Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

The State of U.S. Power Utilities

The State of U.S. Power Utilities

energyNOW! interviewed David Roberts of Grist.org about the annual survey of U.S. power utility executives, managers, and engineers by the consulting firm Black & Veatch. In this interview, Roberts discusses his analysis of the survey and his conclusion that the industry as a whole remains conservative, often to its own detriment. Roberts says the power industry is driven by what he calls "small-c conservatism," a bias in favor of familiar ways of doing business, rather than an ideological conservatism. He says this stems from the culture of utilities as regulated monopolies whose main concern has been regulators, rather than market forces. He says this leads them to make business decisions based on what is familiar to them, rather than innovating.

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