[BETA] Fortnightly

State PUCs

Electric Standard Offers. Connecticut OK'd a regulated standard offer distribution rate of 10.84 cents per kilowatt-hour for United Illuminating Co. The rate included subcomponent rates:

Gen. Shopping Credit 4.52 cents

T&D Regulated Service 3.89 cents

Systems Benefit Charge 0.17 cents

Compet. Transition Charge 1.91 cents

Conservation Funding 0.3 cents

Renewable Energy Funding 0.05 cents

The T&D charge was calculated without backing out unbundled retail transmission subject to FERC jurisdiction. Docket No. 99-03-35, Oct. 1, 1999 (Conn.D.P.U.C.).

Retail Electric Restructuring. The Ohio PUC staff proposed rules to govern electric utility transition plans to be filed early next year under the state's restructuring legislation signed July 6. Among other ideas, the staff proposed a punitive royalty, payable to a special education fund, if a utility marketing affiliate wins too high a market share in the service territory of its parent utility.

The staff proposal also would call on utilities to provide suggestions on how to modify the structure of the Midwest ISO and the proposed Alliance transco, to meet requirements of the new Ohio law, and how their plans to participate in an RTE (regional transmission entity) would help save Ohio consumers from having to pay multiple access charges for transmission.

The staff proposal would design shopping credits to assure that at least 20 percent of customers in each class - residential, industrial, commercial - will switch to a competitive supplier. Case No. 99-1141-EL-ORD, Sept. 30, 1999 (Ohio P.U.C.).

Electric Standard Offers. Citing problems with shopping credits and the retail standard offer for default electric service, the Massachusetts commission rejected a schedule of standard offer prices for the period 1999-2005, submitted by Western Massachusetts Electric Co. Instead, where WMECO's retail price had fallen below its actual wholesale cost of power, the commission told the utility to boost its standard offer price to reflect the higher wholesale power cost.

It also rejected proposals by its staff to ban utility affiliates from bidding in the competitive solicitation to procure capacity for standard offer service or to open up the main bidding tranche for base load to increments as low as 1 MW.

Regulators acknowledged that bidders would require access to relatively large amounts of generation in order to bid under the main tranche, but suggested that small bidders could participate in other rounds reserved for partial load or miscellaneous services. D.T.E. 97-120, Sept. 17, 1999 (Mass.D.T.E.).

Power Quality. Comments were due Oct. 13 in a new rulemaking docket opened by Washington state regulators to examine electric system reliability, including service interruptions and power quality. Docket No. UE-991168, Sept. 24, 1999 (Wash.U.T.C.).

Billing Disputes. The Maine PUC opened a rulemaking docket on rules governing interactions between competitive energy suppliers and transmission and distribution utilities. Among other things, it proposed that partial payments under a single-billing format should be applied first to satisfy obligations owed to the T&D utility. Docket No. 99-659, Sept. 28, 1999 (Maine P.U.C.).

Restructuring Settlements. On Sept. 23, Arizona regulators OK'd a settlement involving Arizona Public Service and a broad-based coalition of customers and industry associations that continues a trend of annual