Pamela's Log

Lessons from the Desert

Pamela Morgan — Thu, 10 May 2012 19:13:09 +0000

Spring has spring in the Pacific Northwest and western Oregon has donned its seasonal showy outfit of lush foliage and riotous color. The shades of green alone defy one to find enough labels for them all. But I am just recently returned from a trip to various parts of the Mojave Desert and, because of this, am seeing spring show of life a bit differently than years prior.

The desert has a wonderful « ... read more of Lessons from the Desert »

Are We “Ensuring” or “Enabling” Utility Service?

Pamela Morgan — Tue, 01 May 2012 22:02:11 +0000

Almost every set of state public utility regulatory statutes has some version of the following charge to the Commission: “Ensure [or assure] that public utilities provide safe and adequate service at just and reasonable prices.” Every Commission takes this charge very seriously and public utilities, in turn, work hard to provide energy utility service to customers with the required assurance. Reliability of the service of delivering electricity over a network of wires is a high « ... read more of Are We “Ensuring” or “Enabling” Utility Service? »

Observations about natural gas and observations

Pamela Morgan — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:06:15 +0000

If you follow energy news at all, and have not lived in a cave the last year or so, it is inevitable that you have heard about natural gas produced from shale and how the abundant supply of such gas in the United States will allow us to drastically reduce foreign fuel imports, transition the nation’s fleet of coal-fired generating plants and provide transportation fuel. Moreover, it will do so for estimates that range from « ... read more of Observations about natural gas and observations »

Systems

Pamela Morgan — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 09:00:42 +0000

If you are reading this blog, if you are an involved stakeholder of energy utilities, then I assume you likely have knowledge about energy and energy utilities. Some of you, however, may not know much about systems in the sense that I intend to use them. This will serve as a short introduction.

There are many ways to see systems, to define systems, and to work with systems concepts in addressing opportunities and challenges. Although the « ... read more of Systems »

Who am I?

Pamela Morgan — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 09:00:40 +0000

I came to the energy utility industry in the early 1980s, a tumultuous decade that followed the challenging 1970s. The production of natural gas was being deregulated and pipelines and local distributors forced or strongly encouraged to unbundle the service of delivered natural gas into the two (or more) services of moving gas and selling gas. The electricity industry was coping with huge construction programs begun in the 1970s, write-offs and disallowances « ... read more of Who am I? »

Welcome

Pamela Morgan — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 09:00:31 +0000

This is a blog about utilities; specifically, energy utilities. We all experience these, the organizations of people and structures that stand behind the electricity or natural gas that arrive at the places where we live and where we work, at the server farms and cell phone towers that support our access to the internet, and the traffic lights that regulate access to intersections. Energy utilities are a subset of a broad group of organizations or « ... read more of Welcome »

Limits to growth

admin — Thu, 09 Feb 2012 21:41:52 +0000

Within the last few weeks, two news items caught my attention. The first item related to the proposed elimination of some of the United States’ nuclear arsenal. One of the states affected by the removal of the weapons and, presumably personnel and economic activity associated with maintaining them, was complaining bitterly about the proposed action and threatening to resist it. The second item related to Easter candy. The article reported that some parents were decreasing « ... read more of Limits to growth »

What is normal?

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 0201 22:49:01 +0000

What is normal? We use the word normal all of the time. The weather is normal or it is not normal. My sister is behaving normally or not normally. Home sales are normal or not normal. We just need to wait a while and then things (the economy, our family situation, the weather, whatever) will “return to normal.” Rarely, however, do we ask each other or even ourselves what we mean by this. In truth, « ... read more of What is normal? »