Fortnightly Magazine - June 1 1997

The National Coal Council has released the findings of a major new study on coal prepared at the request of former DOE Secretary Hazel O'Leary, which found that while the generation of electricity from coal has increased, emission of pollutants from coal has decreased.

A similar report was released in April, conducted by Mills-McCarthy & Associates, and sponsored by the Western Fuels Association, Inc., the National Mining Association, and the Center for Energy and Economic Development.

The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission has said it will postpone a decision for two months on whether to approve the proposed merger of Northern States Power Co. and Wisconsin Energy Corp. to form "Primergy."

The PUC may not decide the matter until as late as August. A sunset clause kicks in just three months after that time, which would allow the utilities to back out of the deal.

Pennsylvania Administrative Law Judge Louis Cocheres has recommended that the Public Utility Commission should deny a request by PECO Energy Co. to recover stranded costs from ratepayers through a surcharge over 10 years.

Pennsylvania State Sen. Vincent Fumo (D) had intervened in the proceeding against PECO's request. Fumo claims the ruling is significant because it points out that customers should not receive the financial benefits of deregulation if PECO is allowed to impose the surcharge.

"Although the final decision is still in the hands of the commission ...

Enron Corp. has acquiesced to a demand from the Oregon Public Utility Commission for $141 million in rate cuts as a condition to approval of the proposed merger between Enron and Portland General Corp.

The PUC staff had informed Enron in March that it would not approve the merger, based on Enron's proposed $61-million rate cut, and said it would only accept $141 million in guaranteed cost savings and rate cuts.

The trade-off is that shareholders of Portland General will receive less for their stock than Enron originally had offered.