Industry
Electric Business Understanding
Get a "big picture" perspective of the dynamic and fast-paced electric industry
In this interactive two-day seminar you will gain a comprehensive understanding of the business of electricity and how you and your company fit into the big picture. If you are new to the electricity industry, or even a veteran wanting more details on how all the pieces fit together, Electric Business Understanding will help you connect the dots to make sense out of this complex and rapidly changing business.
You will learn about the various types of customers and how their needs are served, the physical electrical system and how it's operated, why and how the industry is regulated and what electric deregulation changes, what types of risk energy companies encounter and how they mitigate them, and how electric markets work and prices are set. You will also get insight on trends that will change the electric industry as you build your career in it.
This course was designed with your participation in mind! Questions and discussion among attendees are highly encouraged. And you will participate in a number of individual and group exercises that will give you a real-world perspective of the business of electricity. You will leave this information-packed seminar with relevant and current information that can be applied immediately to your work!
Prerequisites: No prerequisites or advance preparation is required.
Contact us at 866-765-5432 or 'info' for more information.
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Chicago, IL
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4/16/2012-4/17/2012
The Omni Chicago
676 North Michigan Avenue
Chicago, IL 60611
1-800-THE-OMNI
$1390 $1190
(discount expires 3/26/2012)
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Houston, TX
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5/23/2012-5/24/2012
Magnolia Hotel
1100 Texas Avenue
Houston, TX 77002
1-888-915-1110
$1390 $1190
(discount expires 5/2/2012)
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Chicago, IL
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10/15/2012-10/16/2012
Omni Chicago Hotel
676 N. Michigan Ave.
Chicago, IL 60611
1-800-THE-OMNI
$1390 $1190
(discount expires 9/24/2012)
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Washington, DC
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12/5/2012-12/6/2012
The Dupont Circle Hotel
1500 New Hampshire Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20036
202-483-6000
$1390 $1190
(discount expires 11/14/2012)
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Is Electric Business Understanding the right seminar for me?
If a big picture perspective of the electric business could help you succeed in your job, this seminar is for you! Whether you're new to the electric business or you’re an industry veteran, you will benefit from the comprehensive industry overview you will receive. While anyone with a connection to the electric power business should consider this fundamental seminar, here are the types of employees who have found this class helpful to their continued success in the industry:
- New hires: anyone new to the industry, whether you are working for a utility, transmission company, merchant generator, energy marketing company, renewable generation firm, startup, or any company providing services to the industry
- Employees with industry experience in one or two specific departments who are now moving into management
- Technical employees such as system operators, engineers and Information Technology professionals who need to understand how the business of electricity actually works
- Technical employees who are moving into positions that support business or regulatory strategies
- Regulatory employees who need to understand the real-world challenges of electric market participants
- Accounting professionals who need a solid foundation in how the electric industry works
- Professionals such as attorneys, finance, PR, communications, etc. who are working for an industry participant or providing services to the energy industry
- Virtually any industry employee with limited experience on the business aspects of electricity
How will Electric Business Understanding help me?
If you are new to the electric business, this seminar will help you gain a big picture perspective of the industry you’ve just joined. The electric industry is unlike any other industry you may have experienced in the past. And the business acumen you will receive in this class will help you to make sense of it all. This broad foundation of knowledge will help you to become a more active and productive participant of your company’s team. Many participants tell us that what they learned in two days could have taken years in on-the-job training! Think of this class as a big jump-start to your career in the electricity business.
If you are an industry veteran, you probably know that it’s common for employees to gain expertise in their area of work (accounting is a great example), yet after years on the job have very little idea how what they do affects the company outside their department, the company’s regulatory strategies, or customers and other market participants. Electric Business Understanding was designed to not only provide the big picture perspective you are missing, but also to help you understand how what you do affects the rest of the business and to provide you with the overall knowledge needed to interact effectively with various stakeholders. Whether it’s getting a grip on industry acronyms, figuring out how different types of generation fit into the dispatch curve, or finally understanding how an electric utility makes money, this knowledge will make you more successful in communicating with others in your company and prepare you for further career advancement.
In just two information-packed days, this dynamic course will provide you with a solid understanding of:
- A big picture perspective of how the electric business operates
- The various types of electric customers, how they use power, their specific needs, and how services are designed to meet them
- How electricity is generated and how the transmission and distribution systems deliver that electricity to customers
- How system operators decide what types of generation to schedule and when, and how they make sure the system operates reliably
- Which segments of the industry are regulated and why, and how the regulatory process really works
- How a utility's rates are determined and how the rate case process affects the profitability of utilities, their customers and other market participants
- The various types of market structures and how they differ
- How electricity deregulation has changed the business and how competitive markets continue to evolve
- Who the key industry participants are and the strategies they employ to be successful
- How physical and financial strategies are used to make money and manage risk
- The key forces likely to drive future evolution in the electric business
Introduction
- What is electricity and how does it work?
- Why is electricity so important to our society?
