While approving a

three-year settlement on electric rates for Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., the New York Public Service Commission has accepted a highly controversial increase in minimum charges for low-use residential customers.

It also approved a plan to establish an

$11-million, ratepayer-supported fund to promote additional sales to large, alternate-fuel customers, but warned the company that the court would closely monitor relations between the utility and its energy marketing affiliate, Plum Street Energy Marketing.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has approved a proposal by Jersey Central Power and Light Co., an electric utility, to meet its short-to-medium-term power needs by purchasing power from utility-owned generating facilities located in New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania.

Under the agreement, the utility will purchase a total of 700 megawatts of power over an eight-year period from Pennsylvania Power and Light Co., Cleveland Electric Illuminating Co. and Niagara Mohawk Power Corp.

Regulators in Michigan and Florida have taken steps to expand programs for transportation of customer-owned gas.

In Michigan, the state public service commission will test the idea of expanding transportation service to residential and commercial users for two gas distribution utilities, plus allowing some aggregation to meet volume requirements. In Florida, the PSC will explore the idea of aggregating facilities owned by different customers.

Michigan. Tests in Michigan will involve Michigan Consolidated Gas Co. and Consumers Power Co.

The Florida Public Service Commission has approved a set of conservation programs proposed by Peoples Gas System Inc., the only natural gas local distribution company in the state required by law to offer such programs.

The LDC had recently updated its existing program evaluation data in conformance with new review criteria adopted by the commission in 1995. Checking each program for cost effectiveness, the commission permitted the LDC to use gas supply costs that were lower than those reflected in the company's purchased-gas adjustment rate.

The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has authorized Idaho Power Co. to stop paying a "capacity adder" to qualifying cogeneration facilities in addition to its own monthly variable energy cost as payment for nonfirm energy.

The adder, 3 mills per kilowatt-hour, originally was devised by the commission to compensate the QFs for the aggregate-system-capacity benefits provided by the QF suppliers. Nevertheless, due to lack of participation in the QF rate-schedule offering, little was provided to the utility in terms of reduction of capacity needs.

The Ohio Pubic Utilities Commission has approved a series of amendments to its rules on fuel cost adjustments for electric utilities, implementing previously approved guidelines for the ratemaking treatment of emission allowance transaction activities.

In the earlier ruling, the commission had found that its Electric Fuel Component rate mechanism provides the most appropriate forum for review of emission allowance plans, transactions and recovery of associated costs.

The Indiana Court of Appeals has upheld a ruling by state regulators denying permission to Indiana Gas Co. to recover costs associated with the cleanup of environmental contamination at former gas manufacturing sites.

The court could find no direct connection between coal tar cleanup and the current provision of gas distribution service, which it described as a necessary condition for cost recovery, even if the property is currently in use by the utility.

Sound bites from state and federal regulators. Gas Load Building. Finding no protest from electric utilities, North Carolina waives requirements for preliminary cost-benefit analysis and approves incentive programs for Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc., designed to boots gas load by installing commercial gas cooking equipment at community colleges for use in culinary degree programs. Commission tells company to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis as soon as it can gather the necessary data from actual operating experience. Docket No. G-9, Sub 377, Jan. 31, 1997 (N.C.U.C.).

Responding to a call by Tennessee Valley Authority's Chairman Craven Crowell to eliminate the $106-million, annual appropriation provided to it, Representatives Bob Franks (R-NJ.) and Marty Meehan (D-Mass.) on Feb. 5 introduced a bill to end that federal payment.

The congressmen, who also co-chair of the Northeast-Midwest Congressional Coalition, distributed a study outlining the $1.2 billion in annual indirect taxpayer subsidies provided to TVA.

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.