history of generation, technology
devolved at a very slow pace after
the construction of the first generation
of large central generation stations. With
the development of nuclear energy in the
1940s and 1950s, the government promoted an
alternative energy source that was expected to
provide a cheap source of power as well as
provide a source of plutonium for nuclear
weapons development.
The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) has adopted new cost-of-service guidelines allowing natural gas local distribution companies (LDCs) to develop unbundled rate structures, including cost-based firm transportation rates. The DPUC also issued suggestions for refining existing supply and demand forecasting methods. According to the DPUC, current cost-of-service studies did not adequately address interclass subsidies at existing rate levels.
How risky are utility investments today? Regulators have always faced this question when setting the return component of rates under traditional rate base/rate of return regulation. With major industry restructuring looming, risk issues have become proportionately more important and complex. California regulators, for example, have increased the return for the state's electric utilities to account for investor worries over the pace of restructuring in the "Blue Book" proceeding.
The Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) has issued the first in a series of policy statements designed to guide reform of telecommunications regulation under a new state law calling for the promotion of an "information superhighway" in the state by adding more competition in the marketplace.