Everybody's got an opinion on electric competition, and they're dying to be asked.
Last year the Colorado Public Utilities Commission opened Docket No. 96Q-313E, In the Matter of the Inquiry Into Electric Utility Industry Restructuring. Then, after weighing several options, and rather than preempt the policy discussion, the PUC mailed a 26-page questionnaire to 360 people identified as "having an interest" in electric utility issues, including investor-owned electric utilities, rural electric cooperatives, municipal utilities and others.
What it learned could fill a book ....
On reaching Utopia ...
"There is a fine thread which runs through the questionnaire which appears to seek our view on what we can best to for mankind and how to construct utopia. As isolated and naive as we may be, the concept of gathering ideas on constructing zoning laws and a road plan for the Holy City seem to be somewhat beyond our reach."
(em White River Electric Association
The small customer ...
"In the short term it is likely that residential customers will pay higher rates."
(em Denver Water Department
Stranded investment ...
"Stranded costs are a particularly difficult problem for the cooperatives ... because the ratepayers and the owners are one and the same. There is no ability to let the stockholders 'eat' the stranded investment." (em Y-W Electric Association
Q. Do you believe that there is any stranded investment cost for Colorado utilities?
A. "Yes. I CAN SEE POWER PLANTS, WHICH I ASSUME ARE NOT FULLY PAID FOR, OUTSIDE MY WINDOW." (em Coastal Electric Services Co.
On Mergers ...