[BETA] Fortnightly

Talk runs gamut from "rocket docket" to "Just go slow." A merger announcement kickstarted NARUC's annual conference last year. This year, in San Francisco, there was little difference in conference chatter. Only this time, MCI Communications Corp. and British Telecommunications Plc were the suitors, in a $20 billion corporate marriage.

Regulators had better get used to the "M" word, noted speaker John E. Hayes, Jr., chairman of Western Resources Corp.

Peter R. Thomas was hired from Sprint as v.p. of American Electric Power's new communications subsidiary, AEP Communications, Inc.

Central Illinois Light Co. hired Todd Severson as human resources v.p. He comes from Remco, a subsidiary of Thorn Americas.

Scott A. Neitzel, a member of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission since January 1992, has resigned. Neitzel chaired the PSC's electric utility industry restructuring committee.

Ohio Edison Co.'s board of directors elected chairman and CEO Willard R. Holland as its chairman.

How the electric industry uses DSM and IRP to build load, ignoring basic truths found in fuel-cycle analysis.It was during the early 19th century that General von Clausewitz announced his nine principles of warfare.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission has a five-member slate for the first time in over three years. Recently sworn in were Nils J. Diaz and Edward McGaffigan, Jr. Diaz was a professor of nuclear engineering sciences at the University of Florida; McGaffigan, a former foreign service officer, was a senior science and defense advisor to U.S. Sen. Jeff Bingaman (D-NM). William T. Russell, NRC director of nuclear reactor regulation (NRR), retired September 30. Frank J.

About a year ago I stuck my neck out to predict that electric utilities might end up with stranded investment in transmission lines. I suggested that financial commodities trading-longs, shorts, and hedges-might supplant physical product movements. It's happened in natural gas, where the interstate pipelines have suffered from "decontracting" and capacity "turnback"-a phenomenon that has tended to move from West to East.

SCANA Corp. promoted William B. Timmerman, president, to COO. John L. Skolds, senior v.p. of generation at SCANA subsidiary South Carolina Electric & Gas, became president and COO. Skolds replaces Bruce D. Kenyon, who left the company to become president of Northeast Nuclear Energy Co.

James T. Egler was promoted from president of Equitable Resources Inc.'s marketing division to CEO of Equitable Gas Co., a regulated subsidiary.

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line Corp. promoted Bob Bahnick to v.p., operations & engineering.

Christopher M. Coburn and Charles William Burton were confirmed by the U.S. Senate as directors of the U.S. Enrichment Corp. Both will serve five-year terms. Coburn is v.p. of the Technology Partnership Practice for Battelle Memorial Institute. Burton, an attorney, is of counsel to Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. promoted Dorothy M. Hawkins to information technology director. Kennan J. Walsh, senior rate specialist, was promoted to senior (electric) regulatory specialist. Gregory A.

Where others see conflict, a Pennsylvania commissioner finds a peace offering,

not a grab for power.

The jurisdictional issues posed by Order 888 continue to breed tension between federal and state officials. Unfortunately, most of this tension too often elevates form over substance. This jurisdictional tension shifts the focus of decisionmaking from securing the benefits of competition to preserving regulatory turf.

One of the most influential organizations in utility regulation is seeking a new executive after its director of more than 30 years resigned in the midst of strategic planning that could change the group's future.

Paul Rodgers, executive director and general counsel for the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), made his July 25 resignation effective August 9. He was given two year's pay as severance.

Charles D. Gray, assistant general counsel, has taken over as acting general counsel.

About 90 parties have filed petitions seeking changes to Order 888. Claiming "errors," the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC) asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to reverse its assertion of:

s Jurisdiction over unbundled retail transmission services

s "Primary" authority over retail stranded-cost recovery when retail consumers convert to wholesale

s "Backstop" authority to provide stranded-cost recovery when an end user changes power suppliers under a state-established retail wheeling system.