Michigan Attorney General Frank J. Kelley has filed a request to intervene in an action pending before the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). The action concerns the NRC's failure to address a request by Consumers Power Co. to unload spent, high-level nuclear fuel from a defective cask at the Palisades nuclear plant.

Kelley is filing in support of a petition by two consumer groups that want the NRC to prevent Consumers from using dry-cask storage because the utility has violated its license to operate that system.

Standard & Poor's (S&P) plans to maintain negative outlooks on the three largest California electric utilities (em Southern California Edison (SCE), San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E), and Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E). Although it considers the California Public Utilities Commission's (CPUC's) December 20 electric restructuring order "reasonably favorable," S&P will not reexamine the ratings until it is sure the plan will be finalized as proposed. S&P's concern is that some members of the California State Senate believe small customer interests would not be adequately protected.

SCEcorp has a new corporate structure and name: Edison International. It also has a new subsidiary, Edison Source, which specializes in solutions for energy efficiency, the environment, and energy marketing. Edison International now has five subsidiaries; its flagship, Southern California Edison, is the nation's second-largest IOU.

The article "Electric Utility Mergers: The Answer or the Question?" (by Robert J. Michaels) in the January 1, 1996, issue, along with current events involving my employer, a midwestern utility currently involved in a merger, initiated some questions and comments regarding top executives chairmen.

We expect continued mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the continental United States until 50 or fewer utilities serve the nation.

Ann R. Chamberlain will manage rates and regulations, and plan and procure gas supplies in her new v.p. position with Virginia Natural Gas, Inc. She steps up from assistant v.p.

Boston Pacific Co., Inc. has added John T. Chang to the company's international power project development practice. He comes from Iroquois Gas Transmission System. Jonathan d'E. Coony was promoted to consultant and will continue work on financial evaluation of power projects in Indonesia, Pakistan, and other countries.

On a bookshelf behind my desk I've stacked up a few older issues of PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY. Some of them go back more than a half-century. Every so often I pull down a copy to see if I can learn anything from history.

Yes, the advertisements appear quaint (Royal typewriters; IBM punch-card machines; Ditto-brand duplicators). But some of the ideas still have legs, with lively quotations from the likes of Louis Brandeis, Harold Ickes, Walter Lippmann, and Fiorello La Guardia.

Before the express train leaves the station, it's worth taking a look at the facts about new electric generating capacity in the United States.

Natural gas has become the primary energy source, accounting for about two-thirds of new capacity during the 1990. In contrast, market share for coal-which currently accounts for over 40 percent of all online capacity, and about 55 percent of online fossil-fuel capacity-is expected to grow only 10 to 15 percent in this decade.

Wyoming and Montana

are cracking Midwest coal markets,

despite local protectionism.

As pressures build steadily toward deregulation and increased competition between electric power generators, Western low-sulfur coal is emerging as the most economical fuel option for an increasing number of companies. The low cost of delivered fuel and avoidance of capital outlays offer attractive savings.

a strategy helps.

Gas markets in the United States are complicated, dynamic, and evolving. They offer significant commercial opportunities for some companies, commercial hazards for others.

Many companies find it difficult to estimate the price they will receive for gas the next year, month, week, or day.