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Archive for February, 2011

March Weather and Its Impact on Western Hydro

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The winter weather pattern that was expected to hold true for the bulk of the season, particularly in January and February, has finally arrived.  There was broad consensus, leading-up to the onset of the winter season, that the moderate to strong La Niña would dominate the landscape, bringing with it mostly above average temperatures from TX to the Southeast, and more volatile temperature swings in the northern tier.  Due to arctic air masses that created a blocking effect during the last few months, the full effect of a La Niña winter was never fully realized and instead we experienced…
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A New Opportunity for Small & Medium Sized Business Customers to Green Their Power Purchases

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Starting this week, new and renewing customers in the Mid-Atlantic and New England regions will be offered renewable energy certificates (RECs) for 10 percent of their overall electricity usage, bundled with their power purchase.

This new incentive offers an easy way for our customers to promote their environmental commitment through REC purchases, including receiving Constellation’s green community materials, a REC purchase certificate, a green product label, and more.

What are RECs and what value can they bring to my business?

RECs are an affordable option for businesses that want to green their energy use (up to…
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The Federal Reserve Upgrades Outlook

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Federal Reserve policymakers upgraded their outlook for the U.S. economy in 2011 this week.  The Fed now expects the U.S. economy to grow by as much as 3.9% according to their latest forecast.  Fed officials now believe the recovery is on “firm footing”, but they unanimously voted to leave the $600 billion bond-buying program (QE2) intact.  According to minutes that were released, there is consensus that the economy is picking up steam but that the “the pace of the recovery was insufficient to bring about a significant improvement in labor market conditions, and measures of underlying inflation had trended downward”. …
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Deadline Nears for Participation in 2011 PJM Demand Response Program

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Thousands of commercial and industrial businesses in the PJM Interconnection enrolled in a demand response program for 2010.

This includes businesses in parts or all of: Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and the District of Columbia.  Businesses are finalizing their plans now as the March 15, 2011 deadline nears for enrolling in a program for this year.

Incentives are available for businesses that enroll in a demand response program, and commit to reduce their electricity usage when called by the system operator.

Customers that participate in demand response capacity, regulation…
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Has Winter Heating Demand Peaked?

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A strong to moderate La Niña pattern typically results in warmer than normal winter temperatures in the Southeast and cooler than normal temperatures in the Northwest.  The 2010-2011 winter has brought extreme cold to much of the nation as Arctic Oscillator blocking continued to counteract La Niña conditions and push arctic air into the U.S. from Canada.  Current weather models point to strengthening La Niña conditions due to arctic blocking dissipating.  The expected result of this pattern shift should be a warmer balance of February and beginning of March forecast.  Strong warmth is expected over the Midwest during the next…
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Lessons from Texas: Preparing For & Mitigating Risk in Extreme Market Events

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On Wednesday, Feb. 2, ERCOT customers experienced generator outages, rolling blackouts and real-time prices at or near the generator offer cap of $3,000/mWh for several hours. As a result, customers on pure index products linked to real-time market prices are likely to see large bill increases for the month of February. For customers on index products that were not subjected to outages, bills could possibly be two or more times previous bills.

If a customer cannot withstand potentially significant market fluctuations, they should consider several ways to mitigate the effect of such events. For instance, a customer might consider…
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