Fortnightly Magazine - June 1 1995

Let's End the Monopoly

My subject today is regulation and competition in the electric utility industry.

You all know only too well what's happened to this industry in the last decade or so: Inflation accelerated, interest rates rose, productivity growth slowed, fuel prices rose dramatically, growth in demand stopped, and the cost of meeting environmental and safety regulations soared. For utilities that was truly a devil's brew.

Byline: 
N/A
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Frontlines

It was after seven o'clock in the evening (em nearly 12 hours since the DOE-NARUC Second National Electricity Forum had gotten underway up in Providence, RI (em when it all finally hit home. This time the regulators were serious. People were paying attention.

Byline: 
Bruce W. Radford
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People

Richard J. Grossi, chairman and CEO of United Illuminating Co., has been elected chairman of the North American Reliability Council. Grossi will serve a two-year term.

Thomas L. Fisher, president and CEO of Northern Illinois Gas Co. has been elected chairman of the Gas Research Institute's board of directors. Fisher will serve a one-year term, along with newly elected vice chairman, John F. Riordan, president and CEO of MidCon Corp.

Chairman Thomas G.

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Mailbag

In his recent article, "The Future of Local Gas Distributors" (Feb 1, 1995, p. 20), Vinod Dar presents a vision of executives at the local distribution company (LDC) lining up to buy cemetery plots (em even as the gas marketers, charging on horseback, seize the high ground of "middle" and

core-markets.

That sort of bravado cannot substitute for an in-depth knowledge of gas distribution. Mr. Dar in fact distorts or ignores many realities of the gas business.

Byline: 
Vince Esposito
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