluke.com
Fuel Quality Services Inc
Flowery Branch, GA; 770-967-9790,
toll-free: 800-827-9790; FAX:
www.fqsinc.com
Fuel Tech Inc
Batavia, IL; 630-845-4500; FAX:
630-845-4501;
[email protected];
www.ftek.com
Gamber-Johnson LLC
Stevens Point, WI; 715-344-3482,
toll-free: 800-456-6868; FAX:
715-344-8845;
[email protected];
www.gamberjohnson.com
Gartside Consulting LLC
Bethel Park, PA; 412-835-1406; FAX:
412-835-1406;
[email protected];
www.gartsideconsulting.com
Gas Turbine Efficiency Inc
Prospect, OH; 740-494-2628,
toll-free: 800-345-2590; FAX:
740-494-2274;
[email protected];
www.herculock.com
Hexagram Inc
Cleveland, OH; 216-896-8600,
toll-free: 800-969-1057; FAX:
www.hexagram.com
Highland Technology
North Hampton, NH; 603-964-1818;
FAX: 603-964-8881;
[email protected];
www.hlinstruments.com
Mansfield, MA; 508-337-0300; FAX:
508-337-0399;
[email protected];
www.industrialdefender.com
The Homac Cos
Industrial Magnetics Inc
Ormond Beach, FL; 386-677-9110;
FAX: 386-673-5497;
[email protected];
www.homac.com
Boyne City, MI; 231-582-3100; FAX:
www.magnetics.com
Honeywell DMC Services
Rancho Cordova, CA;
916-921-0883, toll-free:
800-821-9316; FAX: 916-921-6620;
www.infor.com
Westminster, MD; 781-231-7605;
FAX: 781-307-4375
Hunt Technologies
companies
Atlanta, GA; 678-844-5476; FAX:
678-844-7300;
[email protected];
www.ge.com/energy
Pequot Lakes, MN; 218-562-4877;
FAX: 218-562-4878;
www.hunttech.com
Generac Power Systems Inc
Glendale Heights, IL; 800-860-6170;
FAX: 800-345-3767;
[email protected];
www.huskietools.com
GLP Hi-Tech Power Products
Inc
St Jean sur Richleiu, Canada;
450-347-0177, toll-free:
877-348-4918; FAX: 450-347-8077;
[email protected];
www.glppower.com
0801ELP_62 62
Alpharetta, GA; 770-667-8621; FAX:
www.noodor.com
H&L Instruments LLC
GE Energy
Austin, TX; 512-401-0031; FAX:
www.gsiworks.com
INCON
Centralia, MO; 573-682-5521; FAX:
573-682-8714;
[email protected];
www.hubbellpowersystems.com
St Petersburg, FL; 727-328-2818,
toll-free: 800-746-4467; FAX:
www.imrusa.com
San Francisco, CA; 415-551-1700;
FAX: 415-551-5129;
[email protected];
www.highlandtechnology.com
Orlando, FL; 407-304-5200; FAX:
407-304-5201;
[email protected];
www.controlcenter.net
Waukesha, WI; 262-544-4811,
toll-free: 888-436-3722; FAX:
262-968-3791;
[email protected];
www.generac.com
IKV Tribology Ltd
Huskie Tools Inc
n IBM
White Plains, NY; 914-642-9165;
FAX: 914-642-5793
(See ad page 11)
IBM
Bedford, MA; 800-244-3346; FAX:
www.mro.com
Manufacturing Inc)
Saco, ME; 800-872-3455; FAX:
www.incon.com
Infor Public Sector
Intek Inc
Westerville, OH; 614-895-0301,
toll-free: 800-743-6822; FAX:
www.intekflow.com
Santa Ana, CA; 714-540-8889; FAX:
www.interliance.com
International Power
Machinery Co
Cleveland, OH; 216-621-9514; FAX:
www.intlpwr.com
International Quality
Consultants Inc
Butler, PA; 724-284-3738; FAX:
724-284-1310;
[email protected];
www.iqcconsulting.com
IQ Services
Spokane, WA; 509-624-6600; FAX:
www.itronix.com
Berkeley, IL; 708-449-7050; FAX:
www.johnsonrollforming.com
Joslyn Hi Voltage
Cleveland, OH; 216-271-6600,
toll-free: 800-621-5875; FAX:
www.joslynhvoltage.com
Katolight Corp
Mankato, MN; 507-625-7973,
toll-free: 800-325-5450; FAX:
www.katolight.com
Lakewood, NJ; 732-901-5900; FAX:
www.kecocontrols.com
KEMA
781-229-4867;
[email protected];
www.kema.com
KEMA Consulting
Englewood, CO; 303-708-9355; FAX:
303-708-9356
Kinetrics Inc
Toronto, Canada; 416-207-5970
Laboratory Services
Jackson, MI; 517-788-2238, toll-free:
800-736-4147; FAX: 517-788-1104;
www.laboratoryservices.com
AcroServices
Perrysburg, OH; 419-872-9999;
[email protected];
www.acroservices.com
LaMarche Manufacturing Co
Des Plaines, IL; 847-299-1188; FAX:
847-299-3061;
[email protected];
www.lamarchemfg.com
LaMotte Co
Chestertown, MD; 800-344-3100;
FAX: 410-778-6394;
[email protected];
www.lamotte.com
www.iq-services.com
Amelia, OH; 513-752-4731, toll-free:
