NARUC Goes on Record
In a recent article, "Why Taxes Do Distort Emissions Trading" (Feb.15, 1995), Stanley I. Garnett II, chief financial officer of Allegheny Power System, Inc. discusses a legislative proposal currently promoted by his firm and the Chicago Board of Trade (CBOT). This proposal seeks to amend current Internal Revenue Service policy on federal tax treatment of the proceeds of emission allowance sales.
Appliance Disservice
Gordon Canning's article, "Entering the Appliance Repair Business" (Feb. 1, 1995), contains several inaccuracies. First, Mr. Canning asserts that "the residential customer views the utility as a preferred provider." This is not a universal given. Residential customers only view a utility as a preferred provider of appliance service if the utility is allowed to engage in nonutility business activities and to subsidize these services below fair-market value.
Real-time Pricing, Not Restructuring
Richard Abdoo's article, "Wisconsin Electric's View of a More Competitive Industry," (Feb. 15, 1995), brought this quote to mind: "We trained
hard. . . . But it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization" (Petronius (em 256 BC).
Everybody's talking about electric utilities dabbling in telecommunications. That's fine. But how about vice versa? Maybe what we've really got is telephone companies (and cable television, too) getting into energy. That's different.
NorAm Energy Corp. has appointed Charles M. Oglesby president of the NorAm Trading & Transportation Group. NTTG includes NorAm's two pipelines, NorAm Field Services, and NorAm Energy Services. Oglesby was previously a v.p. of Coastal Corp. and president and CEO of Coastal Gas Services Co. William A. Kellstrom was promoted to v.p. of corporate business development. Kellstrom was previously president and COO of NorAm Energy Services, NTTG's marketing arm.
The Coastal Corp. has elected Richard G. Smead senior v.p.
More than a decade ago, at the 1981 Edison Electric Institute (EEI) Fall Financial Conference in Palm Beach, FL, I presented my vision of the future of the electric industry. I called my talk "Let's End the Monopoly." In it I urged, "Let's open electricity generation to competition (em with free entry, no franchises, and no obligation to serve." The response was underwhelming.
From the perspective of the last 14 years, how have my forecasts turned out?
Richard J. Grossi, chairman and CEO of United Illuminating Co., has been elected chairman of the North American Reliability Council. Grossi will serve a two-year term.
Thomas L. Fisher, president and CEO of Northern Illinois Gas Co. has been elected chairman of the Gas Research Institute's board of directors. Fisher will serve a one-year term, along with newly elected vice chairman, John F. Riordan, president and CEO of MidCon Corp.
Chairman Thomas G.
In his recent article, "The Future of Local Gas Distributors" (Feb 1, 1995, p. 20), Vinod Dar presents a vision of executives at the local distribution company (LDC) lining up to buy cemetery plots (em even as the gas marketers, charging on horseback, seize the high ground of "middle" and
core-markets.
That sort of bravado cannot substitute for an in-depth knowledge of gas distribution. Mr. Dar in fact distorts or ignores many realities of the gas business.
Northern States Power Co. (NSP) and Wisconsin Energy Corp. (parent company of Wisconsin Electric Power Co., WEPCO, and Wisconsin Natural Gas Co.), have announced plans to merge, a move NSP says will create the tenth-largest investor-owned utility in the United States, based on market capitalization. The new company (em Primergy Corp. (em would operate as a registered public utility holding company and parent company of NSP and WEPCO, with the gas subsidiary perhaps spun off to comply with the Holding Company Act.
Our 13th annual electric rate-case survey covers electric rate orders issued between
April 1, 1994, and March 31, 1995.
The survey tabulates rates of return on common equity (ROE) approved by state public utility commissions (PUCs) in major electric rate orders, but also includes some cases in which rate of return was not directly at issue, or where a rate adjustment resulted from a settlement agreement.