The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued an order denying rehearing, effectively allowing Mojave Pipeline Co. (MP) to construct and operate its Northward Expansion Facilities in California (Docket No. CP93-258-007). The FERC has already issued five substantive orders in the proceeding.

Especially contentious was the clash with the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) over jurisdiction, leading to a February 1995 FERC order holding that the Northward Expansion was an interstate pipeline subject to federal oversight.

It comes as no surprise that regulated investor-owned utilities (IOUs) hold divergent views on the restructuring of the electric industry. Size, generation cost, transmission access, customer loyalty, and the friendliness of state regulators all factor into their individual visions of restructuring.

Nearly three years on from the Yellow Book,1 after many long hours and thousands (em if not millions (em of pages, and following much bitter debate (linked with some murky politics), the California Public Utility Commission (CPUC) by a 3-2 majority has at last published an Order2 to introduce competition for retail customers.

The decision contains four main proposals:

s market structure

s access for custo

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has asserted jurisdiction over a controversial proposal by Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) to transfer personnel and assets from an existing ratepayer-funded energy-efficiency program to an unregulated affiliate.

Robert W. Foy replaced Charles H. "Bud" Stump as chairman of California Water Services Co. Stump, who has been with the company 45 years, will remain on the board. Foy, president and CEO of Pacific Storage Co., has been a CWS director since 1977.

The Gas Research Institute board of directors elected Christine A. Hansen and Stanley C. Horton as new members. Hansen, executive director of the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, joins GRI as an at-large director.

In a little over a year, the electric utility industry has seen six significant mergers.1 This trend toward consolidation most likely will increase as the industry becomes more competitive.

Thomas L. Yohe of Philadelphia Suburban Water Co. was appointed to the Cleanup Standards Scientific Advisory Board. The 13-member board is a new division of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection.

NorAm Energy Corp. has formed a new unregulated retail subsidiary, NorAm Energy Management (NEM), and appointed Rollie Bohall senior v.p. and COO. David Houghtby, formerly of Minnegasco, will be NEM v.p.

California regulators and the utilities they oversee have been talking a lot in recent years about competition. But just being able to "talk the talk" isn't enough (em utility companies and the regulators who monitor them have got to "walk the walk." And on that score, they've just barely begun to crawl. Despite all the marketing hype, the monopoly mindset is still very apparent among industry officials and regulators.Take California's energy industry, for example.

The California Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is an agreement between Southern California Edison Co. (SCE), the California Manufacturers' Association, the California Large Energy Consumers' Association, and the Independent Energy Producers. It tackles three major issues:s recovery of stranded assets

s market power

s market structure.

If the MOU is eventually endorsed, it might be a landmark in electric restructuring \(em and not only in California.