The New York Public Service Commission has asserted authority to mandate direct-access pilot programs to give supply choice to energy consumers, noting that state authority is crucial to filling a regulatory "vacuum," since the Federal Power Act withholds authority from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to mandate retail wheeling.
The case involved a pilot program developed by Dairylea Cooperative Inc.
The Colorado Public Utilities Commission is expanding its investigation into the unbundling of natural gas local distribution services and rates.
The staff investigation follows a report on gas industry restructuring to the state Legislature by Hagler Bailly, a consulting firm, and a commission hearing on the report. According to the commission, this "next step" in the review process is designed to solicit further input from stakeholders and to refine the issues into an unbundling framework.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has authorized Public Service Electric and Gas Co. to extend its existing economic development programs through July 1999.
The programs include construction and building credits for non-residential consumers who expand into newly leased or purchased vacant building space and increase their electric or gas energy use as a result. The program also includes an electric, off-peak employment service for non-residential customers that increase consumption of off-peak electricity as a result of increased employment levels.
U.S. District Court in New Hampshire has denied a move by customers and ratepayer groups to intervene in litigation on electric restructuring simply on the basis that they wanted lower rates.
The court said that a general desire to pay lower rates was not specific enough to intervene in the lawsuit, which was filed by several large electric utilities to challenge elements of the plan for competition approved in February by the state Public Utilities Commission. See, Re Restructuring New Hampshire's Electric Utility Industry, Order No. 22,514, 175 PUR4th 193 (N.H.P.U.C.).
Sound bites from state and federal regulators.
Build vs. Buy. Finding the "build" option as the cheapest alternative when two purchased power contracts expired, Florida PSC allows Tallahassee municipal electric utility to construct a 250-megawatt, combined-cycle, natural gas-fired power plant at an existing generation site. Docket No. 961512-EM, Order No. PSC-97-0659-FOF-EM, June 9, 1997 (Fla.P.S.C.).
Special Contract Discounts. New Jersey allows Elizabethtown Gas Co.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved the merger of Brooklyn Union Gas Co. and neighboring Long Island Lighting Co., although concerns emerged about potential vertical market power. A new holding company, temporarily called HoldCo, will run the merged corporation.
At the same July 16 meeting, FERC indirectly sanctioned the merger of Texas-based Valero Energy Corp. with PG&E Corp., the holding company (created Jan. 1, 1997) for California-based Pacific Gas & Electric Co.
LILCO + Brooklyn Union.
U.S. District Court in New Hampshire has denied a move by customers and ratepayer groups to intervene in litigation on electric restructuring simply on the basis that they wanted lower rates.
The court said that a general desire to pay lower rates was not specific enough to intervene in the lawsuit, which was filed by several large electric utilities to challenge elements of the plan for competition approved in February by the state Public Utilities Commission. See, Re Restructuring New Hampshire's Electric Utility Industry, Order No. 22,514, 175 PUR4th 193 (N.H.P.U.C.).
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission invited industry representatives to Washington, D.C., in July to talk about the electric utility industry's implementation of OASIS, or open-access, same-time information system, which is used to monitor and schedule electric transmission capacity.
It ended up with an earful about problems on the on-line system.
Gerry Cauley, of the industry's volunteer "How Working Group," said, "Overall, the OASIS does provide comparable access," and the system is seeing reservation activity at expected levels.
Commissioner William L. Massey said four issues would dominate the fall electric agenda of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission: Orders 888 and 889 implementation, mergers, independent system operators and reliability.
Speaking on Sept. 11 at the PowerMart Power '97 conference and expo in Houston, Massey said the FERC hoped to issue a major order this fall on elements of California restructuring to ease implementation of the ISO and power exchange by Jan. 1, 1998.
John Quain, chair of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, who helped draft legislation to introduce electric competition in his state, predicts that natural gas deregulation is next on the agenda.
In fact, the Gas Customer Choice Act was pending in the House and Senate in the Pennsylvania Legislature.
Speaking at the American Gas Association's Natural Gas Roundtable on July 16 in Washington, D.C., Quain predicted a customer choice bill would be signed either this calendar year or early in 1998.