2015-10-14
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The utility __________ is taking some uncharacteristically bold steps to halt its ___________, shine up its
___________, and attract new ___________. In increasing numbers, utilities are looking for diversification
____________ their basic business of _____________ and ____________ electric power. Their search for
faster-growing, higher-profit ___________ is leading them into oil exploration, mining, and communications
as well as into more _____________-related fields such as home ___________ and energy-efficient
appliances.
State regulators are becoming increasingly fearful that diversification will ___________ utility management's
attention from its ____________ business. And although construction cutbacks are in the short-
___________ interests of utilities and _____________ who would otherwise have to pay the costs of
building unnecessary generating _____________, the country could ___________ a longer-term capacity
___________ if the economy is revitalized significantly.
Early ___________ toward diversification __________ place as much as two decades ago, when some
electric utilities set up subsidiaries to develop cheap _____________ of fuel for internal use.
In many cases reaping the ____________ of such diversification requires broader management capabilities
and larger ______________ investment than most utilities can provide. That is why many utilities are
considering moves into ______________ more closely aligned with their __________ business: home
weatherization, energy consulting, and power-plant design, for example.
In its bid to diversify, however, the electric utility industry faces some major uncertainties. Both federal and
state rules give regulators _____________ latitude in determining what is acceptable diversification. As a
result, when utilities _________ into high-profit, higher-growth fields, they have no guaranteed assurance
that _____________ from such ventures will be free from ____________ oversight.
There are also uncertainties at the state level. Some utility executives believe that a power company that
___________ to diversify can ease troubles with state regulators by becoming part of an intra - state
__________ company.
While public utility commissions in most states do not specifically have the right to regulate non-utility
___________, they can make it difficult for a utility to hang on to such gains by scaling back on requested
___________ increases.
Because of the electric utility industry's battered financial condition, there are plenty of utilities that would like
to diversify but cannot, either for lack of new capital or because they have _____________ all available
capital elsewhere.
Those utilities that are continuing to build projects on schedule are finding new ways to ____________ the
risk. To share ___________ and reduce ______________ to further slowing in the growth of demand for
power, many are participating in joint projects or selling off ____________ in their completed projects.
