It looks like PacifiCorp will have a little competition down under. A $1.2-billion conditional bid for an Australian electric utility (em made by an Entergy subsidiary, Entergy Power Group (em has been accepted by the State of Victoria.
The Utah Public Service Commission (PSC) has authorized Mountain Fuel Supply Co., an LDC, to increase rates by $3.7 million. The LDC will collect the revenue deficiency by assessing a fee of $12.00 per month for 12 months on new residential premises. The charge is designed to recover increased capital and operating costs due to new customer growth in the LDC's service territory. The new rule permits the LDC to record 20 percent of the credits as distribution nongas revenues, while passing the remaining 80 percent back to ratepayers through its fuel-cost adjustment clause.
A division of UtiliCorp United has entered into an agreement to provide heating and cooling services to 170 public school districts in southern California. The UtiliCorp marketing branch, Broad Street/Energy One, will supply natural gas at prices below that of the local utility. The participating school districts spend about $12 million a year for natural gas to heat and cool their school buildings. "This is a unique contract because it shows quite dramatically how everyone can benefit from deregulation," said Brooks Burton, Energy One vice president.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) has authorized Duke Power Co. to implement a research and demonstration pilot project on residential geothermal heat-pump systems. The program is designed to overcome existing market barriers and will target new home builders with incentives of up to $3,500 per system to offset installation costs. According to Duke Power, program costs could be recovered from customers in future rate proceedings because participation will result in the installation of energy equipment that exceeds federal appliance efficiency standards.
Northern Indiana Public Service Co. (NIPSCO) and IBM have developed the Integrity/Customer Services System, which provides any customer service with one telephone call. Customer questions that previously required several transfers will now be handled by a single representative who has access to billing, service, and repair information. Property owners with several buildings or several tenants at one building will receive a combined bill, rather than separate bills for each meter.
"obvious relationship" between prolonged lower-level radio frequency (RF) radiation exposure and increased disease in humans, according to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The CPUC's investigation into electromagnetic fields (EMF) and RF radiation at cellular radio telephone facilities found cellular power densities consistently below current industry exposure standards.
American Electric Power Co. (AEP) plans to consolidate its Columbus, OH, nuclear generation management and support staff with the nuclear staff at its Donald C. Cook plant in Bridgman, MI. The relocation, scheduled for summer 1996, affects about 250 employees. About 50 positions
will be cut. Total employees in the AEP nuclear
organization will be reduced from about 1,300 to about 1,180, a 9.2-percent cut.
Moody's Investors Service has upgraded the credit ratings of PSI Energy Co. (PSI), Cincinnati Gas & Electric Co. (CGE), and Union Light Heat & Power Co. The upgrades (em which affect about $3.8 billion in debt securities (em reflect strengthening financial position coupled with low business risks.
Management expert Peter F. Drucker has observed that our society has entered a "post-capitalist" stage in which economic activity is organized around information: "The basic economic resource ... is no longer 'capital' nor 'natural resources'...
There are essentially two kinds of reliability: sufficient generating capacity, and sufficient transmission capacity. Although it often receives the most attention, generation accounts for only about 10 percent of reliability concerns. Even when there is a problem, there is usually time to prepare; demand can be reduced through voltage reductions, interruptible customers, public appeals, and as a last resort, rotating blackouts.
