PUCs have yet to factor in higher risk for deregulation.
(December, 2000) Here are the results of our annual survey of authorized rates of return on common equity (ROE) for state-regulated energy utilities. This year's survey covers ROE determinations by state regulatory commissions during the period Oct. 1, 1999 through Sept. 30, 2000.
[T]he Commission believes that real rate relief for California electricity consumers will be fully realized in the State when sufficient new generation and transmission resources can be attracted and built and better demand-side management responses can be prompted. Only competitive markets will do these things. We believe it would be a mistake to revert to the kind of rate regulation that contributed to the decline in investment that clouds California's energy future today.
Frontlines
$$$/MWH???
But the fly in the ointment is computer modeling, where no one yet agrees on how to mirror the real world.
A promise made is a promise kept, even in the halls of government.
Have gas prices fallen victim to speculation?
On Thursday, Dec. 8, as natural gas hit $40 at the citygate for Southern California (prices hit $60 that Friday), I found myself in Colonial Williamsburg, a guest of Michigan State University's Institute of Public Utilities, at the group's annual conference, watching a panel of industry experts try in vain to explain what was happening.