For more than a year, we at IDC Energy Insights have been predicting that a comprehensive climate/energy bill would not happen. Our reasoning was simple: With 60 senators needed for any legislation to advance, there are too many Republicans and coal state Democrats to make a cap and trade program viable. The final nail in the coffin was hammered in by the distinguished new senator from West Virginia, Carte Goodwin, announcing that he would not support any bill with cap and trade in it. Imagine that: a West Virginia politician not wanting to harm the interests of the coal industry. While much of Washington is now transfixed with its usual mourning procedures for any bill that dies before becoming a law (first order of business: everybody blame everyone else), a few lonely voices are starting to whisper "What's next?" The answer is that there will definitely be some sort of energy bill passed by Congress before the August recess. What exact form it takes is anybody's guess.

Ever since I have been covering information technology in the utility industry, CSC has been one professional service firm that has served the utility industry.  About 10 years ago, the involvement was mostly in commodity areas.  Through the years, CSC has built experience and expertise in IT specific to the industry in areas such as customer service and transmission and distribution.  With the acquisition of Bass & Company, CSC is demonstrating their commitment to the industry by expanding its utility subject matter expertise.  This addition is a plus for utilities, as it increases their options.

We just completed a new research report focused on capital project management in the oil and gas industry (Business Strategy:  Capital Project Management in the Oil and Gas Industry, Document #EI224331). This report examines the benchmark study conducted by IDC Energy Insights regarding the maturity of information technology (IT) systems at oil and gas companies to manage large capital projects at an enterprise level. Specifically, the study focuses on capturing business practices, system architecture, IT infrastructure, and applications in support of project portfolio management, enterprise content management (ECM), business analytics, and construction management. It will help oil and gas companies and vendors to the energy industry understand the maturity of IT systems that manage large capital projects and can also form the basis for a gap analysis and improvement plan.