866-877-4264; FAX: 513-752-4738;
[email protected];
www.icmiinc.com
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:03 AM
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G28800 I El G
0801ELP_63 63
Ad l
1 08 i dd 1
12/31/07 10 50 56 AM
1/31/08 10:30:09 AM
Landis+Gyr Inc
Landis+Gyr Inc
Meeco Inc
Moducom
Norman N Axelrod Associates
Lafayette, IN; 765-742-1001; FAX:
765-429-2667; www.landisgyr.us
Warrington, PA; 215-343-6600,
toll-free: 800-641-6478; FAX:
www.meeco.com
North Hollywood, CA; 818-764-1333,
toll-free: 800-845-0128; FAX:
818-764-1992;
[email protected];
www.moducom.com
New York, NY; 212-741-6302;
[email protected];
www.axelrodassociates.com
LEDtronics Inc
Torrance, CA; 800-579-4875; FAX:
310-534-1424; www.ledtronics.com
The Light Brigade Inc
Tukwila, WA; 206-575-0404,
toll-free: 800-451-7128; FAX:
206-575-0405;
[email protected];
www.lightbrigade.com
Lightguard
Burgaw, NC; 910-259-1131; FAX:
800-403-6927; www.lightguard.com
LIM Logical Information
Machines
Houston, TX; 713-652-4066,
toll-free: 800-546-9646; FAX:
www.lim.com
LiveData Inc
Cambridge, MA; 617-576-6900; FAX:
www.livedata.com
Gallatin, TN; 615-989-1576; FAX:
615-989-1576;
[email protected];
www.locateunderground.com
LogicaCMG Inc
Houston, TX; 713-954-7000,
toll-free: 800-334-7101; FAX:
713-785-0880;
www.logicacmg.com/us
Ludeca Inc
Doral, FL; 305-591-8935; FAX:
www.ludeca.com
Lufkin Industries Inc
Lufkin, TX; 936-637-5224; FAX:
936-633-3916;
[email protected];
www.lufkin.com
Markland Specialty
Engineering Ltd
FAX: 416-244-2287;
[email protected];
www.sludgecontrols.com
Purchase, NY;
[email protected];
www.mastercardmerchant.com
Mauell Corp
Megger
Norristown, PA; 610-676-8500,
toll-free: 800-723-2861; FAX:
610-676-8610; www.megger.com
Megger
Dallas, TX; 800-723-2861; FAX:
www.megger.com
Membrana
Charlotte, NC; 704-587-8888; FAX:
www.liqui-cel.com
Metavante Corp
414-362-1719;
[email protected];
www.metavante.com
MeterSmart
Arlington, TX; 866-944-4868; FAX:
817-652-1935;
[email protected];
www.metersmart.com
Meter-Treater Inc
Lake Park, FL; 800-638-3788; FAX:
561-848-2372;
[email protected];
www.metertreater.com
Metretek Inc
Melbourne, FL; 321-259-9700; FAX:
321-259-2900;
[email protected];
www.metretekfl.com
FAX: 403-248-2762;
[email protected];
www.microhardcorp.com
Microsol Inc
Seymour, CT; 203-888-3002; FAX:
www.microsol.com
Canton, OH; 330-456-3121, toll-free:
800-321-0699; FAX: 330-456-3247;
[email protected];
www.midwestind.com
MikroPul
Charlotte, NC; 704-998-2600,
toll-free: 800-892-7278; FAX:
www.mikropul.com
companies
Dillsburg, PA; 717-432-8686; FAX:
717-432-8688;
[email protected];
www.mauell-us.com
Richmond, Canada; 604-207-6000;
www.mdsi.ca
Measurement Systems
International
Seattle, WA; 206-433-0199; FAX:
www.msiscales.com
0801ELP_64 64
Birmingham, AL; 205-956-1122,
toll-free: 800-526-9328; FAX:
205-957-5290;
[email protected];
www.motionindustries.com
Mincom
Englewood, CO; 303-446-9000;
FAX: 303-446-8664;
[email protected];
www.mincom.com
MKS Instruments Inc
Wilmington, MA; 978-284-4000,
toll-free: 800-227-8766; FAX:
www.mksinst.com
Kingston, NY; 845-331-8511; FAX:
845-331-8521;
[email protected]
NYMEX
Motorola Inc
New York, NY; 212-299-2301; FAX:
212-301-4570;
[email protected];
www.nymex.com
Schaumburg, IL; 847-576-4116;
FAX: 847-538-7163
OMICRON electronics
The M&P Lab
Schenectady, NY; 518-382-0082;
FAX: 518-382-1182;
[email protected];
www.the-mandp-lab.com
Houston, TX; 713-830-4660,
toll-free: 800-664-2766; FAX:
713-830-4661;
[email protected];
www.omicronusa.com
MQ Power
Rancho Dominguez, CA;
310-631-5111, toll-free:
800-883-2551; FAX: 310-632-2656;
[email protected];
www.mqpower.com
Myron L Co
Carlsbad, CA; 760-438-2021; FAX:
www.myronl.com
Namco Controls
Lancaster, SC; 800-626-8324; FAX:
800-678-6263;
[email protected];
www.namcocontrols.com
Columbus, OH; 614-488-1151; FAX:
614-488-8892;
[email protected];
www.national-electric-coil.com
