Sound bites from state and federal regulators.
Electric Briefs
Environmental Review. California halts work on report of environmental impacts of electric restructuring and new market structure, finding no need for independent review of commission proposals after state Legislature had sanctioned "a more competitive scheme" last summer when it passed Assembly Bill 1890. R.94-04-031, I.94-04-032, Decision 96-12-075, Dec. 12, 1996 (Cal.P.U.C.).
Electric Restructuring. Vermont adopts plan to bring choice of supply to state's electric customers (and retail access by January 1998), even though state's electric system "is not broken." Plan requires largest investor-owned utilities to transfer generation and distribution functions to separate corporate subsidiaries. Board will review stranded costs in mitigation proposals filed by each utility during 1997. Docket No. 5854, Dec. 30, 1996 (Vt.P.S.B.).
Heat Pump Promotions. Duke Power wins 12-month extension for plan to pay home builders up to $3500 per home to offset costs of installing heat pumps, expects participation (currently 3 builders) to grow in future. Docket No. M-100, Sub 124, Dec. 31, 1996 (N.C.U.C.).
Load Aggregation. Pilot program for time-of-use rates at Duke Power Co. allows nonresidential customers with a contract demand of at least 5000 kilowatts to aggregate load from multiple premises on noncontiguous properties for billing purposes. Docket No. E-7,Sub 595, Dec. 31, 1996 (N.C.U.C.).