Regulation
Mark-to-market accounting revisited
New risk disclosure and valuation regulations are aiming to revive energy trading in the US, but cumbersome accounting rules may put companies off hedging altogether, finds Catherine Lacoursière
Tripping around credit quality
Jack Kennedy of Standard & Poor’s looks at the effect of round-trip trades on a firm’s credit quality and how they should be treated
Going short under the SMD
Scott Greene, Mark Niehaus and Pankaj Sahay of PricewaterhouseCoopers look at the effect of settling a short position in the day-ahead market under the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s proposed standard market design
Through the looking glass
Unlike oil and natural gas, electricity generally suffers poor price transparency. Rachel Jacobson of FAME Information Services looks at power price discovery mechanisms in the US
Balancing the books
Regulators are taking advantage of a lull in power project development in the US to close loopholes in financing rules, reports Catherine Lacoursière
The price of good information
The accounting scandals across the US – particularly at Enron – have led to demands for more independent market data in the energy sector. Who’s providing it, and is it meeting the industry’s needs? Kevin Foster reports
Corruption on the ropes
Is the use of those age-old lubricants, bribery and corruption, for so long a normal part of doing business in the third world, now on the wane? Frank Gray reports
Trouble at the paper mill
Maria Kielmas asks how energy users in Scandinavia are coping with medium-term price uncertainties and the threat of increased environmental legislation
A new cop on the beat?
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has been severely criticised for its actions – or lack of them – during California’s disastrous attempt at deregulation. It is now hitting back at the energy industry. Kevin Foster reports
Pulling in different directions
Can Opec ever achieve harmonised foreign investment rules? Maria Kielmas talks to former Algerian energy minister Nordine Aït Laoussine – who says it will never work – and to harmonisation’s biggest supporter and architect Bernard Mommer, special adviser…
Discovering new frontiers
Joerg Engels and Volker Linde report on the changes Germany’s deregulated energy market will have to make as a result of the country’s banking act
Enron’s online after-effects
Recent highly visible events in the US, including the Enron failure, the California electricity crisis and market power rulings by the government have all created considerable tumult and uncertainty, which are bound to have repercussions