The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), in a report analyzing the July power outage in
14 Western states, notes that New England is "challenged" by the shutdown of 3,000 Mw of nuclear capacity in Connecticut. The mid-Atlantic will be likewise challenged over the coming years by delay in the construction of a 765,000-volt transmission line between West Virginia and Virginia.
UtiliCorp United amended an electric-supply contract with Public Service Co. of Colorado to reduce electric costs for 78,000 electric customers by as much as $1 million a year. The amended contract calls for 168 Mw of firm power supply through December 2001. (The original contract was effective through 2008.) It also delays, for at least three years, UtiliCorp's planned construction of a 141-Mw power plant in Pueblo, CO.