A New York supreme court (Albany county) has affirmed a May 1996 order by state public service commission to restructure the state's electric utility industry, upholding PSC's "flexible retail poolco" model and authority to direct utilities to file plans for further review.
The court ruled that the PSC may deregulate generation and compel separation of generation, wires, and energy marketing functions. Moreover, the PSC need not guarantee 100-percent recovery of stranded costs, says court, but may "encourage" utilities to divest themselves of generating assets.
The court added that the Energy Policy Act of 1992 is "crystal clear" that states have jurisdiction over retail wheeling. Energy Asso. of New York State et al., v. N.Y. P.S.C., No. 5830-96, Nov. 25, 1996 (N.Y.Sup.). t
Phillip S. Cross is associate legal editor of PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY.
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