Horsham, PA; 800-220-2274; FAX:
215-441-3844;
[email protected];
www.ncogroup.com
NeuCo Inc
Boston, MA; 617-587-3160; FAX:
www.neuco.net
San Francisco, CA; 415-439-5389;
[email protected];
www.opcontech.com
(See ad page 35)
Open Systems International
Inc (OSI)
www.osii.com
n Oracle Corp
Redwood Shores, CA;
650-506-7000; FAX: 650-506-7200;
[email protected];
www.oracle.com
(See ad page 53)
Morristown, NJ; 800-275-4775;
FAX: 973-539-3785;
[email protected];
www.splwg.com
(See ad page 53)
OSIsoft
San Leandro, CA; 425-898-1760;
www.osisoft.com
NewEnergy Associates A
Siemens Co
Atlanta, GA; 770-779-2800; FAX:
770-779-1024;
[email protected];
www.newenergyassoc.com
New York Mercantile
Exchange (NYMEX)
New York, NY; 212-299-2301; FAX:
212-301-4570;
[email protected];
www.nymex.com
McGill AirClean LLC
Columbus, OH; 614-829-1200; FAX:
614-445-8759;
[email protected];
www.mcgillairclean.com
Motion Industries
Wellesley, MA; 781-694-3300; FAX:
781-694-3200;
[email protected];
www.nexusenergy.com
NMT Corp
La Crosse, WI; 608-781-0850,
toll-free: 800-236-0850; FAX:
www.nmt.com
Osmose Utilities Services Inc
Buffalo, NY; 716-882-5905; FAX:
www.osmoseutilities.com
Ox Creek Energy Associates
Inc
Montello, WI; 800-531-6232; FAX:
www.specialcamera.com
Parkline Inc
Winfield, WV; 304-586-2113; FAX:
304-586-3842;
[email protected];
www.parkline.com
PennWell MAPSearch
Houston, TX; 713-963-6200; FAX:
713-963-6285;
[email protected];
www.mapsearch.com
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:11 AM
Phoenix Contact
Safety Flag Co of America
Harrisburg, PA; 717-944-1300; FAX:
717-944-1625;
[email protected];
www.phoenixcon.com
Central Falls, RI; 800-556-7584; FAX:
www.safetyflag.com
Boston, MA; 781-821-0200; FAX:
781-828-5719;
[email protected];
www.pec-usa.biz
Planar Systems Inc
Beaverton, OR; 503-748-1100; FAX:
503-582-8570;
[email protected];
www.planarcontrolroom.com
Positron Inc
toll-free: 888-577-5254; FAX:
514-345-2271;
[email protected];
www.positronpower.com
Powel-MiniMax
St Paul, MN; 888-990-7591; FAX:
651-251-3006;
[email protected];
www.powelminimax.com
www.powerdeliveryproducts.com
Power & Energy Systems
Services
Oradell, NJ; 201-638-4635; FAX:
201-265-1516; [email protected]
Powmat Ltd
Ballston Lake, NY; 518-877-8518;
FAX: 518-877-8523;
[email protected];
www.powmat.com
Pratt & Whitney
Bellevue, WA; 425-278-2448; FAX:
860-622-3847;
[email protected];
www.shock-system.com
Pratt & Whitney Power
Systems
Windsor, CT; 860-565-0140,
toll-free: 866-769-3725; FAX:
www.pw.utc.com
n Precision Quincy Corp
Woodstock, IL; 815-338-2675; FAX:
815-337-6675;
[email protected];
www.precisionquincy.com
(See ad page 57)
Bala Cynwyd, PA; 610-667-8600,
toll-free: 800-423-0245; FAX:
www.primavera.com
Primen
Boulder, CO; 303-545-0100; FAX:
303-545-0204
Primesouth
POWER Engineers
Hailey, ID; 208-788-3456; FAX:
208-788-2082;
[email protected];
www.powereng.com
Columbia, SC; 803-217-8866; FAX:
803-217-7653;
[email protected];
www.primesouth.biz
Engineers Inc
Boulder, CO; 303-927-6937; FAX:
www.pro-belt.com
Power House Tool Inc
Joliet, IL; 815-727-6301; FAX:
815-727-4835;
[email protected];
www.powerhousetool.com
Power Monitors Inc
Bellingham, WA; 360-734-3932,
toll-free: 800-378-3932; FAX:
360-734-8729;
[email protected];
www.pugetsafetyequipment.com
Quanta Services
Houston, TX; 713-629-7600; FAX:
713-629-7676;
www.quantaservices.com
Harrisonburg, VA; 540-434-4120,
toll-free: 800-296-4120; FAX:
540-432-9430;
[email protected];
www.powermonitors.com
Radar Engineers
Power Standards Labs
Raytek Corp
Portland, OR; 503-256-3417; FAX:
503-256-1981;
[email protected];
www.radarengineers.com
Alameda, CA; 510-522-4400,
toll-free: 888-736-4347; FAX:
510-522-4455;
[email protected];
www.powerstandards.com
Santa Cruz, CA; 831-458-1175,
toll-free: 800-866-5478; FAX:
831-458-1239;
[email protected];
www.raytek.com
Power System Engineering
Inc
Reef Industries Inc
