Transmission

Applicants can only hope that a prompt review won't be even more difficult

By a unanimous vote, on December 18, 1996, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued Order No. 592, stating how it intends to evaluate utility mergers. The anticipation has ended, yet those hoping for a new approach and a quicker review are bound to be disappointed.

Order 592 is a "Policy Statement." As such, it only announces intentions; it imposes no new obligations and is not subject to judicial review until implemented in a specific case.

Peter R. Thomas was hired from Sprint as v.p. of American Electric Power's new communications subsidiary, AEP Communications, Inc.

Central Illinois Light Co. hired Todd Severson as human resources v.p. He comes from Remco, a subsidiary of Thorn Americas.

Scott A. Neitzel, a member of the Wisconsin Public Service Commission since January 1992, has resigned. Neitzel chaired the PSC's electric utility industry restructuring committee.

Ohio Edison Co.'s board of directors elected chairman and CEO Willard R. Holland as its chairman.

Incumbent monopolists won't command high premiums

if newcomers can rebuild capacity from scratch at a cheaper price.

At first glance, many of the nation's regional markets for wholesale electric generation appear monopolistic. In some of the 18 regional power markets we have identified, the leading companies account for 75 to 90 percent of the area's generating assets. In other markets, where the concentration problem does not yet seem as pressing, mergers and acquisitions threaten to raise levels of concentration of ownership in generation.

While authorizing Northern Utilities, Inc., the sole instate natural gas local distribution company (LDC), to contract with an affiliated company to provide storage capacity and services, the Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has directed the utility to file an unbundling tariff proposal that includes transportation, load-balancing, and third-party merchant services.

Under the approved supply arrangement, Granite State Gas Transmission, Inc. will provide storage capacity and service from a liquefied natural gas facility in Wells, ME.

Finding an independent system operator (ISO) prerequisite to electric industry restructuring, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) has issued a detailed set of "minimum standards" for developing and operating an ISO.

The PSC says that the ISO must function independently of generators and must operate the transmission system to protect consumers and sellers of power from anticompetitive use of the wires. In addition, the ultimate responsibility for safety and reliability must be vested in one entity at all times.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has announced two policy changes in its first final order on negotiated rates under its policy statement on Alternatives to Traditional Cost-of-Service Ratemaking. The FERC will now require pipelines to file either negotiated rate contracts or tariff sheets that reflect the essential elements of their negotiated rate agreements. In addition, pipelines will no longer be permitted discounted adjustments to their recourse rates.

The case involved NorAm Gas Transmission Co. (Docket No. RP96-200-001).

The U.S.

About a year ago I stuck my neck out to predict that electric utilities might end up with stranded investment in transmission lines. I suggested that financial commodities trading-longs, shorts, and hedges-might supplant physical product movements. It's happened in natural gas, where the interstate pipelines have suffered from "decontracting" and capacity "turnback"-a phenomenon that has tended to move from West to East.

Public Utilities Fortnightly asked eight commissioners about the demands of restructuring and about an issue particular to their state.

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Comments by P.

Having completed several rounds of telecommunications reforms, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control (DPUC) has now announced a number of policy decisions governing the infrastructure provided by new market entrants. To ensure that the public benefits from a competitive market through a "network of networks," the DPUC ordered all facilities-based carriers to make their services available for resale and their networks available on an unbundled basis.