At the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) winter committee meetings in Washington, DC, the executive committee passed a resolution that Congress should not hold hearings on reforms to the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) until the Securities and Exchange Commission has completed its investigation on the implications of repeal or substantial modification. NARUC also passed a resolution calling for a two-year extension of the present funding mechanism for the Gas Research Institute (GRI).

NARUC believes federal legislation and regulation should reflect need rather than "arbitrary" distinctions based on corporate structure. It wants any PUHCA legislation to ensure that states can regulate holding companies without preemption or restriction, conferring the authority to review prospectively any requests for diversification, to require that holding companies place nonutility businesses in separate subsidiaries, to regulate all interaffiliate transactions, and to force divestiture of utility businesses. NARUC wants states to have access to all books and records of holding companies, plus a transition period before new federal legislation would take effect.

On GRI funding, NARUC says revenue data indicates that the interim GRI funding mechanism had performed as predicted, with 50 percent of 1994 GRI revenue derived from demand surcharges, and 50 percent from volumetric surcharges. Yet it noted that revenue data is insufficient to determine whether the current funding mechanism will be appropriate when FERC Order 636 is fully implemented. NARUC has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to extend the funding mechanism by two years to fund 1996 and 1997 research and development programs. (em LB

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