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Law & Lawyers

Mail

DEPRECIATION, DEFERRAL, DENIAL. I have often discussed in Public Utilities Fortnightly the tendency for regulation to defer the recording and recovery of depreciation expenses. Therefore, Mr. William C. Schaeffer's discussion of this subject in the February 1, 1998 issue (see "Mail," p. 11) attracted my attention, especially his quoted claim of the Delaware public advocate that investors should be neutral to depreciation deferral on a present value basis.

My experience has been that present value arguments in regulatory proceedings relative to depreciation are in support of deferral.

Byline: 
John S. Ferguson
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Benchmarks

BY THE END OF MARCH, CALIFORNIA, RHODE ISLAND, and Massachusetts planned to offer retail choice to customers. However, early signs suggest electric competition may fall short of expectations due to stranded cost recovery mechanisms and the desire of customers to protect themselves from risks inherent in a competitive market.

When the California market was about open, less than 5 percent of customers had elected to switch suppliers.

Byline: 
Christopher Seiple
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News Digest

MICHIGAN CHOICE APPEAL. Michigan Attorney General Frank Kelley filed an appeal in the Michigan Court of Appeals of the Michigan PSC's Jan. 14 rehearing order (News Digest, March 15, 1998, p. 18) adopting a phase-in schedule for electric restructuring and retail choice for Consumers Energy and Detroit Edison. Kelley alleged that the order fails to create a competitive generation market or foster lower rates. He called it an "outrage," that gave the utilities everything they wanted. Case Nos. u-11290 et al., Feb. 13, 1998 (Mich.P.S.C.).

NEW HAMPSHIRE RESTRUCTURING. The U.S.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart, Phillip S. Cross and Beth Lewis
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Pyramid Schemes A Black Eye for Power Retailing?

ON MARCH 26, JUST BEFORE IT OPENED THE STATE'S electricity market at midnight on the 31st, the California Public Utilities Commission announced new interim rules to protect consumers, plus this warning: "Any entity who is considering doing anything contrary to [state law] regarding electric restructuring, and [this] decision adopting such safeguards, should think twice."

Ostensibly, that advice followed from last year's passage of State S.B.

Byline: 
David Soyka
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Electric Reliability Sanctions or Commerce?

EARLIER IN THIS DECADE, FERC CHAIRMAN MARTIN ALLDAY delivered his famous quote: "Everybody is somebody's native load customer."

Today, that truism has fallen under attack. It could go out the window if power marketers get their wish. One group of marketers has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to open a new rulemaking on electric system reliability. This group proposes to end the notion of transmission responding to load.

Byline: 
Bruce W. Radford
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Frontlines

CALIFORNIA IS AT IT AGAIN. THE SUBJECT IS NATURAL GAS. What the "blue book" promised for electricity, the newly issued "green book" says it will do for gas.

On Jan. 21, the Division of Strategic Planning at the state public utilities commission issued a new 125-page study, Strategies for Natural Gas Reform: Exploring Options for Converging Energy Markets. On the same day, the PUC opened a new rulemaking (R. 98-01-011), asking for input on the DSP report and posing its own list of some 25 questions on where to go with gas.

Byline: 
Bruce W. Radford
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People

THE Oregon Public Utility Commission named Bill Warren director of its utility program. Warren will replace Mike Kane, who is retiring. Currently, Warren serves as administrator of the electric and natural gas division of the utility program.

Michael J. Mujadin was named executive vice president of Nitrotec Corp. and president of Nitrotec's wholly owned subsidiary Nitrotec Energy Corp. Previously, Mujadin was executive vice president of Coastal Corp.'s ANR Storage Co.

Consolidated Natural Gas Co. elected Raymond E. Galvin to its board of directors.

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News Digest

Courts

NITROGEN-OXIDE EMISSION LIMITS. Denying an appeal by electric utilities and industry groups against rules proposed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for emission limits for nitrogen oxides at certain electric utility boilers, a federal appeals court has ruled that EPA properly interpreted the Clean Air Act. The act allows EPA to set NOx limits for certain electric utility boilers if it could show that more effective technology for low-NOx burners was available, the court said.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart, Phillip S. Cross, and Beth Lewis
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Off Peak

BACK IN DECEMBER 1995, THE CALIFORNIA PUBLIC Utilities Commission launched a two-year pilot program to test the idea of letting builders and contractors design lateral distribution facilities for residential gas and electric service. Private firms would consult with utilities, who would credit contractors for costs saved by outsourcing. More than 250 subdivisions participated.

Late last year, the PUC declared the program an unqualified success.

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