You are here: Home > Author Profile


	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... All Training » View All Events »


	Energy Central Power Network

OR

Warren Causey

Vice President Sierra Energy Group, a division of Energy Central
	Member Since: 04/05/04 Author Rating: Gold Article Count: 20 Email this author

Background

Warren B. Causey is vice president of Energy Central's Research & Analysis Division. Previously, he was the founder, president and CEO of Warren B. Causey, Ltd., a utility research, analysis and consulting firm headquartered in Dallas, GA. He has been a researcher/writer/analyst for more than 30 years, and is the author of more than two-dozen published books and hundreds of magazine articles. He has worked with technology for more than 25 years and in utilities for more than a decade. He has been on the Internet since it was a top-secret military operation called ARPANet in the 1970s. He is retired from the U.S. Army Reserve, a decorated veteran of the First Persian Gulf War, and is a part-time United Methodist Pastor.

Warren Causey can be contacted at wcausey@energycentral.com

Articles

12.3.09	Stimulus, Smart Grid and Utility Budgets Topic: Metering Article Viewed 3255 Times; 1 comments With the federal government issuing $787 billion in stimulus money and pushing hard for a remaking of the industry, to what extent is stimulus funding speeding up deployment of smart meters and other smart grid elements? Maybe there will be some acceleration, but it hasn't yet started and the stimulating effect is likely to be relatively minor when it does get under way.

8.12.09	Computers Not Enough: Trends in Asset Management Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 3296 Times; 2 comments Utilities have been managing assets for a long time -- lots of assets. Utilities have millions of parts, supplies, wires, capacitors, trucks, tools, laptops, screws, bolts, gloves and goggles. One problem facing them is that in the past, they weren't very good at managing all of those assets.

7.16.09	Information Technology Innovations: Ready to Tackle Challenges Ahead Topic: Risk & Operations Article Viewed 4094 Times; 1 comments It once was fairly easy work to map trends in the utility industry and anticipate future directions. The industry was stable and slow-moving for many years. Since October and November, however, all of that ease, along with the stability, has gone out the window.

6.17.09	Long Time Coming Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 4283 Times; 6 comments Many people don't realize that despite the tremendous hype of the past couple of years, and the push toward advanced metering infrastructure and home automation, utilities have actually been adding intelligence to their distribution and transmission grids for a number of years. And they are making good progress. Several examples exist, such as the one at We Energies.

4.15.09	Smart Substations: Still a Long Way to Go Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 3841 Times; Comment on this article Substations are a fascinating and ubiquitous feature of the American landscape. They are where most of the work gets done in the process of distributing electricity to the approximately 160 million homes and businesses in the country.

2.5.09	IUE & AMI: Everyone's in a rush except utilities and the general public Topic: Metering Article Viewed 4587 Times; 53 comments Development of more intelligent utility enterprises (IUEs), Smart Grids, Demand Response, all wholly or partially enabled by advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) smart meters, is on everyone in the U.S. utility industry's "to do" list. It has been for the last three or four years.

9.8.08	Things May be About to Change in the Utility CIS Market Topic: Billing & Customer Care Article Viewed 4652 Times; 1 comments The U.S. utility market has been difficult for CIS vendors since the turn of the century. Although the results from the recently published CIS & Outsourcing Report from Sierra Energy Group do not differ much from where they have been for the last several years, the fundamental drivers in the industry are changing and doing so rather dramatically.

6.19.08	CIOs Have Reached the Boardroom...Oops! Topic: Infomation Technology Article Viewed 4499 Times; 5 comments Only a few years ago, it wasn't uncommon to see articles about the climb from basement data processing centers toward the executive suite by utilities' top information technology (IT) staffers, or chief information officers (CIOs). At most utilities today -- although there still are exceptions scattered around the country -- they have arrived.

4.7.08	Utilities Full Speed Ahead on IUE/SG: The Question is What to do First Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 7412 Times; 34 comments The next 10 to 15 years will see major changes - perhaps even classified as upheavals by future historians - in the distribution of electricity to businesses and households throughout the United States. The exact nature of these changes and their long-term effect upon the economic well-being and security of the country are difficult to predict.

