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	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

Arthur O'Donnell

The Energy Overseer
	Member Since: 04/28/04 Author Rating: Gold Article Count: 40 Email this author Phone: 415-648-9405

Background

Arthur J. O’Donnell is an independent journalist who specializes in energy, business, and economics. He is the author of Soul of the Grid: A Cultural Biography of the California Independent System Operator (October 2003, iUniverse, Inc), and The Guilty Environmentalist (November 2003, Trafford Publishing).

He is a regular contributor to Public Utilities Fortnightly, including the cover story for the February 2004 issue, “Europe Rewired: A Giant Awakens.” Other recent articles concerning the August 2003 Northeastern blackout, the future of California’s energy markets, and the economics of Bruce Springsteen tickets have appeared in such diverse publications as the San Diego Union-Tribune, Wine Business Monthly, and KZAM.net.

As the founding editor of the California Energy Markets newsletter in San Francisco from 1989 through 2002, O’Donnell earned First Place honors from the National Press Club of Washington, D.C., in the category of “analytic reporting for newsletters” in the 2001 awards. He was honored as “Person of the Year” by the Power Association of Northern California in January 2003.

In 1981-82 he was a Graduate Fellow in Business and Economics Reporting at the University of Washington.

Please visit The Energy Overseer Web site: www.energyoverseer.com or e-mail him at energyoverseer@comcast.net

Articles

6.16.06	The Sun in NASDAQ: New Stock Indexes Reflect Emerging Energy Industry Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 6254 Times; 4 comments For those of us without the inclination or means to invest in the stock market, stock indexes are a useful and entertaining fiction, not unlike the constellations described in newspaper horoscopes. Basically, you take a group of publicly traded companies - however loosely related in terms of size, location, industry sector, or trading platform - and combine them into a defined entity called an "index."

6.2.05	Utilities Are Making Diversity Work Topic: Human Resources Article Viewed 6908 Times; 5 comments Over the past decade, "diversity" has become something of a catchword for corporate America, a way of replacing the negative connotations associated with "affirmative action" with a more positive spin.

4.11.05	The Business Electric: How California's Energy Crisis Became Front-Page News, Part II Topic: Risk & Operations Article Viewed 7024 Times; 2 comments You can clearly trace the start of the year-long California energy crisis to a burst of presummer heat on May 22 that baked the Southwest and pushed energy prices on wholesale markets to unprecedented levels. The clearing price on the California Power Exchange jumped to more than 20 times the highest retail rate charged by utilities.

4.4.05	The Business Electric: How California's Energy Crisis Became Front-Page News, Part I Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 6631 Times; 14 comments As we approach the fifth anniversary of the start of California's disastrous energy crisis, here's a different way of looking at the situation than the usual post-mortems for a failed competitive market.

3.28.05	The Business Electric: How's Your Investment in Reliability Doing? Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 5810 Times; Comment on this article Nearly one year ago, the very first Business Electric column explored the financial prospects of companies that stand to profit from an increased investment in electric system reliability. The article also established a "reliability index" of 15 stocks for publicly traded companies that appear to be key providers of reliability services or equipment.

3.21.05	The Business Electric: Getting Serious About Reliability and Cyber Security Topic: Communications & Security Article Viewed 6755 Times; 2 comments Beginning this April, the North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) will put into effect about 90 revised standards and actions to promote the reliability of the high-voltage transmission system. And later this year, NERC members expect to vote on whether to implement a "permanent" standard to promote effective cyber security policies and best practices.

3.14.05	The Business Electric: Clear Skies or Storm Front on Horizon? Topic: Environmental, Emissions & Carbon Management Article Viewed 8036 Times; 15 comments This week's defeat of the Bush administration's "Clear Skies" legislation does not mean the debate over air quality and greenhouse gas emissions controls is over. Far from it.

3.7.05	The Business Electric: Unsettling Trends in Corporate Liability Settlements for Utilities and Energy Firms Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 5351 Times; 4 comments The number of class-action lawsuits filed against U.S. corporations reverted to about 234 cases filed in 2004, down from a peak of 493 in 2001, when the crash of the dot.com industry and other financial scandals brought a record level of litigation. Shareholders, increasingly spurred by activist institutional investors, have pressed for recovery of billions of dollars in losses due to alleged fraud and other acts or omissions by companies, their officers and directors.

2.28.05	The Business Electric: Federal Budget Proposal Downplays Energy Efficiency Opportunities Topic: Energy Efficiency Article Viewed 5946 Times; 3 comments You cannot truthfully say that the recently proposed $2.5 trillion federal budget for Fiscal Year 2006 (FY06) represents a significant shift away from cost-effective energy efficiency funding. That shift has been occurring ever since President George W. Bush's administration took office.

