Become a PUF Member Organization

Fortnightly Magazine - March 15 1997

People

Former Sen. Alan K. Simpson (R-Wyo.) has joined the PacifiCorp board of directors. Simpson retired from the Senate earlier this year after serving three terms. Also at PacifiCorp, Dennis Steinberg, a senior v.p., was named head of global energy sales, marketing and trading. John Bohling, another senior v.p., will direct customer service, among other activities. Mike Henderson will head a new group for international business, technology and planning.

John M. Deutch has returned as a member of the CMS Energy Corp. Board of Directors. Deutch served on the board from 1986 to 1993.

Read Entire Article

Schaefer Reintroduces Restructuring Bill

House Energy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-Colo.), recently reintroduced his comprehensive electric restructuring bill, which largely mirrors legislation Schaefer had introduced in the 104th Congress.

The new bill, "Electric Consumers' Power to Choose Act of 1997" (H.R. 655), was presented Feb. 10 and differs from the original only in that it would not preempt the state restructurings already taking place.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
Read Entire Article

Trends

As the U.S. Congress works to pass federal legislation introducing competition into the electric utility industry, one of the most divisive issues regulators and policymakers must grapple with is that of stranded cost. In a recent study completed by Resource Data International, we have found that an important issue will be how "negative" stranded costs are handled.

At the heart of our study is a detailed, plant-by-plant, analysis of stranded costs for every utility in the country. We estimate that the total above-market stranded cost nationally is $202 billion.

Byline: 
Christopher Seiple
Read Entire Article

FERC To Address Market Power, Must-Run Plants

California's three largest investor-owned utilities have petitioned the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to convene a technical workshop on market-power issues raised by electric deregulation. Although a workshop had been held on Jan. 17, the utilities say the need more guidance (Docket No. ER96-1663-000).

The utilities are most concerned with the issue of "must-run" plants, and how to minimize the market power of generating units that must run to maintain reliability.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
Read Entire Article
V