Madison, WI; 608-222-8400; FAX:
608-222-9378;
[email protected];
www.powersystem.org
0801ELP_65 65
Houston, TX; 713-507-4251,
toll-free: 800-231-6074; FAX:
713-507-4295;
[email protected];
www.reefindustries.com
n Reel-O-Matic
Oklahoma City, OK; 405-672-0000,
toll-free: 888-873-4000; FAX:
405-672-7200;
[email protected];
www.reelomatic.com
(See ad page 41)
Reliable Power &
Solution
Tallahassee, FL; 850-385-5100; FAX:
850-385-5200;
[email protected];
www.procontrolinc.com
Salisbury Electrical Safety
LLC
Skokie, IL; 847-679-6700, toll-free:
877-406-4501; FAX: 866-824-4922;
[email protected];
www.whsalisbury.com
SAP America
Washington, DC; 202-312-3581;
FAX: 202-312-3501
Sargent & Lundy LLC
Chicago, IL; 312-269-2000; FAX:
312-269-3680;
[email protected];
www.sargentlundy.com
Remote Automation Solutions
Watertown, CT; 860-945-2200,
toll-free: 800-395-5497; FAX:
860-945-2278;
[email protected];
www.emersonprocess.com/remote
Ripley Lighting Controls
West Columbia, SC; 803-939-4700;
FAX: 803-939-4777;
[email protected]; www.ripleylc.com
S&C Electric Co
Chicago, IL; 773-338-1000; FAX:
773-338-5102;
[email protected];
www.sandc.com
RiskAdvisory (A Division of
SAS)
FAX: 403-263-2945;
www.riskadvisory.com
Roberts & Schaefer Co
Chicago, IL; 312-236-7292; FAX:
312-726-2872
Winchester, UK; 44-1962-890089;
FAX: 44-1962-890090;
[email protected];
www.rochemltd.com
www.rolta.com
Campbell, CA; 408-377-4621,
toll-free: 800-654-3205; FAX:
408-377-5182;
[email protected];
www.rossengineeringcorp.com
Waltham, MA; 781-899-4611; FAX:
www.rotek.com
Russelectric Inc
Hingham, MA; 781-749-6000,
toll-free: 800-225-5250; FAX:
781-749-4205;
[email protected];
www.russelectric.com
RW Beck Inc
Seattle, WA; 206-695-4700, toll-free:
800-285-2325; FAX: 206-695-4701;
[email protected]; www.rwbeck.com
Technologies Ltd
toll-free: 800-668-3737; FAX:
www.sestech.com
Laboratories Inc
Pullman, WA; 509-332-1890; FAX:
www.selinc.com/elp
(See ad page 3)
Scott Specialty Gases
Plumsteadville, PA; 215-766-8860,
toll-free: 800-217-2688; FAX:
215-766-2476;
[email protected];
www.scottgas.com
SE International Inc
Summertown, TN; 931-964-3561;
FAX: 931-964-3564;
[email protected];
www.seintl.com
SensorLink Corp
Acme, WA; 360-595-1000; FAX:
www.sensorlink.com
Raleigh, NC; 800-638-3748; FAX:
800-888-2403;
[email protected];
www.sensus.com
(See ad page 55)
Serveron
Hillsboro, OR; 503-924-3200;
www.serveron.com
Orlando, FL; 407-736-2425; FAX:
407-736-3303;
[email protected];
www.siemens.com/powergeneration
companies
Monterey, CA; 831-373-0200,
toll-free: 800-866-0200; FAX:
831-373-4402;
[email protected];
www.sierrainstruments.com
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:13 AM
Stanley Consultants
Trimble
East Hanover, NJ; 973-781-0880,
toll-free: 800-523-5815; FAX:
973-781-9044;
[email protected];
www.signalcrafters.com
Englewood, CO; 303-799-6806,
toll-free: 800-878-6806; FAX:
303-799-8107;
[email protected];
www.stanleyconsultants.com
Sparks, MD; 800-837-8548; FAX:
410-771-4291; customerservice@
taylortechnologies.com;
www.taylortechnologies.com
Westminster, CO; 720-887-6100,
toll-free: 800-480-0510; FAX:
720-887-6101;
[email protected];
www.trimble.com
The Staplex Co
Staten Island, NY; 718-442-4900,
toll-free: 800-221-1311; FAX:
718-442-2124;
[email protected];
www.techproducts.com
Brooklyn, NY; 718-768-3333,
toll-free: 800-221-0822; FAX:
www.staplex.com
Storage Battery Systems
Telescada
Menomonee Falls, WI;
262-703-5800, toll-free:
800-554-2243; FAX: 262-703-3073;
[email protected];
www.sbsbattery.com
Pembroke, MA; 781-829-9228; FAX:
www.telescada.com
Buffalo, NY; 716-319-3260, toll-free:
888-878-2432; FAX: 716-882-4038;
[email protected]
SISCO Inc
Sterling Heights, MI; 586-254-0020;
FAX: 586-254-0053;
[email protected];
www.sisconet.com
The Structure Group
Houston, TX; 713-243-7160; FAX:
713-243-7199;
[email protected];
www.thestructuregroup.com
n SmartSynch Inc
