Fortnightly Magazine - February 15 1995

Frontlines

The other day I heard a short news item on National Public Radio that made me stop and think. The item ran something like this: "Maxwell House has announced it will cut the price of its loose ground coffee to reflect a drop in the coffee futures market several months out."

Wasn't that easy? Call it integrated resource planning in the espresso lane. Note what Maxwell House did not do. It did not solicit a demand forecast or run the PROMOD computer model.

FERC Eases PURPA/FPA Regulatory Burden

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has approved a final rule streamlining regulations in the Public Utilities Regulatory Policy Act of 1978 and the Federal Power Act (parts I and II) that affect securities issued by public utilities, rate filings by public utilities, and procedural and technical rules governing qualifying facilities (QFs) (Docket No. RM92-12-000). The changes aim to reduce the regulatory burden on the QF industry.
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