10.11.07	NERC-CIP: 'Critical' or in 'Critical Condition'? Topic: Communications & Security Article Viewed 6256 Times; 5 comments North American Energy Reliability Corp. Critical Infrastructure Protection (NERC-CIP) standards are a product of the Northeast blackout of 2003 and the terrorist attacks of 2001. Following those events, politicians were clamoring for something to be done to guarantee more reliability for the grid, and protection for the software systems that monitor and today increasingly control the transmission and distribution grids, along with generation and everything else utilities do.

7.11.07	So Much To Do, So Little Time - Until Now The Promise of Mobile Technology Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 5133 Times; Comment on this article It is probably (definitely!) a bit if a stretch to suggest that utility field workers now have a wealth of spare time on their hands thanks to technology. It is arguable, however, that the emergence of utility technologies like mobile workforce management and related mobile technologies have created new opportunities for the more effective use of field crew time and resources.

5.4.07	CIOs and The Pursuit of the Intelligent Enterprise Topic: Infomation Technology Article Viewed 4974 Times; Comment on this article Chief Information Officers are very near the center of all challenges, triumphs and failures of modern business. As automation has permeated most aspects of life over the last 25 years or so, CIOs who manage those systems have taken on an increasingly more important role.

1.26.07	Getting Smarter: New Approaches to Distribution Automation Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 5933 Times; 4 comments Most people are aware that the electric distribution and transmission systems are aging and subject to periodic failure -- with some of those failures being rather spectacular. But that's just one side of the coin.

12.14.06	On the Road to Improvement: A Summary of Utility IT Performance Management Practices Topic: Infomation Technology Article Viewed 4439 Times; 1 comments Although its roots go back more than 20 years, IT Performance Management (ITPM) still is a relatively new concept, especially among utilities. It is a process, a theory, a technique, and sometimes a system supported by software designed to improve the overall management of IT software and systems within a given organization.

11.29.06	Challenges Across the Utility Enterprise: Intelligence & Integration Showing Great Promise Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5188 Times; 1 comments As utilities gradually emerge from the shocks delivered on the industry in the first few years of the 21st Century, they are once again turning their attention to a myriad of business and regulatory challenges. As they do so, they are once again beginning to envision a technological future that will enable them to meet future challenges more effectively and more rapidly.

10.26.06	Market For Utility Mobile Solutions Continues to Chug Along Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 4689 Times; Comment on this article Utilities in the U.S. and Canada, and elsewhere in the world, continue to build-out mobile capabilities as electric, natural gas and water companies work to integrate computing capabilities across their enterprise and into the field, where most of the work is done. In fact, the mobile market appear to be heating up as more utilities are looking to install systems and more vendors are bring new products to market.

3.14.06	Utility CIOs Confront Business Challenges in the Midst of Turmoil: Is this the new "Mission Impossible"? Topic: Infomation Technology Article Viewed 5784 Times; Comment on this article "Your assignment, should you choose to accept it is..." Keep your utility operationally sound, financially viable, and at the forefront of developing and implementing technology, improve your bottom line and customer performance.

1.16.06	Utilities Spending Big on Enterprise Systems, But CIS Still Isn't One of Them Topic: Billing & Customer Care Article Viewed 7734 Times; 2 comments U.S. utilities say they will spend an estimated $3 billion on enterprise systems including work management, outage management, field force automation, geospatial information systems and others over the next three years.

12.14.05	Strategic Perspectives on Utility Enterprise Solutions Topic: Infomation Technology Article Viewed 9506 Times; 1 comments As deregulation and competition loomed on the horizon in the late 1990s, utilities realized that they did not have many of the major software systems they would need to face a more competitive, more business-oriented (rather than government-structured) future.

4.5.04	CIS/CRM isn't dead, but the old methods are on life-support Topic: Billing & Customer Care Article Viewed 5502 Times; Comment on this article Major utilities, particularly IOUs, have shifted their software emphasis dramatically since all the turmoil of 2000-2001. A major part of that shift has been away from large-scale systems, including CIS/CRM, toward smaller, incremental approaches. CIS/CRM isn't dead. It cannot die. It is fundamental to what utilities do. But the old IT models for tracking, billing and caring for customers may be on life support.

Sponsored Content

Home | Register | Subscribe | Contribute | Advertise | About Us | Feedback

Copyright © 2002-2010, CyberTech, Inc. - All rights reserved. Read our Terms of Service.