Jackson, MS; 800-362-1780; FAX:
www.smartsynch.com
SNC-Lavalin Inc
Montreal, Canada; 514-334-6780;
www.snclavalin.com/ecs
SoftSmiths Inc
Douglassville, PA; 610-385-8200;
FAX: 610-385-8500;
[email protected]; www.stvinc.com
FAX: 403-270-9631;
[email protected];
www.subnetsolutions.com
Sumatron Inc
Laguna Niguel, CA; 949-360-0386;
FAX: 949-360-0689;
[email protected];
www.sumatron.com
SoftWright LLC
Solar Turbines Inc
San Diego, CA; 619-544-5352; FAX:
858-694-6715;
[email protected];
www.solarturbines.com
Solid State Instruments
Houston, TX; 713-210-8000,
toll-free: 888-296-1906; FAX:
713-210-8001;
[email protected];
www.sungard.com/energy
SuperPower Inc
Schenectady, NY; 518-346-1414;
FAX: 518-346-6080;
[email protected];
www.superpower-inc.com
Loveland, CO; 970-461-9600,
toll-free: 888-272-9336; FAX:
970-461-9605;
[email protected];
www.solidstateinstruments.com
Syclo
Chardon, OH; 440-286-7149,
toll-free: 800-323-9717; FAX:
440-286-9047;
[email protected];
www.solonmfg.com
companies
Southwest Microwave Inc
Tempe, AZ; 480-783-0201; FAX:
480-783-0401;
[email protected];
www.southwestmicrowave.com
Spirax Sarco Inc
Blythewood, SC; 803-714-2000;
FAX: 803-714-2222;
[email protected];
www.spiraxsarco.com/us
Wixom, MI; 249-960-3685; FAX:
248-926-9753;
[email protected];
www.flowmetersource.com
Barrington, IL; 847-842-0320; FAX:
www.syclo.com
SymCom Inc
Rapid City, SD; 605-348-5580,
toll-free: 800-843-8848; FAX:
www.symcom.com
Syntellect
Phoenix, AZ; 602-789-2884; FAX:
602-789-2899; www.syntellect.com
TAC
Loves Park, IL; 815-637-3000;
www.tac.com
Burnaby, Canada; 604-299-0458;
FAX: 604-451-4111;
[email protected];
www.tantalus.com
0801ELP_66 66
Teltone Corp
Bothell, WA; 425-487-1515, toll-free:
800-426-3926; FAX: 425-487-2288;
[email protected]; www.teltone.com
Westport, CT; 203-291-7979; FAX:
www.tpt.com
Tru-Check Inc
Tuck Mapping Solutions Inc
Big Stone Gap, VA; 276-523-4669;
FAX: 276-523-4673;
[email protected];
www.tuckmapping.com
Tungstone Power Inc
Woburn, MA; 781-937-0011; FAX:
781-937-3499;
[email protected];
www.tungstonepower.com
STV Group Inc
Houston, TX; 713-626-9184; FAX:
www.softsmiths.com
Aurora, CO; 303-344-5486; FAX:
303-261-1505;
[email protected];
www.softwright.com
Tech Products Inc
Telvent
Houston, TX; 713-939-9399; FAX:
713-939-7424;
[email protected];
www.telvent.com
Telvent Energy
FAX: 403-301-5065;
[email protected];
www.telvent.com
Turbo Parts LLC
Ballston Spa, NY; 518-885-3199;
FAX: 518-885-3072;
[email protected];
www.turbopartsllc.com
n TWACS by DCSI
Hazelwood, MO; 314-895-6400,
toll-free: 800-297-2728; FAX:
www.twacs.com
(See ad page 5)
Fort Collins, CO; 970-223-1888;
FAX: 970-223-5577;
[email protected];
www.telvent.com/miner
Terex Utilities
Watertown, SD; 605-882-4000,
toll-free: 800-982-8975; FAX:
605-882-1842;
[email protected];
www.terexutilities.com
3M
St. Paul, MN; 800-364-3577; FAX:
800-713-6329;
[email protected];
www.3m.com
3M
Austin, TX; 800-245-3573; FAX:
800-245-0329;
[email protected];
www.3m.com/electrical
TMG Consulting
Austin, TX; 512-288-2655; FAX:
512-288-2622;
[email protected];
www.tmgconsulting.com
Triangle MicroWorks Inc
Raleigh, NC; 919-870-5101; FAX:
919-870-6692;
[email protected];
www.trianglemicroworks.com
Redwood City, CA; 650-508-8096;
FAX: 650-508-8096;
www.trilliantnetworks.com
Communications
Columbus, OH; 614-442-1215,
toll-free: 800-382-8356; FAX:
www.tfcci.com
(See ad page 49)
UE Systems Inc
Elmsford, NY; 914-592-1220,
toll-free: 800-223-1325; FAX:
914-347-2181;
[email protected];
www.uesystems.com
USA Technologies
Malvern, PA; 888-521-6982; FAX:
www.usatech.com
Utilitec
Troy, MI; 248-526-4826, toll-free:
800-950-2240; FAX: 248-740-9025;
[email protected];
www.utilitec.net
Sciences Inc
Denver, CO; 303-744-2108; FAX:
www.uamsi.com
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:14 AM
TRANSFORMATION continued from 46
one in Europe, are making strides in improving customer care using
