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Fortnightly Magazine - March 15 1997

Oklahoma Bills Would Revamp Agency, Allow Choice

Oklahoma State Senator Kevin Easley (D) has introduced two bills to the state Legislature. The first bill would introduce competition to the electric utility industry. The second bill would revamp the Oklahoma regulatory commission.

Senate Bill 500, the "Electric Restructuring Act," would allow some consumers to choose their electric suppliers by 1999. All consumers would be able to choose soon thereafter. The measure also calls for the Oklahoma Tax Commission to assess the impact of restructuring on state tax revenues and the feasibility of establishing a uniform consumption tax.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Idaho Utility Ends Capacity Payments to QFs

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has authorized Idaho Power Co. to stop paying a "capacity adder" to qualifying cogeneration facilities in addition to its own monthly variable energy cost as payment for nonfirm energy.

The adder, 3 mills per kilowatt-hour, originally was devised by the commission to compensate the QFs for the aggregate-system-capacity benefits provided by the QF suppliers. Nevertheless, due to lack of participation in the QF rate-schedule offering, little was provided to the utility in terms of reduction of capacity needs.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Censored PUC Report Raises Ire

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has refused to issue its 1996 report card of the state's electric, telephone, natural gas and water utilities. The reports usually are issued on an annual basis to little fanfare, but with the advent of varying degrees of competition, the commissioners have disagreed over the amount of performance information that should be released.

According to an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the controversy began when PUC Commissioner Robert Bloom wanted sections of the report removed that could cause discomfort to some utilities.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Gas DSM Programs Approved

The Florida Public Service Commission has approved a set of conservation programs proposed by Peoples Gas System Inc., the only natural gas local distribution company in the state required by law to offer such programs.

The LDC had recently updated its existing program evaluation data in conformance with new review criteria adopted by the commission in 1995. Checking each program for cost effectiveness, the commission permitted the LDC to use gas supply costs that were lower than those reflected in the company's purchased-gas adjustment rate.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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