Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control

Off Peak

"Througout much of the

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.

Conn. Updates Gas Regulation

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.

Gauging Risks: Rising Interest Rates and Industry Restructuring

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.

Connecticut Ties Telecom Reform to Info Highway

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.