a .NET framework-based service-oriented architecture (SOA). This
approach avoids “rip-and-replace” and unifies and streamlines systems
and processes across contact channels. Both utilities are using the
new architecture as an opportunity to improve customer service. For
example, a customer who owns several retail shops and has multiple
addresses listed under her name calls in with a billing question. Even
though the customer service representative needs information from
multiple sources to answer her questions, the CSR has the ability to
access various records in a single interface. Questions are answered in
a timely manner, which reduces the average handling time, a key call
center metric.
An SOA foundation can create more efficient operations by
enabling a unified view of all existing legacy systems. Service
orientation is an approach to organizing distributed information
technology resources into an integrated solution that breaks down
information silos and maximizes business agility. This provides a
cost-effective level of flexibility and operational productivity to legacy
technology.
A major European gas and power utility recently implemented
a proof-of-concept solution and has already seen dramatic agent
productivity improvements—60 percent for specific business processes
being measured—and has planned future phased releases.
These types of solutions are not necessarily expensive or
complicated. They expand the traditional call-in option to a unified
architecture that enables multiple, integrated contact channels, including
self-service portals and speech. This flexible architecture integrates
through web services, making it very easy to add new applications or
processes that work with existing channels. Furthermore, considering
that it is nearly 10 times more expensive to acquire a new customer
than to retain an existing account, cost is a relative term and must be
framed by relationship lifecycles.
Supporting new Web 2.0 and green programs
New IT solutions include functions to support Web 2.0 scenarios.
Channel integration dramatically improves agent and customer
experiences by delivering accurate and appropriate information from all
contact channels to agents more quickly in an easy-to-use, single signon desktop. Now the customer doesn’t have to describe the e-mail he
already sent or repeat previous conversations she’s had with agents.
Green programs, which many utilities are starting to offer, may
be administered in systems separate from the CIS or even from a stateprovided source. Instead of building the green program into the CIS,
utilities can integrate the green system into their existing architecture.
That way, when agents talk with customers, the source system is easy
to access directly.
What to look for in a customer care solution
Here are the four most important features to look for when seeking
options for improving customer care:
1. Make sure the system provides a unified view of customer
information including single sign-on to billing, trouble ticketing,
order management and CRM. It should support both customer
self-service and call center inbound traffic and also open new
channels between operations, customer care and customers.
2. The system should include self-service options such as self-help
and live chat.
3. Ensure that the system seamlessly integrates with underlying
business applications without requiring changes to existing
systems.
4. The system should be priced competitively.
Successful utility companies view customer service excellence as
a strategic advantage and recognize that the IT platform must support
the commitment. They also realize that agents must have access to
a 360-degree view of the customer to quickly and efficiently answer
questions, resolve issues, correspond across multiple communication
channels and provide needs-based selling to a receptive, loyal audience.
