Oregon Approves Direct Access Pilot

Fortnightly Magazine - February 15 1997
This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.

The Oregon Public Utility Commission has approved a settlement agreement allowing Portland General Electric Co. to begin a pilot program to test direct access for customers, while requiring the company to trim rates by some $30 million (3 percent) on an equal-percentage basis for all customer classes.

The commission had stated in an earlier ruling that it would not permit the company to "indefinitely continue to receive a windfall from lower natural gas prices."

The settlement also calls for an end to the PUC's "decoupling experiment," which had been designed to remove impediments to conservation by making the company's revenue requirement less dependent upon sales volume. The pilot program would make decoupling difficult to administer, according the PUC staff. Re Portland Gen. Elec. Co., UE 100, Order No. 96-306, Nov. 26, 1996 (Ore.P.U.C.).


56

Articles found on this page are available to Internet subscribers only. For more information about obtaining a username and password, please call our Customer Service Department at 1-800-368-5001.

This full article is only accessible by current license holders. Please login to view the full content.
Don't have a license yet? Click here to sign up for Public Utilities Fortnightly, and gain access to the entire Fortnightly article database online.