In August, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) issued rules to show how new competitors can enter the local markets for telecommunications (em forever relegating local telephone monopolies to that switchboard in the sky.

The Office of the Ohio Consumers' Counsel has gone on record at the Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUC) as opposing any application by Cincinnati Bell Telephone Co. to amend its present alternative regulation plan to set rates using a price cap tied to the consumer price index, and to deaverage rates.

The Consumers' Counsel claims that the amendment must be considered as a new plan due to the substantive changes it proposes. It adds that, if enacted, the changes would impose rate hikes and discourage consumer choice for local calling.

Ralph R. Mabey, trustee in the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings of Cajun Electric Power Co-op., has entered into an amended asset-purchase agreement with Louisiana Generating LLC for the purchase of Cajun's nonnuclear assets. Louisiana Generating LLC is the joint-venture affiliate of NRG Energy, Inc. and Zeigler Coal Holding Co.

The NRG/Zeigler bid was selected in April, but on July 15, the bankruptcy court rejected the plan's buyer-protection provisions.

Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. (NiMo) has offered to terminate 44 contracts, constituting 90 percent of electricity bought from independent power producers (IPPs), in exchange for a combination of cash and securities.

NiMo claimed the move would allow implementation of its PowerChoice proposal, which would permit customers to choose their electric supplier. The plan calls for NiMo to create a separate, nonnuclear generating company. Although details remain confidential, NiMo chairman and CEO William E.

Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Almond has signed the state's new legislation on electric restructuring, known as "The Utility Restructuring Act of 1996" (Public Law Chapter 316), which mandates customer choice by July 1, 1998, or sooner if neighboring states offer retail access before that time.

The law authorizes a 2.8-cent-per-kilowatt-hour stranded-cost surcharge, but allows compensation only for those assets that the Rhode Island Public Utilities Commission (PUC) deems eligible for recovery in prior rate cases or settlements.

A 400-page report by Virginia State Corporation Commission staff concludes that Virginia's best interest will be served by a slow and carefully analyzed move toward electric utility competition, rather than by immediate, massive restructuring.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved loan guarantees of up to $250 million to fund development of computer hardware and software to help the electric industry establish the independent system operator (ISO) and the Power Exchange (PX), both key components of the CPUC's proposed restructuring plan.

Pacific Gas & Electric Co. and Southern California Edison Co. each had asked for $112.5 million in loan guarantees; San Diego Gas & Electric Co. had asked for $25 million.

Ohio Edison Company and Centerior Energy Corp. announced an agreement September 17 on a tax-free, stock-for-stock merger to form a new holding company, FirstEnergy Corp., worth about $4.8 billion, based on stock prices that closed several days earlier.

The news came a month after two other merger deals were announced in mid-August: 1) Atlantic Energy, Inc. and Delmarva Power & Light Co. ($2.2 billion), and 2) Houston Industries Inc. and NorAm Energy Corp. ($3.8 billion). NorAm is the nation's third-largest U.S. natural gas utility.

Mid-American Power, LLC has bought a 53-Mw, coal-fired generating plant, put it on the power grid, and plans to convert the facility into a 300-Mw, gas-fired, combined-cycle plant. Mid-American bought the E.J. Stoneman Station in Cassville, WI, from Dairyland Power Cooperative after almost two years of negotiations. The companies making up Mid-American include Power Systems, Ltd., Burns & McDonnell Engineering, Inc., and WPS-Power Development, Inc. The plant supplies energy to two regional utilities.

Christopher M. Coburn and Charles William Burton were confirmed by the U.S. Senate as directors of the U.S. Enrichment Corp. Both will serve five-year terms. Coburn is v.p. of the Technology Partnership Practice for Battelle Memorial Institute. Burton, an attorney, is of counsel to Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. promoted Dorothy M. Hawkins to information technology director. Kennan J. Walsh, senior rate specialist, was promoted to senior (electric) regulatory specialist. Gregory A.