November 2009

Designing Federal Programs That Work

Michael Giberson From Government Executive: As Washington considers an overhaul of the nation’s health care system affecting roughly one-seventh of our economy, a critical question arises: How effective are we at crafting legislation that can be implemented? To answer this question, we partnered with Government Executive in 2008 to survey members of the Senior Executive …

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Wholesale Power Markets for Beginners – The New Hampshire View

Michael Giberson Granite Viewpoint provides an excellent brief introduction to wholesale power markets in New England, with a few New Hampshire specific details thrown in. (First line: “It’s 9:00 am, do you know what the bulk price is for electricity in New Hampshire?”)  At this introductory level the story told about ISO-NE is approximately the …

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Blackouts in Brazil: Two Views

Michael Giberson Without additional comment, I present two articles online at Transmission and Distribution World, both addressing Brazil and blackouts: Jan 16, 2008: “Brazil Has No Risk of Energy Blackout, President Says“ Nov 11, 2009: “Power Restored after Blackout in Brazil“

Tres Amigas Transmission Link Overview at Alt Energy Stocks

Michael Giberson I put together an overview of the Tres Amigas LLC proposal for Alt Energy Stocks, published today: “Tres Amigas Proposes Three-way Transmission Link.”  (Tres Amigas proposes to build a three-way transmission link between the Eastern Interconnection, the Western Interconnection, and the Texas Interconnection.) The only company mentioned in the summary with a stock …

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The Solar Panels That Pay for Themselves…

Michael Giberson From the Texas Energy and Environment Blog, reports that in New Mexico “solar panels on homes can take as little as seven years to pay for themselves in energy savings.”  The post continues: That’s faster than Texas, where even in the best economic case, solar panels take at least a decade to pay …

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World Oil, but Apparently Not Local Shale Gas Skepticism

Michael Giberson Tom Fowler has more on the ditching of shale gas skeptic Art Berman’s column by World Oil magazine.  Now the magazine’s editor is out too. Read Fowler’s context, then follow the link to the former editor’s remarks, posted today on Berman’s blog.  Excerpts: … The next day, the president stopped by to tell …

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Austin Energy’s Future Rate Hikes

Michael Giberson A few years ago Lubbock’s municipal electric utility was in a tight financial spot that threatened to put it and the city into bankruptcy.  When the utility pushed through a rate increase, customers started switching to competing electric utility Xcel.  The dwindling customer base forced the municipal utility to find another way out …

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