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	Highly Read Since Aug 12 Some Economics of the Great Coal Game (2085 Page Views) Electric Vehicles but Not as We Know Them (1180 Page Views) Announcement of the GE ecomagination Challenge, Powering the grid, a $200 million innovation experiment (587 Page Views) Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) a promising technology that can help mitigating carbon footprint (541 Page Views) Before Peak or Beyond Petroleum - BP Oil Limits (449 Page Views) A Future Scenario of Energy and Navigation on the Great Lakes and St Lawrence River (349 Page Views)


	Webcasts Conferences/Shows Training Communicating Smart Meter Value Sep 9 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City If you are involved in Management or Customer Service and are responsible for communicating the value of smart meters to your utility customers, you don’t want to miss this online discussion - Communicating Smart Meter Value. more... Social Media: The new frontier in recruiting, communications and marketing Sep 13 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City Join social media mavens Matthew Burks and Amanda Shewmake as they provide an insider's perspective on how HR, communications and marketing professionals in energy companies can harness the power of social media to be more effective and productive. more... Eliminating Obstacles and Delivering the Benefits of the Smart Grid - IBM's Optimized Energy Value Chain (OEVC) Sep 14 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City The convergence of power and information technologies in the smart grid has created opportunities for finer grained and broader controls of energy flows. These opportunities can improve electric service in multiple dimensions: lower cost, greater reliability, greater customer satisfaction, and more... Achieving Operational Excellence - What to Consider Before Implementing or Upgrading Your Distribution Management Solutions Sep 16 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City Significant cost over runs. Changing business requirements. A well thought out plan is essential. Attend this free webcast discussion to hear inside hear three experts in utility operations discuss what utilities need to evaluate when they are considering upgrading or more... Outsmarting the Smart Grid: IT, Security and Communication Infrastructure Challenges & Opportunities for Utilities Sep 21 2010 - 2010-01-01 12:00:00 - Your City The smart grid is shifting the playing field for utilities. And when the game changes, it pays to be prepared. A nimble solutions partner can help you design the solutions that keep operations on track, even as new challenges come more... All Webcasts » 1st CSP Today Concentrated Solar Thermal Power Summit India Sep 7 2010 - Sep 8 2010 - New Delhi India Deliver a profitable, productive and commercially successful large scale CSP business in India. Building on the success of past events in USA, Europe & MENA, CSP Today brings to New Delhi the most relevant international experience for the concentrated solar more... Offshore Wind Energy in North America's Great Lakes Conference Sep 9 2010 - Sep 10 2010 - Toronto Two day conference that tackles the most important challenges. A blend of European knowledge from the companies who have been installing offshore wind turbines for the last decade alongside local state governing bodies and leading project developers. Permitting, securing long more... Autovation 2010 Sep 12 2010 - Sep 15 2010 - Austin, TX - USA Autovation 2010 is a not-to-miss educational forum that will attract utility executives from around the world looking for new ways to optimize their operations through automation technologies. more... Global Sustainable Bioenergy North American Convention Sep 14 2010 - Sep 16 2010 - Minneapolis, MN - USA The North American convention provides a remarkable opportunity to play a part in guiding renewable energy policy for the 21st century. Attendees will create a resolution that, along with similar resolutions already drafted on four other continents, will help set more... GridWise Global Forum Sep 21 2010 - Sep 23 2010 - Washington, DC - USA Hosted by the GridWise(R) Alliance and the U.S. Department of Energy, the GridWise Global Forum will convene thought leaders from the highest levels of government, business, NGOS, and academia from around the world to discuss the ultimate enabling potential of more... All Conferences / Shows » 1. Intro to Nat Gas Trading & Hedging 2. Option Applications in Energy Sep 20 2010 - Sep 23 2010 - Houston, TX - USA Introduction to Natural Gas Trading & Hedging - This program provides a comprehensive understanding of the structures that underlie Natural Gas trading. Beyond Essentials: Option Applications in Energy - This course provides a solid practical and conceptual (non-quantitative) understanding of more... Electric Business Understanding Seminar Sep 20 2010 - Sep 21 2010 - Houston, TX - USA Electric Business Understanding provides a comprehensive overview of the electric industry. Position yourself for career advancement by gaining a solid understanding of how the electric business works including key physical, market, and regulatory aspects and how market participants navigate this more... Electric Market Dynamics Seminar Sep 22 2010 - Sep 23 2010 - Houston, TX - USA Electric Market Dynamics offers participants an in-depth understanding of North American electric markets and how they function. Enhance your career by furthering your knowledge of market structures, pricing mechanisms, services offered in markets, and how various participants use the markets more... Gas and Electric Business Understanding Seminar Oct 5 2010 - Oct 6 2010 - Los Angeles, CA - USA Gas and Electric Business Understanding provides a comprehensive overview of the natural gas and electric industries. Position yourself for career success by gaining a solid understanding of how each business works, including key physical, market and regulatory aspects, as well more... 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	Energy Central Power Network

