Fortnightly Magazine - July 15 1995

Iowa PURPA Law Comes Under Firet

Midwest Power Systems Inc. (MPS) has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to void the Iowa law requiring Iowa utilities to pay six cents per kilowatt-hour for electricity generated by qualifying facilities (QFs). MPS

argues that the Iowa price is more than twice what federal law imposes under a market-based rate. MPS and the three other investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in Iowa had asked the state legislature earlier this year to make the Iowa law conform to federal law, but the bill was not passed.

Court Upholds FERC's PBOP Ruling

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia has upheld a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission policy allowing utilities to recover costs to switch from cash to accrualaccounting for post-retirement benefits other than pensions (PBOP) under SFAS 106.

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