Commission

Christopher M. Coburn and Charles William Burton were confirmed by the U.S. Senate as directors of the U.S. Enrichment Corp. Both will serve five-year terms. Coburn is v.p. of the Technology Partnership Practice for Battelle Memorial Institute. Burton, an attorney, is of counsel to Jones, Day, Reavis & Pogue.

Northern Indiana Public Service Co. promoted Dorothy M. Hawkins to information technology director. Kennan J. Walsh, senior rate specialist, was promoted to senior (electric) regulatory specialist. Gregory A.

One thing that adds some fun to my job (notice, I did not say that my job is fun) is the chance to compare similarities between the gas and electric markets.

Antitrust is not another form of regulation. Antitrust

is an alternative to regulation

and, where feasible, a better alternative.

(em Stephen G. Breyer,

"Antitrust, Deregulation, and the Newly Liberated Marketplace,"

75 Calif. Law Rev. 1005, 1007 (1987).

By Robert J. Michaels

The Justice Department's Guidelines don't tell us very much about

today's (or tomorrow's) electric market.

However many electric utilities remain after this merger wave, competition will be forever changed.

Monopoly rents? Not in the short run. The real enemy is a price war, fueled by indifference to stranded costs. And when that happens, antitrust laws won't offer much help.Competition has formally begun in the electric service industry. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued Order 888, giving generators access to wholesale loads throughout the nation.

Whether you're a utility commissioner in Wyoming or Georgia, a v.p. for a leading marketer, or a commission division director in New Jersey, you share a common activity: learning by the seat of your pants about deregulating gas markets. In this gas forum, PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY highlights developments across the nation.

Light-handed or Light-headed?Customers didn't buy power on lay-away. So why should the CPUC exact interest?

In a recent dream, the Governor of California called to ask if I would accept an appointment to serve on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). Of course I thanked him and said I was extremely flattered by the offer. However, I inquired, didn't he have an opening on the parole board or air resources board? You see, I know entirely too much about the thankless work of the CPUC.

The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has rejected a request by Central Maine Power Co. to suspend a proceeding to develop an interim competition transition charge.

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has opened a docket to examine regulatory reform of the state's natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs), responding to a new state law (Amended Substitute House Bill 476) signed June 18 by Ohio Gov. George Voinovich. It directed its staff and interested parties to develop ideas for alternative regulatory plans and for LDCs to enter the "commodity sales" market.

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) has rejected a proposal by Gulf Power Co. to offer negotiated contracts to large, "at-risk" customers that would otherwise leave the system to find power from another source.