Over the last ten years, the U.S. nuclear industry has seen large demands on its capital project/major modification organizations with the mandate to ensure compliance for a number of concerns. As the nuclear fleet continues to age, projects like these will continue to surface, representing large capital exposure for nuclear power plants. For that reason, successful execution of Continue reading
Would you fly on a plane with a pilot who had never flown before? Would you trust critical business systems and processes to teams managing them for the first time? Just as pilots spend months training on flight simulators before taking control of the real thing, simulating critical business systems and processes can greatly reduce risk before “go-live.” ScottMadden has leveraged decades of experience conducting business simulations for our clients to create a business simulation service offering to effectively train new teams and managers. With our know-how, tools, best practices, and thousands of example scenarios, we can reduce the risk, overall cost, and increase stakeholder satisfaction of your new business system or process rollout.
On September 24, 2014, Southern California Edison (SCE) unveiled the Tehachapi Energy Storage Project, the largest battery energy storage system (BESS) in North America. The 32-MWh demonstration project will use lithium-ion batteries to evaluate the ability of BESSs to improve grid performance and assist in the integration of large-scale variable renewable energy resources like wind and solar power.
On August 26, 2014, the Hawaiian Electric Companies (HECO) submitted updated integrated resource plans to the Hawaii Public Utilities Commission (PUC). The resource plans for Hawaii Electric Light, Hawaiian Electric Power, and Maui Electric call for a resource mix by 2030 with nearly triple the current rooftop solar capacity and an overall generation mix of more than 65% energy from renewable resources. HECO anticipates the plans will reduce customer bills by 20%.
ScottMadden recently joined the Solar Electric Power Association (SEPA) to lead a group of approximately 30 U.S. energy industry executives to the bellwether energy market of Germany to exchange information with electricity and solar market leaders who are adapting to change in this dynamic and controversial environment. This select group of executives met with energy industry peers with the goal of returning with insights and practical knowledge that can be applied to planning and business decisions in the United States. The trip featured face-to-face meetings with thought leaders and decision makers from the electric utility, transmission, and renewable energy industries; government, trade, and industry associations; and market experts.
Mary Driscoll, senior research fellow at American Productivity & Quality Center (APQC), recently conducted an interview with Brad DeMent and Trey Robinson, partners in ScottMadden’s Corporate & Shared Services practice. This article discusses the benefits, challenges, and future of financial shared services.
Policy makers and utility company executives have put out a call for more sophisticated rate designs to address the growing disconnect between the evolving grid and traditional residential and commercial rate structures. With the growing adoption of Distributed Energy Resources (DERs), regulators and utility companies are faced with taking a more creative approach to electricity pricing.
On August 10, 2014, Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) announced that it plans to acquire all the outstanding equity securities of Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, Kinder Morgan Management LLC, and El Paso Pipeline Partners LP in a deal valued at more than $70 billion. The combined entity will further Kinder Morgan’s reign as the largest energy infrastructure company in North America and the third largest energy company overall, with an estimated enterprise value of about $140 billion. The Kinder Morgan subsidiaries collectively own an interest in or operate approximately 80,000 miles of pipelines and 180 terminals currently. Its pipelines transport natural gas, gasoline, crude oil, CO2 and other products, and its terminals store petroleum products and chemicals and handle such products as ethanol, coal, petroleum coke, and steel.
For decades, hydropower has been the dominant renewable energy resource. In 2004, hydropower accounted for three times the generation of all nonhydro renewable generation combined (i.e., wind, solar, biomass, geothermal, landfill gas, and municipal solid waste). With recent robust growth in wind and solar, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) projects 2014 will be the first year that annual nonhydro renewable generation exceeds annual hydropower generation.
Utility planning is changing with the rapid growth of distributed solar in certain markets. Over the long term, market fundamentals favor the continued growth of distributed solar energy. This will access business and operational challenges for utilities. This insight outlines strategies utilities can deploy to successfully incorporate distributed solar energy into their business model or generation portfolio.
On August 7, 2014, NRG Energy (NRG) announced a plan to reduce pollution exposure posed by four Illinois coal-fired plants that were acquired during the purchase of Edison Mission in April 2014. The plan is a combination of investment in environmental controls, conversion of coal to natural gas, and the outright retirement of a coal unit.
In order to transform the organization, one must first understand it. Many companies today are aggressively trying to transform their organization, seeking to improve organizational performance by changing behavior and capabilities, consolidating transactional activities into a shared services model, or trying to reallocate resources across units. An important first step for understanding the current issues or the impact of any changes is to understand who does what in the organization. By starting with a thorough assessment of where you stand today, you can identify the greatest opportunities for efficiency gain and deploy resources accordingly.
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