Fortnightly Magazine - June 1 1996

LDC to Aggregate for Marketers

The Ohio Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has authorized Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. to offer aggregation services free of charge to marketers, brokers, producers, or customer groups responsible for delivery of gas supplies to its city gates on behalf of end-users. (But Columbia will seek approval of a service charge in its next rate case.)

The PUC says the new service allows aggregation of customers by agents for scheduling and nominating gas, banking and balancing, and other distribution functions. Re Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc., Case No. 96-159-GA-ATA, Mar.

After Stranding Recovery, What?

Intense though it has been, the debate over stranded electric investment has addressed only half of the issue. What the utilities will do with the money is as important as whether they should recover anything at all.

Retail competition will accelerate the decline of utility-owned generation; utilities will rely less on their own production and more on purchased power to serve their remaining customers.

Tennessee to Protect Small LECs

Tennessee law permitting new competition in the local-exchange telephone market clearly protects the state's small incumbent local carriers (LECs with fewer than 100,000 access lines) from market entry by competitive carriers, according to the state public service commission (PSC), unless the incumbent voluntarily elects competition either by executing an interconnection agreement with a local competitor, or by applying for a certificate to provide service outside its franchised service area.

Separate certificate hearings for new market entrants would be inefficient and w

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