One of my first assignments when I was a reporter for this magazine was a story on the flap over the Environmental Protection Agency's 1990 draft report on electromagnetic fields (EMF).

U.S. District Judge Frank Polozola issued a memorandum opinion on October 24, supporting Gulf States Utilities (GSU) against fraud claims made by Cajun Electric Power Co-op. (CEPP), involving its decision to invest in the River Bend nuclear plant. Judge Polozola will issue detailed reasons for the decision at a later date. (GSU owns 70 percent of River Bend; CEPP owns 30 percent.)

A second phase of the lawsuit involves breach-of-contract claims, but GSU and its parent company, Entergy, say they will attempt to settle all remaining issues.

Puget Sound Power & Light Co. (PSPL) and Washington Energy Co. (WE) have agreed to merge, projecting $370 million in savings over the next 10 years from elimination of duplicate corporate and administrative programs, and integration of field operations and facilities. About 45 percent of the savings would come from an 8-percent reduction in combined workforces.

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has proposed accelerated restructuring of the electric industry in Phase II of its "competitive opportunities" proceeding (Case No. 94-E-0952). The proposal calls for wholesale competition by 1997, retail competition by 1998, separating generation from transmission and distribution, and forcing utilities to absorb a portion of their stranded investment.

Moody's Investors Service believes the proposal has generally negative credit implications for New York's investor-owned utilities.

The Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) has drafted a 425-page (plus appendices) environmental impact statement (EIS) as part of its investigation into restructuring (Docket No. 05-EI-114). The EIS examines a number of different proposed models. The "status quo" model would maintain the present regulatory structure, but the PSC admitted that the present rate case structure is time-consuming and does not respond quickly to changed circumstances.

The "plausible extreme" model proposes a single transmission system owner.

New York State Electric & Gas Corp (NYSEG) and related parties have agreed to a settlement that would freeze natural gas prices for nearly three years, from December 1, 1995, until July 31, 1998. NYSEG would eliminate the gas adjustment and weather normalization clauses, and establish a service-quality incentive, setting earnings, rewards, or penalties based on performance.

In its annual report on the U.S. electric industry, Moody's Investors Service has concluded that the average credit rating for the industry will deteriorate from its present 'A3' level to 'Baa1' over the next two to three years.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) has asked the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to approve two applications for electricity options contracts, one based on each of the futures contracts already under consideration by the CFTC. (This past summer, NYMEX applied to offer trading in two electricity futures contracts, one for delivery at the California-Oregon border, and the other for delivery at the Palo Verde switchyard in Arizona.)

Except for delivery location, the terms of the two contracts are identical.

In a recent article ("The Efficient Utility: Labor, Capital, and Profit," Sept. 1, 1995), Taylor and Thompson attempt to measure the

economic efficiencies of 19 investor-owned utilities.

The authors use a method of efficiency measurement proposed by M.J. Farrell in a pioneering paper published nearly 40 years ago.

Thomas L. Yohe of Philadelphia Suburban Water Co. was appointed to the Cleanup Standards Scientific Advisory Board. The 13-member board is a new division of Pennsylvania's Department of Environmental Protection.

NorAm Energy Corp. has formed a new unregulated retail subsidiary, NorAm Energy Management (NEM), and appointed Rollie Bohall senior v.p. and COO. David Houghtby, formerly of Minnegasco, will be NEM v.p.