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Fortnightly Magazine - May 1 1996

Plan Will Substitute for Gas Capacity Release

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (BPU) has authorized Elizabethtown Gas Co., to change its seasonal delivery service tariff to allow third-party suppliers to bid on incremental pipeline capacity for a limited time. (Unlike other gas distributors [LDCs], Elizabethtown could not take advantage of capacity-release programs approved by the board.) The company will allocate up to 2.5 billion cubic feet of capacity for the new offering and will not contract for additional capacity to operate the program.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Multiyear Rate Agreements to Continue

Noting controversy surrounding multi-year incentive agreements in utility rate cases, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved guidelines for filing multiyear rate proposals and requests to depart from approved rate plans. The guidelines deemphasize the importance of "global" settlements in such cases, and reaffirm the rights of nonsettling parties to litigate issues raised by incentive and multiyear rate proposals. The PSC acknowledged the worth of multi-year settlements, but declined to rely exclusively on such agreements.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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N.Y. Eyes Strategy for Number Portability

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has endorsed location routing number (LRN) technology as the most viable long-term solution to telephone number portability, although it does not expect LRN to become generally available for installation on most major central-office switching equipment until the second quarter of 1997.

The PSC noted that LRN minimizes the impact on network architecture by preserving existing routing logic and hierarchy, thus minimizing switch modifications and changes to databases and operating systems.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Transportation Banking Refined by LDC

The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) has authorized Mountaineer Gas Co. to set up a method to compensate interruptible transportation customers for "banked" over-deliveries eventually used by other sales customers. The company historically permitted its transportation customers to bank excess volumes, and used the gas to reduce purchases for sales customers.

Under the new method, the company will buy current and future banked supplies at a "market determined" rate.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Appeals Court Holds FP&L Immune From QF Antitrust Complaints

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit has ruled that Florida Power and Light Co. (FP&L) is protected by the state action immunity doctrine from liability to cogenerators (QFs) for alleged antitrust violations. The QFs had claimed that FP&L violated federal antitrust laws when it refused to wheel their power to offsite end users.

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Appeals Court Upholds Retail Sales by QF

A New York appeals court has upheld a 1994 decision by the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) authorizing a qualifying cogeneration facility (QF) to make retail sales to certain industrial customers in the service territory of a retail electric utility. The PSC had authorized Sithe/ Independence Power Partners L.P. (em developers of a 1040-megawatt natural gas fired QF (em to sell electricity to steam host customers Alcan Rolled Products Co. and Liberty Paperboard L.P. See, Re Sithe/Independence Power Partners L.P., 155 PUR4th 149 (N.Y.P.S.C. 1994).

Byline: 
Phillip S. Cross
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Off Peak

Will deregulation spell the end of utility philanthropy? Not necessarily so, according to a new study

of charitable giving at 11 investor-owned electric utilities from across the country.

Of those companies surveyed, one pegged its charitable contributions budget as a percent of revenue. Some indicated that they

followed the "utility average" of giving 0.5 percent of income before taxes. (The national average for all companies is 0.9 percent.) Four utilities reported donations at or above that figure.

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James River Refuses $1-Million Cut

The James River Corp.'s Dixie Cup manufacturing plant in Darlington, SC, has declined a $1-million rate cut offered by Carolina Power & Light Co. Dixie Cup, which hopes to slash its electric bill by $700,000 a year, or $4.9 million over seven years, said the offer was only one-fifth what it needs. Meanwhile, it has asked the City of Darlington to municipalize its electric system. Dixie Cup has asked for a citizen referendum; the city council is awaiting the outcome of a municipalization feasibility study.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Revenue Caps or Price Caps? Robust Competition Later Means Healthy Choices New

The debate over restructuring the electric industry has encompassed a revisiting of the traditional rate-of-return (ROR) pricing model. Parties of widely divergent interests increasingly advocate alternatives. Under the label "performance-based regulation," these new pricing models share the objective of strengthening incentives for electric utilities incentives to pursue some specified "socially desirable" outcome.

Byline: 
Kenneth W. Costello
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