Live Seminars

Gas and Electric Industry Basics

Length: Two days
Prerequisites: None

Given the increasing integration between electricity and natural gas, a comprehensive understanding of the business side of the natural gas and electricity industries is instrumental to success. This two-day seminar presents a fundamental overview of the similarities and differences of these two complex businesses in a clear and understandable manner. Gas and Electric Industry Basics is ideal for those new to the energy industry or veterans seeking a broad understanding of how today’s natural gas and electricity businesses operate.

What you will learn

  • A big-picture perspective of how the gas and electricity businesses operate

  • The various types of customers, how they use gas and electricity, their specific needs, and how services are designed to meet them
  • How natural gas is discovered, produced, gathered, processed, stored, and transmitted and distributed to customers
  • How electricity is generated, transmitted, and distributed to customers
  • How gas and electric systems are operated and scheduled
  • Which segments of the industry are regulated and how regulation functions in setting rates, determining services, driving infrastructure decisions, and impacting energy company profits
  • Who the key industry participants are and how they use physical and financial strategies to make money and manage risk
  • The key forces driving the future of the gas and electricity businesses
 

Who can benefit from this seminar?

  • New hires at a utility, generation company, transmission owner, gas or electric marketing company, pipeline, gas producer, renewables firm, technology vendor, or any company providing services to the industries
  • Employees with industry experience in one or two departments who are now moving into management
  • Sales professionals and technical employees such as gas or electric system operators, engineers, and information technology professionals
  • Employees involved in the regulatory process
  • Professionals in the legal, finance, accounting, PR, and communications fields who are working for an industry participant or providing services to the energy industry
  • Virtually any industry employee with limited experience on the business side of the gas and/or electric industries
 

Course Agenda

Introduction

  • What natural gas and electricity are and how they work
  • How the U.S. consumes natural gas and electricity
  • Why natural gas and electricity are essential to our society
  • How the two industries are related as competitors and key fuel supplier
  • Gas and electric units

Gas Customers

  • Types of gas customers
  • Customer usage patterns
  • How different customers use natural gas
  • Customer needs and wants
  • Services available to gas customers under bundled and unbundled market structures

The Physical Gas System and Delivery Chain

  • Sources of North American gas supply
  • North American basins and production/reserves
  • The physical delivery systems including gathering, processing, pipelines, hubs, storage, and distribution systems
  • Upstream, midstream, and downstream market participants
  • How the system is operated
  • Pipeline scheduling
  • Balancing and flow orders used to maintain system integrity

Regulation

  • Why the gas industry is regulated
  • Who regulates each function
  • Types of regulatory proceedings
  • The regulatory process and how cost-of-service rates are set
  • Incentive regulation
  • When are market-based rates allowed
  • How regulated gas companies make money

Gas Markets

  • The North American gas market structure
  • Participants in the delivery chain (upstream, midstream, downstream)
  • How gas flows through the value chain
  • How parties transact and trade gas
  • How gas prices are determined
  • Risk exposures and ways to manage them

Electric Customers

  • Types of electric customers
  • Customer usage patterns
  • How different customers use electricity
  • Daily and monthly load shapes
  • Services available to electric customers

The Physical Electrical System and Delivery Chain

  • The integrated planning process for electric systems
  • U.S. generation capacity and output by fuel type
  • Types of generation, their characteristics, and how each is used
  • How generation is dispatched to meet the load curve
  • Demand side management, distributed generation, and storage
  • The transmission system (components and characteristics)
  • The North American power grids
  • The distribution system (components and characteristics)
  • Characteristics of power systems
  • How the system is scheduled and operated
  • Types of ancillary services and what they are used for
  • How reliability is maintained

Regulation

  • How electric regulation differs from gas regulation
  • Who regulates each function
  • Differences in ratemaking and other regulatory aspects

Electric Markets

  • 5 market structures currently used in North America
  • What electric supply choice is and where it is available
  • How parties transact in electric markets
  • The services bought and sold in electric markets
  • Basic pricing concepts
  • ISO scheduling and locational marginal pricing (LMP)
  • How an energy portfolio is managed
  • Risk exposures and how they can be managed

The Future

  • Evolution of the gas and electric markets, technology, and regulation
  • A future energy marketplace (robust gas supply, an evolved electric grid, distributed resources, greenhouse gas regulation, engaged customers, new business models)
  • A new workforce

Contact us at 866-765-5432 or e-mail for more information.

CPE credits for Group Live? Absolutely!

Enerdynamics Corp. is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN 37219-2417. Website: www.nasba.org

Delivery Method: Group-live

You will receive CPE credits (depending on the seminar length) when you successfully complete this live seminar. See the seminar brochure for details.

Note that CPE credits for virtual seminars are currently not offered.

Bring this seminar onsite

If you have 8 or 10 participants, chances are it's cost-effective to have us bring this seminar to you. Save time and travel cost by hosting a seminar at your company site. We can also customize the content for your company or geographic region. Give us a call at 866-765-5432 to discuss your onsite options, or send us an e-mail.


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