The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) on March 14 approved utility restructuring plans aimed at opening up the local natural gas markets to competition. Residential, small business, and commercial/industrial gas users now may purchase their gas supplies from a variety of sources, just as larger industrial customers may purchase from sources other than the local utility (Docket No.

Genco Risk: "Location, Location, Location"Vinod Dar's recent article, "Competition, Convergence . . . and Cashflow? The Power Business in the Next 20 Years" (Apr. 1, 1996, p. 31), highlighted some of the risks inherent in investments in new power generation plants in a restructured electric industry.

Aquila Power Corp., a UtiliCorp United subsidiary, has hired two executives to expand its market into the western United States. Timothy J. Culbertson, from Portland General Electric, will lead power marketing in the Pacific Northwest. David L. Metz will lead power marketing in the Southwest. Metz comes from Arizona Public Service Co.Consolidated Natural Gas Co. has named Bruce E. Plichta international financial analyst and James M. Mulcahy senior financial analyst.

I don't know about you, but the Internet is driving me carzy. Every week I discover a half-dozen new home pages to add to my reading list. Some may view NetscapeÔ as an investment play. I see it as drama.

As a magazine editor (em someone who gets paid to follow the news (em I feel guilty if I don't click on every link and download every file. I call it the "obligation to surf." And the problem grows worse as more government agencies post their decisions online.

Paper trading is here, introducing an element of speculation in wholesale electric markets.The electric power industry joined the commodity markets on March 29, 1996, when power futures began to trade on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). This first tentative step in the commoditization of electricity promises the emergence of a paper market for power, which, as in the case of other commodities, will likely prove substantially broader and more complex than electricity's physical market.

for closure or removal of long-lived assets

will bring costs out into the open.

But is it rational?

On February 7, 1996, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued for comment an "Exposure Draft" of a new proposed statement of financial accounting standards pertaining to nuclear plant decommissioning and other similar legal obligations,

Giving up today's customer to retail wheeling could help cut losses tomorrow.

Estimates of stranded investment for U.S. investor-owned electric utilities (IOUs) range from as little as $20 billion to as much as $500 billion (em more than double the shareholder equity in U.S. utilities.

Investors are taking stock

of utility exposure to price competition.The utility trade press and even the general financial press have featured the views of regulators, utility executives, legislators, and various consumer advocates on the stranded-cost question. Stranded costs easily represent the most contentious issue facing the electric industry as it moves to an era of competition.

of charitable giving at 11 investor-owned electric utilities from across the country.

Of those companies surveyed, one pegged its charitable contributions budget as a percent of revenue. Some indicated that they

followed the "utility average" of giving 0.5 percent of income before taxes. (The national average for all companies is 0.9 percent.) Four utilities reported donations at or above that figure.