Joseph Santaniello has been named director of management information systems for NUI Corp. He was previously director of engineering at Elizabethtown Gas, NUI's New Jersey operating division. Stephen Liaskos, formerly controller at Metallgesellschaft Corp., joins NUI as controller. Michael A. Palecki, most recently of the Florida Public Service Commission, has been named v.p. of regulatory affairs for NUI's southern division.
BICC Utility Cable Co.
Does competition justify higher salaries for utility executives? Some regulators have suggested the opposite. Others argue that ratepayers must benefit directly from any incentives offered to utility managers.
The Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) recently forced stockholders to pay a share of executive compensation costs for two utilities (em Green Mountain Power Co. and Central Vermont Public Service Corp. (em that exhibited higher-than-average executive compensation, and capped compensation for rate cases.
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.
Citing an excessive commitment to increasingly expensive purchased-power contracts, the Vermont Public Service Board (PSB) has reduced allowed rate of return on equity by 75 basis points. In setting rates for Central Vermont Public Service Corp., the PSB explained that ratepayers should not bear all of the costs associated with 1) excessive power commitments; 2) a failure to fully explore return sales opportunities; and 3) inefficient energy-efficiency programs.