Pennsylvania Electric Restructuring Continues

Fortnightly Magazine - August 1997
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The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has taken new steps in its ongoing effort to restructure the state's electric industry, proposing regulations to govern customer choice of energy suppliers and securitization of stranded costs.

The PUC's new actions on retail choice and stranded costs were designed to comply with state legislation passed last December, known as the Electricity Generation Customer Choice and Competition Act. See, 66 Pa.C.S. secs. 2801 et seq.

In fact, the PUC began last January to implement the new state legislation. At that time, it issued an order adopting guidelines requiring electric utilities to conduct pilot programs for retail competition. See, Re Elec. Gen. Customer Choice and Competition Act (em Retail Access Pilot Programs, Dkt. No. M-00960890, Jan. 16, 1997, 176 PUR4th 1 (Pa.P.U.C.). (Meanwhile, on June 17, DuPont Power Marketing Inc. announced that it had been granted a license by the PUC and would participate in the state's pilot programs, providing evidence that power marketers will test the Pennsylvania market.)

Securitization. The new state law requires utilities to supply at least three items to the PUC to justify recovery of stranded costs through a nonbypassable charge: 1) a complete accounting of stranded costs; 2) a detailed plan for sale or intangible transition property or issuance of transition bonds; and 3) information regarding the planned use of proceeds from such a sale.

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