One popular model in electric utility restructuring assumes a fully competitive merchant segment providing retail energy services. These "retail energy service companies," or RESCOs, would offer services described as heating, cooling, ventilation, lighting, drive power, information, and communications.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has conditionally approved market-based rates for power sales by MidAmerican Energy Co., finding a lack of generation market dominance (Docket No. ER96-719-000).
In 1994, the FERC granted MidAmerican's affiliate power marketer, InterCoast Power Marketing Co., authority to sell power at market-based rates, conditioned on the submission by Iowa-Illinois Gas & Electric Co. (MidAmerica's predecessor in interest) of a tariff providing comparable transmission service.
Although the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued a December 1995 order (Docket No. CP93-258-007) giving Mojave Pipeline Co. a green light to expand into California, the planned Northward Expansion Facilities have been tabled. The reason: A three-year delay caused by jurisdictional disputes between the FERC and the California Public Utilities Commission, as well as problems involving the FERC's contract-demand reduction policy, caused Mojave to lose its projected customer base.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has set for hearing a complaint by the Municipal Electric Utilities Association of New York (MEUA) against one of its members (the Town of Massena) and the New York Power Authority (NYPA). The complaint alleges that NYPA improperly agreed to sell low-cost hydroelectric power to an industrial customer, violating the Niagara Redevelopment Act as well as a FERC license assigning statutory preference to municipal utilities (Docket No.
A new policy at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) makes water depth a factor in deciding whether an offshore facility is primarily a gatherer rather than a transporter of natural gas (Docket No. RM96-5-000). The Natural Gas Act (NGA) requires the FERC to regulate transportation and wholesale transactions, but exempts gathering and production. Under the new policy, a facility that operates in depths of 200 meters or more will be considered a gatherer. The FERC hopes to encourage exploration and development of deep water reserves on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS).
Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. and Columbia Gulf Transmission Co., the interstate natural gas pipeline subsidiaries of The Columbia Gas System, Inc., have a new chief executive officer (CEO), Catherine Good Abbott, as well as plans for an ambitious expansion. The project and the CEO mark the beginning of a new era for a once-troubled pipeline system that recently emerged from bankruptcy.
Consumer advocates, utility chiefs, regulators, and analysts offered conflicting visions of retail competition's future at NASUCA's 1996 Capitol Hill Conference.
The National Association of State Consumer Advocates ( NASUCA) conference, "Restructuring the Electric Industry: What Are the Costs and Benefits to Consumers?," was held on February 29 and March 1 in the Rayburn House Office Building. The event was co-sponsored by Rep.
The 129 federally owned plants that make up the five PMAs generate about 6 percent of the electricity sold in the United States.1 By law, the PMAs sell wholesale power at cost to legally stipulated "preference customers" (em i.e., municipal utilities and rural electric cooperatives.
U.S. District Court Judge John E. Sprizzo has ruled that Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. (NiMo) has no right to demand "adequate assurances" from independent power producers (IPPs) that unsecured tracking account balances will be repaid. The decision stems from a series of lawsuits filed by IPPs in response to a February 1994 letter from NiMo threatening contract repudiation unless the assurances were given (Ecogen Four Partners v.
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The Margaret Chase Smith Center for Public Policy's Project for the Study of Public Regulation and the Environment, Maine's Future Energy Policy, Augusta Civic Center, Augusta, ME
(207) 581-1539
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Association of Energy Engineers, The New Power Market: Opportunities for Producers, Sellers & Users of