ScottMadden, Inc., one of North America's leading energy consulting firms, recently released its spring Energy Industry Update. For more than a decade and a half, the ScottMadden Energy Industry Update has served as the catalyst for strategic discussion, debate, and decisions. More than 10,000 executive leaders rely on it for thought-provoking insights on the energy utility industry's most important trends. This highly anticipated semi-annual report will give you bottom-line insights, distill recent events, and help you as you prepare to anticipate and respond to emerging trends.

Themed "It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," this report focuses on the strategic drivers propelling our industry, including trends in the natural gas industry such as infrastructure development and price risk management. Natural gas prices remain low for now across North America, continuing to be buoyed by prolific shale plays. Gas pipeline development continues as the industry tries to unlock those resources, although projects are proceeding at different speeds. In this favorable environment, some electric and gas utilities are looking at ways to hedge gas price risk. And, some regulators are questioning past hedging programs-in some cases, ones that had previously been approved.

"We all want price stability and the lowest price possible. But those objectives can conflict. While locking in low gas prices is a key goal for utilities that deliver gas or use it as a power generation fuel, balancing price stability with target price levels is as much art as science," said Greg Litra, partner and energy, clean tech, and sustainability research leader at ScottMadden. "It requires regulatory engagement, knowledge of hedging instruments and practices, and skill and experience to customize programs based upon local market dynamics and business objectives."

If you have not already registered, we encourage you to join ScottMadden and Energy Central for the interactive webcast, "ScottMadden's Energy Industry Update - It's the End of the World as We Know It (And I Feel Fine)," on Friday, May 19, 2017, from 1:00-2:00 PM EDT. During this complimentary session, our industry experts will share their views and field questions related to solar curtailment, Australia's response to distributed generation, and smart cities. Join us to hear from Chris Vlahoplus, partner and clean tech & sustainability practice leader at ScottMadden and Paul Quinlan, clean tech manager at ScottMadden. Stuart Pearman will serve as an additional presenter and the webcast moderator.

ScottMadden | www.scottmadden.com