Fortnightly Magazine - July 1 1997

California IOUs Seek Securitization

California's three largest investor-owned utilities have asked the California Public Utilities Commission to approve securitization of up to $7.3 billion of stranded costs.

The utilities would issue 10-year bonds through the state infrastructure bank starting by the end of 1997. The "rate reduction bonds" would be repaid through a stranded cost charge levied on present ratepayers. The amounts applied for are: $3.5 billion by Pacific Gas & Electric; $800 million by San Diego Gas & Electric Co.; and $3 billion by Southern California Edison Co.

Off Peak

Retail wheeling in Kansas: Stranded costs could bewitch customer choice.

With the advent of retail wheeling, some customers will see their electricity prices fall while others will see them rise. And stranded costs may have a lot to do with it (em at least according to a report by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.

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