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Fortnightly Magazine - October 1 1996

SoCalGas Arques Over Fuel Charge

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has taken issue with the coal industry's opinion that lower electric rates from restructuring would increase electricity use, and that strict environmental regulations would require meeting the increased demand with out-of-state generation.

"These coal industry groups suggest that electricity demand will rise because cheap coal-fired electric power (em generated in Arizona and elsewhere (em will now be available," said Lee Stewart, a SoCalGas senior vice president.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Ohio Reviews Gas Regulation

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has opened a docket to examine regulatory reform of the state's natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs), responding to a new state law (Amended Substitute House Bill 476) signed June 18 by Ohio Gov. George Voinovich. It directed its staff and interested parties to develop ideas for alternative regulatory plans and for LDCs to enter the "commodity sales" market.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Measuring the Merger: Fact, Fiction, and Prediction

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.

Byline: 
Michael J. Hamilton
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Cascade Aims for Divident Payouts

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC) has approved a settlement agreement allowing Cascade Natural Gas Corp. (CNG) to increase its rates by $3.8 million a year starting August 1, 1996.

CNG will also hike its monthly service charge to residential, commercial, and core industrial customers by $1 on August 1, 1997, and by another $1 on August 1, 1998. The utility says the revenue increase would be offset by concurrent decreases in rates for transportation customers.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Perspective

To what extent should the independent system operator (ISO) and the spot market (Power Exchange) remain separate? Thinking about how the ISO must operate leads to certain conclusions.

Of necessity, the ISO will operate a noncontract market. That is, the ISO will match some supply and some demand that are not covered by generator-customer contracts.

Byline: 
Mark Drazen
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Off Peak

California's CTC:

Light-handed or Light-headed?Customers didn't buy power on lay-away. So why should the CPUC exact interest?

In a recent dream, the Governor of California called to ask if I would accept an appointment to serve on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Of course I thanked him and said I was extremely flattered by the offer. However, I inquired, didn't he have an opening on the parole board or air resources board? You see, I know entirely too much about the thankless work of the CPUC.

Byline: 
Nancy I. Day
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Four Olive Branches

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.

Byline: 
John R. Hanger
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FERC Weighs in on Muni-Lite Proposals

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued two orders that indicate for the first time how it would implement the prohibition against "sham" transactions under the Energy Policy Act. The separate decisions involve requests by two municipalities for orders requiring utilities to wheel power.

In one order, the FERC denied a request by the City of Palm Springs, CA, for electric transmission service from Southern California Edison (SCE) under sections 211 and 212 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) (Docket No. TX96-7-000).

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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