Synopses & Reviews
An Investors Guide to the Electricity Economy
Not long ago, most gas and electric utility stocks held a blue-chip pedigree and were considered sure, if somewhat dull, bets by the investment community. But deregulation and restructuring of electricity markets has thrown the industry into turmoil, leaving many investors struggling to make sense of mergers and acquisitions, bankruptcies, repositioned companies, aggressive upstart firms, competition, diversification, and new technologies. An Investors Guide to the Electricity Economy explains in lucid, accessible language what every investor, analyst, portfolio manager, and electricity producer wants to know about the transformation of an industry that underpins the entire economy.
Deregulation has ushered in the era of the electricity consumer and wholesale and retail energy markets. Whereas once almost every individual and most businesses paid a fixed, bundled rate for service, now a single consumer may have several energy providers to choose from, and within each provider, several service plans. Investors must understand the new dynamics of wholesale and retail energy consumption and competition, as well as the myriad new technologies driving the industry, before they place their hard-earned dollars on the line. Drawing upon his twenty years of experience in the field, Jason Makansi synthesizes all of the relevant issues facing the power industry today, delivering clear, concise, and practical investment intelligence not usually found in equity or financial reports. An Investors Guide to the Electricity Economy takes readers on a guided tour of the industry and its companies and technologies, and includes the authors "Technology Matrix," a valuable methodology that helps the reader assess the potential of new technologies based on development phases, market-entry timing, real market needs, competitive advantage, barriers to entry, commercialization progress, and existing alliances.
Makansi also offers valuable case studies on coal and nuclear power, transmission services, energy storage, network energy management, information technology, online energy information services, and the 2000/2001 California electricity crisis. Using these and other tools, Makansi introduces new analytical frameworks to evaluate the nonfinancial performance of energy companies, including the "technology capital" that drives many companies earnings potential. In a field as vast as electricity, where technology is evolving rapidly, the stock ticker and the underwriters analysts clearly do not tell the whole story.
"Think about the telephone business in the early 1980s," Makansi writes, ". . . or the computer and information technologies and Internet businesses of the 1990s. Many companies have come and gone, but if you timed your investments right, you made lots of money. The electricity business is at the same stage now." This book offers fresh new ways of thinking about the energy business. It helps you get beyond the Wall Street analyst reports that are often little more than cheerleading for companies that their firms underwrite.
Synopsis
Includes bibliographical references (p. 251-259) and index.
Synopsis
Energy Investing that gets beyond the hype
2001 was perhaps the most tumultuous year in the modern history of the energy industry. As with telecommunications, computer and information technology, and Internet/e-commerce businesses over the last two decades, it is now a truly delicate but potentially lucrative time to invest in electricity. Deregulation means that investors face a breathtaking array of new companies and technologies that have the potential to grow and accumulate wealth. With a focus on understanding market dynamics and "technology capital," Jason Makansi shows you how to get beyond analyst hype, uncover new opportunities, and invest wisely in An Investors Guide to the Electricity Economy.
Divided into three sections"The Industry," "The Investor," and "Case Studies"this book introduces readers to the most current and relevant industry trends, critical insights and research based on the authors tested methodology, and the companies and technologies that are transforming the industry. The authors "Technology Matrix" assesses the potential of new companies based on technology development cycles, market-entry timing, commercialization progress, and strategic alliances. Understanding the new energy wholesale and retail experience, in which business and consumers will have a variety of providers and service plans to choose from, is emphasized throughout. Other topics covered include:
- Neglected investment opportunities such as in the coal, nuclear, energy storage, and transmission sectors
- Energy information services and distributed power
- The California electricity crisis of 20002001lessons learned
- Corporate profiles of industry innovators
Institutional and individual investors, analysts, policy-makers, researchers, and industry executives will find An Investors Guide to the Electricity Economy a lively and indispensable read.
Synopsis
Energy Investing that gets beyond the hype
2001 was perhaps the most tumultuous year in the modern history of the energy industry. As with telecommunications, computer and information technology, and Internet/e-commerce businesses over the last two decades, it is now a truly delicate but potentially lucrative time to invest in electricity. Deregulation means that investors face a breathtaking array of new companies and technologies that have the potential to grow and accumulate wealth. With a focus on understanding market dynamics and "technology capital," Jason Makansi shows you how to get beyond analyst hype, uncover new opportunities, and invest wisely in An Investor's Guide to the Electricity Economy.
Divided into three sections-"The Industry," "The Investor," and "Case Studies"-this book introduces readers to the most current and relevant industry trends, critical insights and research based on the author's tested methodology, and the companies and technologies that are transforming the industry. The author's "Technology Matrix" assesses the potential of new companies based on technology development cycles, market-entry timing, commercialization progress, and strategic alliances. Understanding the new energy wholesale and retail experience, in which business and consumers will have a variety of providers and service plans to choose from, is emphasized throughout. Other topics covered include:
* Neglected investment opportunities such as in the coal, nuclear, energy storage, and transmission sectors
* Energy information services and distributed power
* The California electricity crisis of 2000--2001-lessons learned
* Corporate profiles of industry innovators
Institutional and individual investors, analysts, policy-makers, researchers, and industry executives will find An Investor's Guide to the Electricity Economy a lively and indispensable read.
About the Author
JASON MAKANSI is President of Pearl Street, Inc. of St. Louis, Missouri, a technology deployment services firm with expertise in identifying investment, technology, and business trends in the energy industry, and developing strategies for capitalizing on those trends. Prior to founding Pearl Street, Makansi served as director of the power industry for Myplant.com and spent eighteen years with McGraw-Hill Inc.'s energy publications on the power industry, including five years as editor-in-chief of Power and Electric Power International. Makansi earned his BS in chemical engineering from Columbia University.
Table of Contents
Introduction.
PART 1: THE INDUSTRY.
Industry Sructure.
The Motivation for Deregulation: Pull, Push, and Pray.
Billing and Services Today.
Pathways to Profit.
The Scorecard Thus Far.
Winning Consumer Strategies.
PART 2: THE INVESTOR.
The Value Chain.
Technologies and Services.
Technology Due Diligence: A Methodology.
Probing Deeper: Sectors, Technologies and Companies.
A New Dimension: Energy Storage.
Distributed Power: A New Business Model?
Services Follow Technology Adoption.
Wrapping it All Up: Information Technology.
Investment Opportunities.
PART 3: CASE STUDIES.
Coal and Nuclear.
Energy Information Services.
Focus on the 2000/2001 California Electricity Crisis.
Bibliography.
Index.