OR

Joseph Somsel

Nuclear Engineer
	Member Since: 02/24/03 Author Rating: Silver Article Count: 7 Email this author

Background

Joseph Somsel is a degreed nuclear engineer holding an MBA from California Polytechnic University. He has a broad work background in the nuclear power industry and in the overall electric utility business. This includes experience with architect/engineers, utilities, NSSS suppliers, and consulting firms. Current interests include the business end of electricity. He has also been involved in the entrepreneurial development of niche electrical generating sources in California and Colorado. His electricity went out TWICE during the California energy crisis.

Articles

8.22.08	Wind, Solar, Nuclear, and Electricity Storage Topic: Energy Storage Article Viewed 8479 Times; 103 comments Advocates of intermittent alternate energy sources put enormous hopes in electricity storage development as a boon to the market acceptance of their technologies. It is recognized by anyone with an ounce of realism that the timing mismatch between God-given winds and sunbeams and the needs of man is one of the fundamental problems with alternative energy development.

9.20.06	Zeno's Paradox of Achilles versus the Tortoise, Calculus 101, and Nuclear Reactor Safety Topic: Nuclear Article Viewed 7222 Times; 38 comments One would think that the mathematics of the ancient Greeks, circa 450 B.C. would have had time to diffuse into our journalistic, political, and cultural elites by now. One would hope, but the public debate on nuclear reactor safety of the last few decades shows that too many of us are stuck on a Manichaean logic scheme dividing the world into only black or white.

9.29.05	How Harry Reid can Save us $80 billion and Fuel $1 Trillion of Electricity Topic: Nuclear Article Viewed 11834 Times; 30 comments Do you recycle your trash? Aluminum cans, glass bottles, plastics, paper generated in most US households gets separated in the home and sent to a recycling facility where the materials hopefully re-enter the commercial materials streams. With 8,875 curbside recycling programs operational in the US in 2003, it's a big business and the politically correct thing to do.

7.28.04	California's Electricity Future - Time for a Decision Topic: Fossil & Biomass Article Viewed 8344 Times; 47 comments Governor Schwarzenegger's recent electricity policy pronouncements show again how difficult it is for a politician to provide clear and sound policy direction on energy. His efforts essentially punt the big questions to private businesses by endorsing "free market" decision making. I think he and his advisors know full well where this will lead.

2.20.04	Nuclear is Back in Business! Topic: Nuclear Article Viewed 7789 Times; 22 comments One of the more unfortunate metaphors in recent energy news has been "the natural gas bubble." That phrase always brings to mind kids in a bathtub. From the viewpoint of electrical energy production, the bust in gas-fired generation has met the formal definition of a "bubble" - economic activity driven by "momentum" rather than fundamental supply and demand.

9.30.03	Negawatts - Enron-Style Topic: Demand Response Article Viewed 7437 Times; 22 comments To paraphrase an infamous Woody Allen quip about casual sex, economics is a social science, but as social sciences go, it's gotta be one of the best. Consider "negawatts" - a term coined by soft energy path guru Amory Lovins in the 1970's. Its economic logic is difficult to refute.

2.27.03	Deregulation and Nuclear Power Topic: Nuclear Article Viewed 9552 Times; 29 comments The high tide of electric market deregulation has come and gone. The good news is that we now have a surplus of new capacity in many markets. Almost all of that new capacity has been highly efficient natural gas combined cycle plants, the latest in fossil-fueled technology with great fuel economy and low, low emissions.

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