2.21.05	The Business Electric: The ABCs of Texas Retail Competition, Part II Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 7358 Times; 1 comments When competitive power proponents tic off the list of metrics of apparent success for the Texas retail marketplace, they note the entry of nearly 100 retail energy providers (REPs), the millions of customers (both switched and potential) and the significant spread between the "price to beat" and the average or lowest prices competitive offer.

2.14.05	The Business Electric: The ABCs of Retail Competition in Texas, Part I Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 7947 Times; 7 comments Everything's BIG in Texas, they say, especially the competitive retail electricity market. According to the most recent statistics on customer choice presented at KEMA's "Competition at the Crossroads" conference in Austin earlier this month, Texas far outpaces all other states in terms of customers who have chosen non-utility electric power supplies and the amount of energy delivered to them.

2.7.05	The Business Electric: Top-down Advice from New Utility CEOs Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5312 Times; 1 comments I cannot do a review of the current business management bestseller "You're In Charge - Now What?" because my copy of the book has not yet arrived from Amazon.com. But this latest entry to the non-fiction sales charts has certainly gotten a lot of attention, with positive reviews and references in The Wall Street Journal, Time magazine, Business Week and many other prominent financial publications that track the pulse of American business.

1.31.05	The Business Electric: Would You Like a Slice of Bonneville's Power Pie? Get in Line Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 5580 Times; 5 comments The Bonneville Power Administration serves as both Lord and Lady Bountiful to the Pacific Northwest. The federal power-marketing agency not only oversees the massive Columbia River hydroelectric generating resource but also is the owner and operator of most of the high-voltage transmission system in the Northwest.

1.24.05	The Business Electric: LNG Risk Takes Many Forms Besides Safety Topic: Fossil & Biomass Article Viewed 5315 Times; 1 comments When it comes to media coverage of the prospects for the siting and development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities in the United States and Mexico, there is often a dichotomy between perceptions and the actual risks associated with such projects.

1.17.05	The Business Electric: An Aging Dominion Does The Wave Topic: Human Resources Article Viewed 5967 Times; Comment on this article Anne Grier, vice president of human resources for Dominion Resources, knew there was a problem on the horizon, but she didn't have a name for it. Dominion had conducted a company-wide survey of its employees to determine how many might be considering retirement in the next few years.

12.20.04	The Business Electric: Recapping Cap and Trade Systems for Greenhouse Gas Emissions Topic: Carbon Markets Article Viewed 6482 Times; 9 comments The National Commission on Energy Policy is certainly not the first group to recommend that the United States implement a "cap and trade" system for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions that have been implicated in an apparent, if not completely proven, change in the global climate [see The Business Electric, "You're Probably on the Right Track," 12/13/04].

12.13.04	The Business Electric: You're Probably on the Right Track When Everybody Finds Something to Criticize Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5923 Times; 10 comments Here's a riddle. Which came first, the release of the final report from the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP) containing recommendations for a long-term national energy strategy, or the press releases from various special interests condemning it?

12.6.04	The Business Electric: Hurricane Loretta Passes Through California Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 10439 Times; 2 comments Imagine the regulator as private detective. Outside the hearing room and unencumbered by bothersome process or protocol, the Public Utilities Commission member engages in a "sting" operation, inviting a utility representative for an ex parte chat on the balcony of a seaside resort hotel, where both have been attending a conference devoted to industry issues.

11.22.04	The Business Electric: Unfinished Business at DOE Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 5296 Times; 4 comments Dateline: Washington, D.C. No one in this constantly speculating town was surprised when Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham joined the exodus from the recently re-elected Bush administration.

11.15.04	The Business Electric: A Return to Honest Differences in Arizona Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 6067 Times; Comment on this article Lost in all the election-season debates and media coverage was any real discussion of energy matters, either in the presidential contest or at the state or local levels.

11.8.04	The Business Electric: Critical Information Access in the Balance Topic: Nuclear Article Viewed 5174 Times; Comment on this article Late last month, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission temporarily suspended access to its on-line public documents service called ADAMS-the Agencywide Documents Access and Management System.

10.25.04	The Business Electric: After 125 Years, What's Next for Big Oil? Topic: Fossil & Biomass Article Viewed 6978 Times; 12 comments I come from an oil town. Not one of those dusty boom-and-bust drilling patches like Crawford, Texas, or McKittrick, California; my hometown of Bayonne, New Jersey, is an urban port that saw its first petroleum refinery built in 1875, with a direct pipeline connection from the Tidewater Oil producing fields to the processing plant.

10.18.04	The Business Electric: Instead of an Energy Policy, We Get Tax Complications Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 6723 Times; 6 comments After months of political wrangling and horse-trading, Congress has finally adjourned -- only to return following the November 2 election to finish many of the things it couldn't accomplish during the regular session.

10.11.04	The Business Electric: TXU Extreme Makeover Removes Unsightly Expenses and Lifts Sagging Financial Profile Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5999 Times; Comment on this article Two years have passed since TXU Corporation hit rock bottom, and it's been a long, slow climb from the catastrophic stock price plunge in October 2002 that sent TXU to as low as $12/share.

