The Oregon Public Utilities Commission staff has recommended the proposed merger of Portland General Electric Co. and Enron Corp. be approved with conditions, and has asked for a customer-rate reduction of $47.4 million for four years.
Subsequently, an $11.2-million rate-reduction component would remain part of electric rates until PGE's next rate proceeding. The staff would include a feature to true up rate-reduction amounts if certain future revenues exceed expectations.
Also, the staff calls for minimum-service-quality standards with monetary penalties for noncompliance, restrictions to ensure financial viability of the utility, various reporting and information access requirements, cost-shifting protections and competitive protections. The staff makes a total of 23
recommendations, including proposed monetary penalties for violations of the other 22 conditions.
A final PUC order is expected March 17. (em LB
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