ScottMadden - Viewpoints

Distribution Integrity Management Program (DIMP) for Gas LDCs

The Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) has developed a new rule regarding distribution integrity management programs (DIMP) for natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs) and other operators. The rule requires a new a...

NERC Compliance and Organization Structure

As fines continue to pile up and FERC exercises ever increasing oversight of NERC compliance, utilities are focusing more and more on how best to organize NERC compliance efforts. The manner in which this effort is organized and managed can facilitate or h...

Earned Value Management

Complex projects have a need for accurate and consistent status information. Industry literature indicates that a significant number of large projects are over budget and behind schedule and as many as 50% of all projects finish well off their initial budg...

Stimulus Grant Assistance

It’s not too late to get help managing DOE Smart Grid Investment Grants and Demonstration Grants. ScottMadden is working with clients today to get through definitization, setting up the necessary program management processes, and filing initial...

A Discussion on NERC Compliance

ScottMadden recently chaired a webinar highlighting leading practices in NERC compliance. With FERC placing greater emphasis on compliance and enforcement, NERC compliance programs should be centrally coordinated and ensure that corporate processes a...

Energy from Algae

High oil prices, competing demands between foods and other biofuel sources, and the world food crisis, have ignited interest in algae for making vegetable oil, biodiesel, bioethanol, biogasoline, and other biofuels, using land that is not suitable for agri...

Fleet Standardization – A Maintenance Success Story

The nuclear industry has long understood the value of standardizing practices across a fleet of generating assets. However, effective implementation of this practice is difficult. This article presents a case study of one leading utility’s experience...

Sustainability as a Shared Service

As the need for companies to have an organized sustainability function grows, the question of how to deliver this function must be addressed. The shared services delivery model offers a logical way to provide efficient and effective sustainabili...