President Clinton

Sithe Alleges Niagara Mohawk Overcharged

Sithe/Independence Power Partners, L.P., an independent power producer (IPP), has filed a petition at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) alleging that Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. (NMP) has been overcharging for electric transmission. Sithe believes NMP has been calculating transmission losses on an incremental basis; FERC policy requires that transmission losses be calculated on an average basis.

People

Thomas L. Fisher, president of NICOR Inc., will become CEO at the company's annual meeting on May 3. He also is expected to become chairman in December, succeeding Richard G. Cline. Fisher, 50, joined NICOR's principal subsidiary, Northern Illinois Gas Co., in 1967, became president and CEO in 1988, and has served in a number of executive positions.

PECO Energy Co. president Corbin A. McNeill, Jr. will assume the additional position of CEO at the company's April 12 annual meeting. Joseph F.

This New Congress Means Business

After 40 years of wandering in the wilderness as a minority party, House Republicans are ready to slash and burn what they see as a bloated federal bureaucracy. The next two years will demonstrate just how powerful the legislative branch can be when both House and Senate are controlled by a strong-willed party on a mission. Electric industry officials seem optimistic, but cautious, about this Republican revolution.

DOE Prepares to Tighten its Belt

The Department of Energy (DOE) will definitely be leaner in the future, if not outright abolished by the newly Republican Congress. To get a jump on Republicans as well as to help pay for a middle-class tax cut, President Clinton proposes to cut DOE's budget by $10.6 billion over the next five years-a 10-percent cut in the agency's $18-billion annual budget.

Energy Secretary Hazel R.