First came the Pool, with its faults and virtues.
Now comes a wave of troubling takeovers.
What happens when retail supply opens up?
Much of the pressure to reform the electricity supply industry in the United States assumes that the United Kingdom's electricity experiment offers a proven model.
On behalf of our members, we want to express our continuing appreciation for the leadership you and your colleagues are showing in seeking enactment of S. 1317, a bill to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, while assuring appropriate consumer and investor protection. As you know, the '35 Act imposes duplicative, unnecessary, and burdensome requirements that are outdated and do not reflect current circumstances in the gas and electric utility industry.
The Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has authorized Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. to offer aggregation services free of charge to marketers, brokers, producers, or customer groups responsible for delivery of gas supplies to its city gates on behalf of end-users. (But Columbia will seek approval of a service charge in its next rate case.)
The PUC says the new service allows aggregation of customers by agents for scheduling and nominating gas, banking and balancing, and other distribution functions. Re Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc., Case No. 96-159-GA-ATA, Mar.
Once again, the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has chosen a revenue-sharing program to allocate earnings by local-exchange carrier (LEC) U S WEST Communications, Inc. to network modernization, rural zone rate reductions, and other system improvements, rather than to broad-based rate refunds.
U S WEST must share a portion of earnings with local-exchange callers under an alternate regulation plan it elected in 1989. During the plan's first two years, the PUC had directed available sharing funds returned to local subscribers as one-time credits.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) has adopted a "minimal" regulatory structure for newly certified, competitive local-exchange telephone carriers (LECs), and has revised existing interim rules governing certification, interconnection, number portability, and universal service in the newly opened markets.
Settling "one of the most contentious issues" in the local competition debate, the NCUC agreed that resale of local service should be permitted, but found it could not yet determine the exact nature and extent of the resale opportunities it would require.
The Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) has rejected a call by its staff, the state's consumer advocate, and customers of Missouri Gas Energy to eliminate the latter's purchased-gas adjustment clause (PGA) in favor of traditional rate-case analysis.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) is considering revising its regulations on nuclear plant decommissioning funding. Under current NRC regulations, adopted in 1988, an electric utility may set aside decommissioning funds annually over the estimated life of a plant. In a deregulated environment, however, a nuclear power licensee could lose its regulated rate base as a source to fund the balance of decommissioning expenses.
On April 4, less than two months after the Telecommunications Act of 1996 was enacted, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) granted the first application allowing a public utility holding company, CSW Communications, Inc., to enter telecommunications markets (FCC 96-152). CSW is now an "exempt telecommunications company." The FCC noted that the entrance of utility companies as new competitors could result in lower prices and wider choices for consumers.
The City of Palm Springs, CA, has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to approve a plan allowing it to enter the electric business by installing a second electric meter at customer locations.