Operations and IT can balance personalized and efficient customer
support with the needs to drive cost efficiencies and streamline
call center operations.
(Visit www.elp.com for more articles on
customer care.)
VSI Satech Inc
Atlanta, GA; 770-955-9922, toll-free:
800-676-6970; FAX: 770-955-9955;
[email protected]; www.ucinc.net
Pittsburgh, PA; 412-406-7003; FAX:
412-406-7003;
[email protected]
UTILX Corp
Wahlco Inc
Kent, WA; 253-395-0200; FAX:
www.utilx.com
Santa Ana, CA; 714-979-7300; FAX:
www.wahlco.com
Versitron Inc
Newark, DE; 302-894-0699, toll-free:
800-537-2296; FAX: 302-894-0624;
[email protected];
www.versitron.com
FAX: 416-236-9160;
[email protected];
www.walterdow.com
Visa
Foster City, CA; 650-432-3200;
www.visa.com
Houston, TX; 281-233-6200,
toll-free: 800-487-9945; FAX:
www.wartsila.com
Voltgard
Northbrook, IL; 847-291-1600,
toll-free: 800-548-4273; FAX:
847-291-1610;
[email protected];
www.voltgard.com
0801ELP_67 67
Waukesha Electric Systems
Inc
Waukesha, WI; 262-547-0121,
toll-free: 800-835-2732; FAX:
262-521-0196;
[email protected];
www.waukeshaelectric.com
Weidmann Systems
International
WIKA Instrument Corp
Electrical
St Johnsbury, VT; 802-748-3936;
FAX: 802-748-8630;
[email protected];
www.weidmann-acti.com
Deer Park, TX; 713-475-0022; FAX:
713-475-0011;
[email protected];
www.wika.com
Weiss Instruments.com
WIKA Instruments Canada Ltd
Holtsville, NY; 631-207-1200; FAX:
631-207-0900;
[email protected];
www.weissinstruments.com
Edmonton, Canada; 780-463-7035,
toll-free: 800-667-6778; FAX:
www.wika.ca
Wilmore Electronics Co Inc
Cleveland, OH; 440-238-2550,
toll-free: 800-557-0064; FAX:
www.weschler.com
Hillsborough, NC; 919-732-9351;
FAX: 919-732-9359;
[email protected];
www.wilmoreelectronics.com
West Corp
Winco Inc
Omaha, NE; 402-963-1309; FAX:
402-963-1602
Western Union Payment
Services
Le Center, MN; 507-357-6821,
toll-free: 800-733-2112; FAX:
507-357-4857;
[email protected];
www.wincogen.com
New York, NY; 800-252-9638; FAX:
212-693-1287;
[email protected];
www.ecommercegroup.com
ZE PowerGroup Inc
Richmond, Canada; 604-244-1469;
www.ze.com
companies
ZE PowerGroup Inc
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:15 AM
Classifieds
Ad Index
PG #. . . . . . . . . . . . . Ad index name . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Web address
5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Aclara. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.AclaraTech.com
57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Asset Acceptance, LLC. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.assetacceptance.com
59 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Autodesk. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.autodesk.com
7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Black & Veatch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.bv.com/consult
61 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CalAmp DataCom . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.calamp.com
C2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Cannon Technologies - Cooper Power . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.cooperpower.com
47 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . CCHS - Cross Country Home Services. . . . . . . . . www.crosscountry-home.com
23,31 . . . . . . . . . . . CS Week . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.csweek.org
13 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Day & Zimmermann . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.dznps.com
21 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dickstein Shapiro LLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .wwwdicksteinshapiro.com
69 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . DistribuTECH 2009 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.distributech.com
45 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric Light & Power Online. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.elp.com
30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Electric Light & Power Executive Digest . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.elp.com
9 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elster Electricity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.elsterelectricity.com
63 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ESRI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.esri.com/electricgas
C4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Exstream Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.exstream.com/elp
68 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . General Physics Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.etapro.com
11 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBM Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.ibm.com
15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Itron . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.itron.com
17 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Metering America . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.meteringamerica.com
68 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mid America Engine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . [email protected]
-"(*%%,%10
35 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . OpCon Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.opcontech.com
53 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Oracle Corporation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.oracle.com
57 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Precision Quincy Corp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.precisionquincy.com
41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reel-o-matic. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .www.reelomatic.com
3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.selinc.com
-*!/!(,1!(,%$-4(+%
,(10%,%,
!12/!*!02!*2%*
-4-5..+
-+.*%1%!#)!&%0
-"(*%4(1#'&%!/
6
)
6-,3%/0(-,3!(*!"*%
!5
0801ELP_68 68
55 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Sensus Metering Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.sensus.com
27 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Smart Metering Canada . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.metering.com/canada
C3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SmartSynch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.smartsynch.com
49 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Twenty First Century Communications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.tfcci.com
50 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Utility Products Conference & Exposition . . . . . . www.utilityproductsexpo.com
29 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . World Meter Design Congress . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . www.metering.com/design
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:30:21 AM
February 3 – 5, 2009 • San Diego Convention Center, San Diego, CA
www.distributech.com
Owned & Produced by:
Flagship Media Sponsor:
Supporting Publications:
®
0801ELP_69 69
1/31/08 10:30:25 AM
Management Methods
Less left, more right
Communicating in the connected world
by Jim Walters
Utility management today is attuned to the emerging
power of its customers. Writers like Daniel Pink, author
of “A Whole New Mind,” refer to this as an era of “high
touch management.” In my view, management of internal
customers—our employees—must also practice high touch
communication. But how can we align mindsets that have
been conditioned for decades to act primarily on internal
communication, which flows from the top down, with the
evolving electric industry paradigm of external customer
connection, which flows from the bottom up? The challenge
is significant.
