Richard D. Spencer, lately of General Electric Corp., has been hired by Equitable Resources, Inc. as v.p. and chief information officer. He was technology programs manager at GE.
Commonwealth Edison Co. has formed a new nuclear division management team. Thomas J. Maiman, senior v.p., is the top executive. He moves from the company's fossil division. Michael J. Wallace, another senior v.p., will market the utility on strategic nuclear business issues.
Despite two years of debate, little progress has been made toward a solution to the issue of stranded costs. And since the two sides have almost no common ground, any accommodation seems unlikely. Utilities that seek stranded-cost recovery appear to have the upper hand at present, but the stiffest resistance still lies ahead. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's Order 888 clearly favors utilities, but customer reaction signals a shift to another venue.
I was amused by your "Headlines" item on the Reason Foundation's study calling for privatization of TVA and the power marketing administrations due to government subsidization and poor management (May 15, 1996, p. 16). If those were the two overriding issues, one could argue in favor of swapping segments and doing something different with the segment that costs the government the most.
Sound bites from state and federal regulators.
Economic Development Programs. Connecticut allows LDC to redirect margin-sharing funds from interruptible and transportation sales to support economic development and reduce residential hardship assistance balances. Caps annual program funding at $6 million. Rejects proposal that shareholder funds match ratepayer contributions. Docket No. 93-03-09 Reopening III, Apr. 25, 1996 (Conn.D.P.U.C.).
Demand-side Management.
Over the past two and a half years, 10 large mergers have been announced, involving 21 investor-owned electric and gas utilities. Only the MidAmerican Energy merger has been completed, but the estimated market value of the pending mergers is an astounding $40.5 billion. Clearly, this recent wave of merger and acquisition (M&A) activity signals that electric utilities are positioning themselves for future competitive energy markets.
Results from Resource Data International's (RDI's) recent study, U.S.
The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has issued a framework of goals and strategies for restructuring the electric industry in the state. The PSC directs all electric utilities in the state that have not yet initiated restructuring to file plans that will open the retail generation and energy-service markets to competition for all customer classes.
Market Structure (em PoolCo Model. The PSC adopted a "flexible retail PoolCo" model to ensure an orderly transition to retail competition.
United Parcel Service of America, Inc. (UPS) and Duke/Louis Dreyfus, LLC have struck a two-year deal to seek ways of lowering energy costs at UPS locations in 14 states.
Tokyo Electric Power Co. awarded a $500-million contract to GE Power Systems to design and build a 1,400-Mw advanced combined-cycle power plant. GE will supply four gas turbines, four steam turbines, and four generators. Additional equipment and services will be supplied by Foster Wheeler and three Japanese companies.
Two more states at opposite ends of the country have acted substantively on electric utility restructuring (em one moving full speed ahead toward unbundling of wholesale "merchant" services, the other seeking to slow down the transition to retail wheeling.
The Nevada Public Service Commission (PSC) has released draft sections of a report on electric industry restructuring that was scheduled to go to the state legislature in June.
The Maine Public Utilities Commission (PUC) (em prompted by an 18-month fight between a utility and a customer threatening to generate its own electricity (em decided on June 10 to keep the docket open in an exit-fee case. Ironically, the fight that brought the issue to the fore was resolved 10 days earlier: On May 31, Central Maine Power Co. (CMP) and Hannaford Bros. Co.
The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) has approved a request by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E), an electric utility, to extend balancing account treatment to payments it makes for settlements or judgments rendered in litigation of purchased-power contract disputes with qualifying cogeneration facilities (QFs).
[An earlier CPUC order authorized the utility to record payments to QFs to terminate agreements and to settle contract disputes in its adjustment-clause balancing account.
