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Fortnightly Magazine - November 1 1997

Portland General Eyes Franchise Fees

Portland General Electric doesn't want to sell electricity anymore.

PGE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Enron, wants to focus on the transmission and distribution of electricity and has asked the Oregon Public Utilities Commission to allow all 670,000 of its customers to choose their electric provider.

It also has proposed a new way to calculate franchise fees in an unbundled environment.

In its customer choice proposal, PGE said restructuring had triggered the need for changes in the way franchise fees are calculated.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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Off Peak

Competition draws Christians, conspiracy theorists.

SO, WHO WANTS TO COMPETE AGAINST THE LOCAL UTILITIES? In most of the country, potential competitors tend to fall into three categories: (1) traditional utilities from within or nearby the affected state that wants to expand into foreign service territories; (2) unregulated subsidiaries of traditional utilities; or (3) power marketers and/or aggregators. In California, however, it's more of a mixed bag.

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Paine Webber Reassesses Lure of Stocks

Electric utilities that may not appear attractive on a "standalone basis" could become attractive takeover targets because of their location, according to PaineWebber's Electric Utility Monthly Industry Update.

The company pointed to the recent failed attempt by CalEnergy to acquire New York State Electric and Gas. PaineWebber noted that, at the time of the attempted takeover, NYSEG was not a favored stock. In fact, NYSEG was not on PaineWebber's list of possible takeover targets.

PaineWebber said the strategic location of NYSEG appeared to be the key factor in the attempt.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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NY PSC Staff Envisions Future of Gas

The staff of the New York Public Service Commission has asked for public comment on its report, which found the most effective way to establish competition in natural gas supply is to separate the merchant and distribution functions.

The report said non-regulated entities would provide all future merchant functions. These entities will share the supplier of last resort obligations along with local distribution companies and will share in costs of social programs.

Byline: 
Lori A. Burkhart
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