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Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Mr. Williams. In the following interview, he provides sage advice on risk analytics and how to grow awareness of risk-based thinking within an organizational culture. Q1:  Mr. Williams, as the Risk Manager for Grant County Public Utility District, what are your primary responsibilities? Chiefly I am tasked with developing our enterprise risk platform and integrating it …

Renewable power purchase agreements (PPAs) have long been important enablers of renewable energy development. They are a means to both providing the revenue certainty that project developers need to secure financing for capital-intensive wind and solar projects, and giving renewable energy buyers access to the renewable energy they desire without up-front capital outlay or the need for development expertise.This white-paper, the first in a two-part …

Natural Gas demand in the Caribbean is growing.  Yet natural gas supply has not caught up to this demand.  There are structural inefficiencies in the market that have prevented demand from being fully met.  These inefficiencies represent a market opportunity.  This article seeks to identify the underlying reason for the lack of natural gas supply as well as some recent developments to address this problem. …

La demanda de gas natural en el Caribe está creciendo. Sin embargo, el suministro de gas natural no ha alcanzado esta demanda. Existen ineficiencias estructurales en el mercado que han impedido que la demanda se cumpla por completo. Estas ineficiencias representan una oportunidad de mercado. Este artículo busca identificar la razón subyacente de la falta de suministro de gas natural, así como algunos desarrollos recientes …

Energy portfolio managers have an on-going dilemma.  When it comes to market and portfolio analytics, when is your analysis good enough?  Unfortunately, financial constraints often drive this decision.  I hear this all the time, “My management will not allow us to add another expensive solution, so we are doing that work on a spreadsheet.” Does this describe your situation? Energy portfolio is increasing in size …

In 2013, the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) first published the iconic “Duck Curve“, forecasting what would happen to the shape of hourly net electricity demand under high solar photovoltaic (PV) penetration scenarios. Since this initial publication, the situation in California has unfolded in remarkably similar fashion to what was forecasted. Mid-day solar generation has dramatically reduced the net electricity demand that must be supplied …

En el 2013, el Operador Independiente del Sistema de California (CAISO) se refirió por primera vez a la icónica “Curva del Pato”, pronosticaban qué pasaría con el patrón horario de la demanda neta eléctrica en escenarios de alta penetración fotovoltaica. Desde esta publicación inicial, la situación en California se ha desarrollado al pie de la letra como fue pronosticado. La generación solar durante el día …

This past week, I had the opportunity to sit down with Dr. Ivo Steijn. I have known Dr. Steijn for several years and always found his perspectives to be invaluable. In the following interview, he provides sage advice on energy analytics, model validation and how to see major market changes coming. Dr. Steijn, you have had an impressive career in quantitative analysis & risk management …

***This article is the second in a two-part series on the effects of high renewable penetration on thermal generation operational paradigms. The first article discussed how intermittent renewable generation has transformed the grid to the point where many combined cycle plants are unable to operate profitably.*** So baseload power is on its way out and intermittent renewable generation is on its way in. There’s been …

Choose the right risk metric. Energy portfolios vary greatly from company to company and location to location.  No two energy portfolios are the same, and risk management strategies must be tailored to the unique risk factors of each portfolio. Many companies use a traditional Value-at-Risk (VaR) metric to report risk to their Board and to highlight risk to the portfolio in quarterly financial reports.   …