Will investors ever put money in utilities again
Mr. Meyer, involved with utility financing for 25 years, is extremely pessimistic about the utility industry. He feels that investors will be very slow to put money into utilities in the future unless something really radical is done. With public confidence shaken as badly as it is, he thinks very strong incentives will be needed - preferably reinforced by a system of absolutely lock-up turnkey contracts. He says it will be necessary to get into a system of pricing the output of the plant differently than in the past - that is, pretty much on a flat-rate basis across the 40-year life of the plant (including the construction period as well as the operating period). We're going to have to provide for it with the law and provide for it in ways in which it cannot be retroactively changed. These are the kinds of things that are going to have to be built into each state's regulatory situation. Other questions addressed by Mr. Meyer in the interview include the role of architect-engineering firms; what about the companies doing very nicely at the moment; and the threat of bankruptcy for some companies. In spite of his overall pessimism, Mr. Meyer believes that solution will be found once the necessary level of pressure is brought - electricity is too central a thing to this country.
- Research Organization:
- Kidder, Peabody, and Co. Inc., New York, NY
- OSTI ID:
- 6603688
- Journal Information:
- Energy Dly.; (United States), Vol. 12:161
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
ELECTRIC POWER
ECONOMIC ANALYSIS
PUBLIC POLICY
ELECTRIC UTILITIES
INVESTMENT
FINANCIAL INCENTIVES
LEGAL INCENTIVES
ECONOMICS
POWER
PUBLIC UTILITIES
296000* - Energy Planning & Policy- Electric Power
290200 - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology