Citi

People

Aquila Power Corp., a UtiliCorp United subsidiary, has hired two executives to expand its market into the western United States. Timothy J. Culbertson, from Portland General Electric, will lead power marketing in the Pacific Northwest. David L. Metz will lead power marketing in the Southwest. Metz comes from Arizona Public Service Co.Consolidated Natural Gas Co. has named Bruce E. Plichta international financial analyst and James M. Mulcahy senior financial analyst.

Perspective

The 129 federally owned plants that make up the five PMAs generate about 6 percent of the electricity sold in the United States.1 By law, the PMAs sell wholesale power at cost to legally stipulated "preference customers" (em i.e., municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives.

Price-cap Reforms Reflect Local Competition

Citing heightened competition and lower earnings in the state's local exchange telephone market, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has frozen price caps for local exchange carriers (LECs) for most noncompetitive local services, and has suspended the 5-percent "x-factor" services for an intermediate level of competition.

People

Carter T. Funk was promoted to v.p.-business and operations services at Consolidated Natural Gas Co. He moves up from v.p.-asset acquisition and resource development at CNG Energy Services.

Marian M. Davenport was promoted to v.p., general counsel, and secretary for Destec Energy, Inc. She replaces Stephen R. Wright, who retired.

Central and South West Corp. has elected Jim Ellis, chairman and CEO of SEEBOARD plc, to its board of directors.

Energy Competition Warrants Heat Pump Promotion

Citing competition in residential energy markets, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) has approved a new heat-pump rate discount and installation rebate program proposed by United Illuminating Co. (em but with an eye trained on market share.

The DPUC acknowledged a prior reluctance to approve tariffs that promote specific end uses, but found that competition justified new approaches. It also cited other positive factors, including: 1) the utility's long-term surplus capacity outlook, 2) its low marginal cost, and 3) heat pump efficiencies.

Will Residential Customers Pay for Competition?

High industrial electricity rates are often blamed upon current regulation. Some state regulators respond with broad-based reforms; others simply reallocate system costs from industrial rate classes to rates for more inelastic customers (em namely, residential users.

Marketing & Competing

"This legislation represents a piecemeal approach to a problem which requires deliberate and thoughtful consideration .... [It] could lead to 'cream-skimming,' which would result in increased rates for the remaining business and residential customers" (Lincoln Almond, Governor of Rhode Island).

Words to this effect are likely to grace vetoes of retail wheeling legislation by governors and maybe the President of the United States for the foreseeable future.

People

William T. O'Connor, Jr. has been hired as nuclear assessment manager at Detroit Edison's Fermi 2 nuclear power plant. He comes from Toledo Edison's Davis-Besse nuclear plant, where he was regulatory affairs manager.

Daniel Bollom, WPS Resources Corp. CEO, has been promoted to chairman of the board. Larry Weyers, senior v.p.-power supply and engineering, was promoted to president and COO of both WPSR and Wisconsin Public Service Corp., one of WPSR's holdings.