10.4.04	The Business Electric: Green Power Awards Highlight Market Makers Topic: Wind Article Viewed 6285 Times; 2 comments Several weeks ago, I was asked to help select winners for a set of awards that will be announced at the Ninth Annual Green Power Marketing Conference in Albany, New York, on October 4th.

9.27.04	The Business Electric: The Importance of Being Arnold -- Energy Policies Should Not Be Governor-centric Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 7412 Times; 11 comments In my experience, California has not had a governor who was particularly strong on energy issues and policies since Jerry Brown occupied the Sacramento Capitol Building from 1975 through 1983, coincidentally the year I moved to the state.

9.20.04	The Business Electric: Reliability Beyond the Supply and Demand Curves Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5944 Times; 2 comments The take-away message coming from national reliability planners is that enough new electric generation will be built to match anticipated increases in power demand for the next decade.

9.13.04	The Business Electric: Behind the Scenes as California Power Use Hits New Peaks Topic: Demand Response Article Viewed 6897 Times; 1 comments One o'clock is a crucial time at the California Independent System Operator's control room, especially when there's a likelihood of setting a new record for peak electricity use within the next few hours. "We have a pretty good sense of things the day before," said Gregg Fishman, media representative for California ISO.

9.6.04	The Business Electric: Fatal Mihama Accident Might Permanently Rupture Japan's Confidence in Nuclear Power Topic: Nuclear Article Viewed 11371 Times; 69 comments Nearly a month has passed since the world learned of the serious industrial accident at Kansai Electric Power's Mihama nuclear facility, located about 200 miles west of Tokyo. News reports outlined the August 9 disaster, which occurred when a section of pipe ruptured, spewing high-pressure steam from a turbine at the No. 3 reactor. Four workers died instantly; seven others were hospitalized for severe burns.

8.30.04	The Business Electric: California Grid Controllers in Line for a BIG Overtime Check Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 6388 Times; 1 comments By now, just about every business in the country should know about new Department of Labor regulations for determining which employees are eligible for overtime compensation and which are not. Utilities and other companies in the energy sector have been busy making certain that job categories are appropriately classified as exempt or non-exempt.

8.23.04	The Business Electric: No Utility Is An Island Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 6820 Times; 3 comments The images and reports still coming out of Florida are heart wrenching. Entire communities lay in ruins. The fatality count and damage estimates mount, with at least 17 Floridians dead and losses up to $15 billion being reported. In the week after Hurricane Charley passed through, tens of thousands of people and businesses remained powerless, homeless and without regular supplies of food or water.

8.16.04	The Business Electric: Path 15 - On Time and Under Budget; Is That Possible? Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 5266 Times; 3 comments April may be the cruelest month for poets and taxpayers, but August often represents a most difficult time for transmission operators. This week marked the first anniversary of the Big Northeast Blackout, which plunged some 50 million North Americans into a powerless condition, and the eighth anniversary of the Great Western Outage of 1996.

8.10.04	The Business Electric: $450 Million and Counting Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5570 Times; 5 comments No money was dropped on the floor of the elevator that carried me up to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in downtown San Francisco. Passing through the security checkpoint, I stole a glance inside the X-ray machine to see if any dollars had been left behind. No luck there.

8.3.04	The Business Electric: In Search of Unconflicted Energy Investment Advice Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 5269 Times; 2 comments Fifteen months after the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission finalized a "Global Settlement" of actions against 10 of the nation's top investment firms, those companies involved have identified independent researchers to provide investors with unbiased analysis in addition to what the large financial players offer.

7.27.04	The Business Electric: The West is Poised for Energy Innovation Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 7718 Times; 11 comments My dusty rental car rolled slowly down the ramp and into the cool garage of the El Dorado Hotel in downtown Santa Fe. Car and dust would sit quietly for a few days. There would be no reason to take them on the road again until after the two-day 'Energy in the Southwest' conference was finished.

7.20.04	The Business Electric: Those Fightin' Attorneys General Topic: Policy, Regulatory & Legal Article Viewed 9126 Times; 11 comments In case you hadn't noticed, we are experiencing an historic jurisdictional battle between states and the federal government. Energy policy is just one of the fronts in conflict.

7.13.04	The Business Electric: Enron's Houses of Sand and Fog Topic: Business & Corporate Article Viewed 6726 Times; 3 comments Bankruptcy, like divorce court, opens a highly public window on actions and events that the individuals involved would probably prefer were left closed. And, as in a contentious divorce proceeding, bankruptcy leaves nearly everyone in a completely different financial state than when they entered the courtroom. In both instances, only the attorneys might expect to come out richer for the experience.

5.24.04	Business Electric: Is Reliability a Good Investment? Topic: Grid Operations Article Viewed 6928 Times; Comment on this article We have something of a consensus opinion that additional infrastructure investment is necessary to improve reliability. Exactly how much capital investment is needed remains open to debate.

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