Having information is no longer synonymous with
having organizational power. Information is now everpresent and on everyone’s laptop. Computers and the
Internet provide everyone with all the information they
need. And the web empowers us to take an active role in
matters that directly affect us. We can form Wikis and join
blogs—or send instant messages to public utility regulators
Author
about shoddy utility service. (And don’t forget the power
Jim Walters is director of Internet videos. Imagine having your employee’s worst
of customer relations behavior broadcast on YouTube for all the world to see!)
at Rochester Public
Utilities, the largest
municipal utility in Minnesota, and president
of the Association
of Energy Service
Professionals, Midwest
Chapter. Through his
consulting company,
Pangea International
America Inc., he also
does organizational
development work. You
can contact Walters at
[email protected].
Effective internal communication must match the emerging
global orientation of less top-down/left-brain dogma and
more bottom-up/right-brain inclusiveness.
For management to organize the company for this new
high touch era, it first needs to understand that to organize is to
build cultural alignment between the needs and perspectives
of an organization’s semi-autonomous groups with the
needs and perspectives of the organization as a whole. To
accomplish this type of communication requires a change
in practice from a process of passing down information to
empowering managers and supervisors to enrich the message
for context.
Just ask your Gen Xers and Millennials about the topdown world versus the high touch world:
•
Information in the top-down world is power and it’s held
by those at the top. In the high- touch world, everyone
has information.
•
Intelligence in the top-down world is measured by IQ;
for the high-touch world, it’s EQ-based (emotional
intelligence quotient.)
•
Management in the top-down world analyzes, instead
of synthesizing; sends a memo or e-mail, instead of
engaging in up and down communication; and focuses
on what is said instead of how it’s said.
•
In the top-down world, people are trained. In the high
touch world, they’re educated.
To non-utility managers, horizontal communication
is not new. It’s been the practice, to varying degrees, for
decades. In fact, respecting and leveraging the role of
managers and supervisors as trust builders was validated
decades ago. In 1952, Donald Pelz found that empowering
supervisors is what matters most in the communication
process. According to the Pelz Effect, “the result is higher
organizational alignment due to trust that the information
is valid.”
For utility management, the challenge is to align the
culture to the demands of a changing world. Empowering
and expecting employees at all levels to connect is the
emerging norm. Of course, the transition requires aligned
leadership—but that’s a topic for another day.
(Visit www.elp.com for more articles on the changing
workforce.)
0801ELP_70 70
Jan|Feb|2008
1/31/08 10:31:03 AM
Need an AMI network that won’t go out of style?
T
ALK TO US. Today’s AMI world is
them the ‘future-proof’ Áexibility to
SmartSynch has taken traditional AMI
evolving before our eyes, but
support today’s needs, and capitalize on
to a higher power — AMI2.
choosing the right intelligence to support
tomorrow’s opportunities, better than
your smart grid needs, both today and
any alternative.
To learn more, visit smartsynch.com or
call 888-362-1780.
tomorrow, shouldn’t require a crystal ball.
Only SmartSynch Solutions are fully
Since 2000, SmartSynch has been
certiÀed to securely and reliably deliver
designing innovative AMIIntelligence™
critical AMI data on the AT&T Wireless
(AMI2) solutions for the top utilities in
(U.S.) and Rogers Wireless (Canada)
North America. Our remotely upgrad-
networks — enabling quicker, easier and
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standards-based IP connectivity, giving
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0801ELP_71 71
The Smart Grid Intelligence Company™
SMARTSYNCH.COM | 888.362.1780
1/31/08 10:47:23 AM
[customer]
all i want
is a bill I can understand.
All it takes is Dialogue.
™
www.exstream.com/ELP
All it takes is Dialogue.
is to reduce my call
center volume.
all i want
[business]
Copyright 2008. Exstream Software and Dialogue are trademarks of Exstream Software, Inc.
™
0801ELP_72 72
1/31/08 10:47:25 AM

ELP - Power of Learning

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