Reliability, aging infrastructure among chief US utility concerns

Washington (Platts)--15Jun2004

Regulatory uncertainty, system reliability and aging physical infrastructure
are the three most critical issues facing the US electric power industry, a
survey of industry executives relased Tuesday found. Each of the issues is
linked with the other and it would be "extremely difficult" to fix one without
fixing all, executives said in the survey conducted by Navigant Consulting Inc
and Electric Perspectives magazine, an Edison Electric Institute publication.
Seventy-two percent of those surveyed said regulatory uncertainty is the "most
critical" issue to resolve, followed by 67% who cited "system reliability" and
56% who cited "aging physical infrastructure." In total, 70% of the executives
cited 14 different industry issues as "highly critical" or "critical" in the
next three years. Uncertainty "undermining strategic growth plans, driving up
the cost of capital, and arguably affecting the industry's ability to provide
more reliable service," said Ron Nichols, senior managing director, Navigant
Consulting.

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