- Electric units and additional concepts that you need to know
Electric Customers
- The 3 key customer classes and how each uses electricity
- Daily and annual load shapes and why this is so important to understand
- How customer demand is forecast in the short term and long term
- Costs of service
- Services available to end-use customers including distribution, supply and after-the-meter services
- Typical rate options for customers in a regulated market
- How end users buy electricity in competitive markets
The Physical System
- How utilities and ISOs develop long-term planning for system resources
- How electricity is generated
- The various types of generation and their characteristics (fixed costs, variable costs, operational flexibility, location, environmental issues)
- How generation is scheduled in the day-ahead given these characteristics
- How demand side management can be used as a resource
- What a transmission system is and the various components that comprise it
- Transmission system costs and characteristics
- The 5 transmission grids in North America
- What a distribution system is and the various components that comprise it
- Distribution system costs and characteristics
- 3 distribution system designs and when each is used
- The roles of an electric system operator
- NERC and reliability oversight of system operators
- How operators handle short-term and seasonal planning of their system
- How electricity is scheduled and why certain units are run and others are not
- How supply and demand are balanced on a moment-by-moment basis in real time
- 7 ancillary services, what they do, and why we need them
- How operations differ under monopoly and competitive market designs
- An explanation of locational marginal pricing
Regulation
- What does regulation do? Why is it so important in the electric industry?
- Who the regulators are, and who regulates what
- 4 types of regulatory proceedings
- The 8 steps in the regulatory process and what happens during each step
- How cost-of-service based rates are set: authorized rates of return, determining the rate base, determining the revenue requirement, forecasting usage, determining cost allocations, calculating rates
- What is incentive regulation and why would some energy companies and even regulators prefer this to more traditional forms of regulation?
- When are market-based rates used?
Market Restructuring
- The concept of deregulation/restructuring and how it requires unbundling of vertically integrated utilities
- 6 reasons to restructure an electric market
- In which areas of the electric industry does it make sense to allow competition?
- 4 electric market structures that exist in the U.S. today and the advantages/disadvantages of each
- Trading arrangements – how power is bought and sold under different wholesale market structures including wheeling and ISO/RTO markets
- Electric supply choice in the U.S. today - which states have it and which do not? How is this changing?
- A look at the ideal outcome of deregulation, and then a look at what has really happened to date
Electric Market Dynamics
- Business models for the current decade
- Trends in generation - what will get built and who will build it?
- Reserve margins throughout the U.S. and what this means for our future generation needs
- How renewable energy programs are changing what is built where, and how future regulation of carbon could change this picture
- What strategies are generation owners using?
- Trends in transmission - where are expansions proposed and who will build them?
- Transmission owner strategies
- Trends in wholesale trading - who's in the market and who has left and what are their strategies? Will this change?
- Trends in distribution and retail marketing - who are the retail marketers to watch and what are their strategies?
Making Money and Managing Risk
- How different market participants make money and how it's different for regulated and unregulated companies
- 7 risk factors in the electric business and what a company can do to manage its exposure
- Why are electric prices so volatile and how can they be hedged?
- The physical and financial tools used in electric risk management and who provides them
- Using Value at Risk to measure levels of risks and the need for additional stress testing
- Creditworthiness and the need for capital
The Future of the Electric Industry
- What you might expect in regulation, technology and markets
- The smart grid and smart house
- New technologies and competitors
- New paradigms for the new century
- How a changing workforce might affect the industry's future
"This course did a great job connecting areas of the electricity business to areas of my practice."
Christy B.
Fredrikson & Byron
"The real life experiences that the instructor pulled into his sessions really wrapped up key points vital in understanding the industry."
Daniel D.
Integrys Energy Services
"Wonderful overview of the electricity business. Excellent group interaction and class dynamics, Good solid course. Well worth the time invested."
Lynn G.
Jenner & Block, LLP
"Excellent, I just want more!"
Sarah T
SENTECH
"The most useful aspect of the course was the opportunity to dialogue about real-world events and apply knowledge; very thorough, materials are good. The course is my first one and sets a high standard."
Karin S.
Reliant Energy
"Basically everything was relevant to me and my job, which was great. I was extremely impressed with the content of this course. It boiled down the difficult and complicated concepts of technical electric functions into an easy-to-understand format."
Andrew P.
Omaha Public Power District
"The entire class was very helpful and thorough."
Lori S.
Constellation New Energy
Group discount
Attend this seminar with your workgroup and you can save up to 25%. For every three people from the same company who attend this course, the fourth is free!
Networking reception
In addition to all you will learn, this seminar is also a great networking opportunity. We offer a hosted reception the first night of your course, which gives you the opportunity to continue networking with colleagues in a casual and comfortable environment. This is a great opportunity to develop valuable new relationships with peers in other companies and agencies.
Course length
Two Days
Prerequisites
No prerequisites or advance preparation is required.
Seminar times
This seminar begins at 8:30 each day, and ends at 5:00 the first day and 4:00 the second day. But feel free to come early to enjoy complimentary breakfast, ask questions of your instructor and network with other class participants.
Registration fee
$1,390 (save $200 - only $1,190 if paid three weeks prior to seminar). This fee includes continental breakfast, lunch and morning and afternoon breaks. The fee also includes course materials and a networking reception the first night.
Cancellation policy
All class sizes are limited and your place in class is held exclusively for you. Registrations cancelled two weeks or more prior to the seminar date will receive a full refund minus a 10% administrative fee or a credit for 100% of the registration fee good towards any other Enerdynamics product. Registrations cancelled with less than two weeks notice but more than two days notice will receive a credit for 100% of the registration fee good towards any other Enerdynamics product. Registrations cancelled with less than two days notice are not eligible for refund or credit. Substitutions may be made at any time and without additional cost.
Contact us at 866-765-5432 or 'info' for more information.
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CPE credits? Absolutely!
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Bring this seminar onsite
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No risk to you!
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