MCN Investment Corp. and Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co. plan to build a $45-million liquified natural gas plant near the Delaware-Maryland border. The project, named Continental States Peaking Services L.L.C., would liquify, store and vaporize gas beginning in early 2000. It would connect to the Eastern Shore Natural Gas pipeline system, with access to the Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line and Columbia Gas Transmission system.
Sound bites from state and federal regulators.
Overseas Investment. Michigan certifies plan by Consumers Electric and Gas Co. to bid on the outstanding equity of three electric distribution companies being privatized in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Case No. U-11331, April 14, 1997 (Mi.P.S.C.).
Appliance Repair Rates. New Jersey OKs rates for Public Service Electric and Gas Co.
PacifiCorp has made a cash offer for The Energy Group PLC, a diversified energy company in the U.K., Australia, and U.S. The boards of directors of both companies unanimously approved the transaction, valued at $9.6 billion in debt and equity.
PacifiCorp Holdings Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of PacifiCorp, is offering $11.35 per share for The Energy Group. PacifiCorp will assume The Energy Group's $3.8 billion of debt in the transaction.
Having issued a comprehensive decision on electric utility restructuring on June 5, the Michigan Public Service Commission nevertheless must yet decide what to do about electric utilities that offer contracts to individual customers with off-the-tariff rate discounts.
Bills that would have restructured electric markets in Illinois and Oregon have died due to lack of support.
A bill, H.B. 2821, which would have opened the Oregon electric market to competition by October 2001, has died in the Oregon House, lacking the 31 votes needed for passage. Meanwhile, the Illinois Senate has decided to postpone until the fall its deliberations on the state's proposed electric restructuring bill, which has the approval of the Illinois House of Representatives.
Industrial customers and consumer groups supported the Oregon bill.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission has authorized Northern Utilities Inc. to recover coal-tar cleanup costs via a special surcharge.
Under a settlement agreement, ratepayers will pay the full amount of cleanup costs incurred by the LDC on a rolling five-year amortization schedule. The costs will be capped at 4 percent of the company's annual adjusted total firm revenues from sales and transportation customers. Shareholders will bear the carrying costs on all deferred balances during the amortization schedule.
Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal has asked the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control to order a one-time, 25-percent credit on bills of Connecticut Light & Power customers, claiming the threat of brownouts and blackouts has reduced service quality. That translates into about $33 million in customer credits.
Blumenthal also asked that the DPU order additional credits of the greater of $10, or 15 percent, in any month with one day of brownouts or blackouts, and $15 or 20 percent, for two days of problems.
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission has entered a cooperative agreement with the state's Infrastructure Investment Authority to better coordinate efforts by both agencies to improve the viability of small water and wastewater systems across the state.
The commission said many small systems had not increased rates when needed and had become unprofitable. The systems had been unable to acquire financing to make improvements to maintain good service quality and to meet future regulatory challenges.
GPU Energy has filed electric restructuring proposals for its subsidiaries with the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission, calling for stranded cost recovery through a customer charge.
The filing for subsidiaries Metropolitan Edison Co. and Pennsylvania Electric Co. estimates stranded costs of $641 million and $372 million, respectively. The utilities want to recover stranded costs through implementation of a competitive transition charge paid by all customers using GPU Energy's distribution system.
State regulators in New Jersey, New York and California have recently approved mergers of local exchange and long-distance telephone carriers operating within those states that are part of larger interstate and international consolidations.
NYNEX/Bell Atlantic. The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has approved the merger of two major local-exchange carrier holding companies, NYNEX Corp. and Bell Atlantic Corp.
