Former Defense Secretary Caspar W. Weinberger told a gathering of utility and renewable energy executives that he supports conservation efforts to reduce the risk of another major oil crisis, but that the government's role in renewables should be limited.

"I think you're not going to get more energy efficiency simply by spending more money," Weinberger said at the Seventh Annual Energy Efficiency Forum sponsored by the U.S. Energy Association and Johnson Controls in Washington, DC.

electric industry restructuring.

That's what Matthew Freedman, energy policy analyst, announced at a Public Citizen briefing on the advocacy group's Power for the People, a "public interest blueprint" for the new electric market.

"Competition in the electric power industry could either usher in a new era of cleaner, more affordable energy services or prove to be the biggest customer shakedown of our time," the report reads.

Madison Gas and Electric Co. (MGE) has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) not to approve the proposed merger of Wisconsin Energy Corp. (WE) and Northern States Power Co. (NSP) to form "Primergy." MGE claims that the merger would not only subject Wisconsin's electric consumers to higher prices, but severely impair competition.

According to Mark Williamson, MGE senior vice president of energy services, the Primergy merger would create market concentration in generation and transmission, resulting in market power abuses and anticompetitive conduct.

Two utility merger lawyers at LeBouef, Lamb, Green & MacRae predict that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) will continue to receive many merger applications, though some will differ from the classic merger between neighboring utilities. Douglas W. Hawes and Samuel Behrends IV have filed comments in the FERC's merger rulemaking proceeding, recommending that the FERC implement "fast track" proceedings for the next generation of mergers.

On May 13, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Carol M. Browner referred the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's (FERC's) open-access rule, Order 888, to the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). In effect, Browner has asked the Clinton Administration to intervene in the restructuring process.

Browner feels that under certain circumstances the open-access rule could lead to future increases in air pollution. She believes these impacts can be minimized through a combination of actions by EPA and states under the Clean Air Act (CAA).

Rep. Dan Schaefer (R-CO), closed his final hearing on electric industry restructuring with what sounded like a promise to push utilities down the bumpy path of retail wheeling.

"My vision for the future is one where all consumers have the ability to pick and choose among numerous competitive suppliers of electricity," Schaefer said. "It is one where all consumers have the benefit of lower rates, better services, and new innovations brought on by competition . . .

Some believe that small-scale, distributed generation will usher in a new era of magically inexpensive power: Industrial users will run their own cogeneration units. Many residential customers will use some sort of portable (em perhaps exotic (em power equipment in their homes. Existing, utility-owned, large-scale generating stations will be cast off on the path to ultimate efficiency.

Meanwhile, New England is running out of power this summer.

Penn. Examines

Utility Accountability

for Contractors

Pennsylvania State Senator Albert V. "Bud" Belan (D-West Mifflin) has disagreed with the findings of an internal investigative report by former state Attorney General Walter Cohen that exonerated Peoples Natural Gas Co. (PNG) from any responsibility for the alleged attack and rape of a utility customer by a private contractor hired to read gas meters.

$8.5-million refund for customers of Orange & Rockland Utilities, Inc. (O&R) in light of improprieties committed by some of the utility's former senior executives (Case 96039/95E0491). Since the investigation began, O&R has terminated or retired eight of 11 senior managers and replaced its external auditing firm.

To prepare a report on stranded investment mandated by the Texas legislature, the Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has asked electric utilities to file the required financial information using a new model.

The model consists of six scenarios that use a number of variables approved by the PUC to yield a broad estimate of excess cost over market (ECOM) (em a measure of potential stranded costs. Each utility will file 54 "snapshots" of its potential excess-cost factors based on various competitive market scenarios and market-price assumptions.