The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia on April 30 ruled that petitions filed in the nuclear waste storage lawsuit against the Department of Energy will be treated as petitions to compel the department to comply with a July 1996 court decision ordering the DOE to store nuclear waste beginning Jan. 31, 1998.

Meanwhile, a tunnel boring machine broke through the earth's surface at Yucca Mountain, Nevada (em the proposed storage site for the spent nuclear waste (em completing a five-mile dig that went as deep as 1,400 feet beneath the crest of the mountain.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has approved three orders that together clarify the Commission's jurisdiction over corporate realignments.

The FERC found on April 30, that while it does not have jurisdiction over mergers of public utility holding companies, it does have jurisdiction over transfers of control (dispositions) of public utility facilities.

Corporations will need FERC approval for a merger simply because they own paper assets that qualify as utility property.

In three companion orders issued April 30, 1997, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission tried to stake out new jurisdictional turf. It attempted to expand its jurisdiction under section 203 of the Federal Power Act to cover "convergent" mergers and reorganizations involving electric utility holding companies and power marketers.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission has approved the proposed $7.7-billion merger of Duke Power Co. and Houston-based PanEnergy Corp. to form Duke Energy Corp., subject to conditions designed to protect North Carolina ratepayers from potential adverse effects.

The commission said the merger must ensure that ratepayers of the new company receive no fewer benefits than ratepayers in other jurisdictions.

PECO Energy Co. has asked the Pennsylvania Public Utilities Commission to approve its securitization request and reject a recommendation by an administrative law judge that the PUC not allow PECO to recover stranded costs from ratepayers.

On Jan. 22, PECO asked that it be allowed under the state's new electric competition act to refinance $3.6 billion of its electric generation assets through securitization. But on April 14, Judge Louis Cocheres recommended against the proposal. (See Pa PUC Docket No.

Georgia Gov. Zell Miller has signed into law the "Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act," which unbundles natural gas services and opens residential gas markets to competition.

Under S.B. 215, in less than three years Atlanta Gas Light Co. and its affiliates, Georgia Natural Gas and Savannah Gas Co., no longer will sell natural gas directly to end users. Instead the companies only will provide delivery service.

The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has issued its final master plan on electric restructuring, which could cut electric rates by 10 to 15 percent starting October 1998. The plan allows all customers to choose electric suppliers by July 2000.

The board now will submit "Restructuring the Electric Power Industry in New Jersey: Findings and Recommendations" to the governor and Legislature.

The plan would phase in retail choice, beginning with 10 percent of all residential, commercial and industrial customers, in October 1998.

The owners of General Public Utilities Corp. are planning either to sell or shut down Oyster Creek nuclear plant, because they claim the plant's above-market electric prices will not be competitive in an open market. The selling price would be set around $700 million.

According to GPU President and COO Fred D. Hafer, the electric generated at Oyster Creek costs the utility about 1 cent to 1.5 cents more per kilowatt-hour than the current market price for energy.

A controversial electric restructuring settlement proposed by Consolidated Edison Company of New York to the New York Public Service Commission, which includes a 25-percent rate cut for some industrial customers, was attacked as hostile to small customers.

ConEd filed the plan in response to the PSC's efforts to develop a new framework for the state's electric industry in its "Competitive Opportunities" proceeding (Case 97018/96EO897). ConEd's proposed five-year plan would run through March 31, 2002 and cut rates by $655 million.

Proposal Details.

Midwest and New England Are Threatened

To head off potential problems, states in the Midwest and New England are reacting now to impending plant shutdowns, which are threatening to cause serious electric supply shortfalls this summer.

The Midwest. The shutdown of Wisconsin's two nuclear plants, Kewaunee and Point Beach, is predicted to cause the state's worst power shortage. In addition, up to five coal-fired plants were scheduled for maintenance shutdowns. To deal with the anticipated shortage, the Wisconsin Public Service Commission on April 22 adopted an emergency plan.