[BETA] Fortnightly

Some shareholders do find bottom-line value

in a "marriage of convenience."

With six merger and acquisition (M&A) deals announced between May 1995 and January 1996, and three more so far this year, the long-predicted consolidation of the electric utility industry is taking hold. At least 23 utilities, with business-combination transactions pending, are part of the frenetic domestic M&A activity that has swept the industry.

Schaefer measure wins praise from UtiliCorp, Enron, and others, but EEI wants relief on stranded costs."The Electricity Consumers Power to Choose Act," introduced by Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), while designed to bring competition to the electric industry, has definitely attracted controversy. The bill has evoked strong reactions from industry players as well as intense lobbying efforts on the part of promoters and detractors. Everyone, it seems, wants to put in their two cents as the bill makes its way across Capitol Hill.

Richard D. Spencer, lately of General Electric Corp., has been hired by Equitable Resources, Inc. as v.p. and chief information officer. He was technology programs manager at GE.

Commonwealth Edison Co. has formed a new nuclear division management team. Thomas J. Maiman, senior v.p., is the top executive. He moves from the company's fossil division. Michael J. Wallace, another senior v.p., will market the utility on strategic nuclear business issues.

April 23, 1996

On behalf of our members, we want to express our continuing appreciation for the leadership you and your colleagues are showing in seeking enactment of S. 1317, a bill to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, while assuring appropriate consumer and investor protection. As you know, the '35 Act imposes duplicative, unnecessary, and burdensome requirements that are outdated and do not reflect current circumstances in the gas and electric utility industry.

s Merger Magic

"Occasionally, yes. There are obviously some fairly easily measurable synergies in some mergers. . . . The real issue, however,

is not whether there are savings. The real issue is could those savings have been obtained without concentrating the economic power that goes with a merger?

"Generally, we've dealt with it with judgment.

Erroll B.

Stephen P. ReynoldsPresident & CEO

Pacific Gas Transmission Co.

Two or three years ago, gas-fired generation was hailed as a cure-all for everything that ailed the natural gas industry.