Five Massachusetts electric companies stand to gain more from industry restructuring than they would lose in stranded investment.

Public Service Commission (PSC) to approve a rate settlement that includes a proposal for a retail wheeling pilot program, "PowerPick" (Case 95-E-0491).

PowerPick would allow certain large industrial customers to choose their electric suppliers starting June 1, 1996. All other customer classes would be eligible to participate as of January 1, 1997; however, residential participation will be capped at 1,500 customers.

The Energy Information Administration has released its second-quarter Short-Term Energy Outlook projections. Some of its predictions for gas and electric markets:

s Normal temperatures and continued economic growth will raise total annual gas demand in 1996 to a high of 21.9 trillion cubic feet. In 1997, demand is expected to rise 2.7 percent, to 22.5 trillion cubic feet.

Administrative law judge Barbara Hale has recommended that the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) reject requests from Pacific Bell and GTE California for billions of dollars in compensation for financial losses expected from local telephone competition (Docket R95-04-043). Pacific Bell is seeking $3.7 billion over five years; GTE is asking for about $500 million.

Wisconsin Gas Co. has asked the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to approve "GasAdvantage," a pilot that would allow competitors to supply natural gas to 1,000 residential and 1,200 commercial customers starting November 1. Participating customers would have from August 1 to October 15 to choose a specific marketer to serve them for a one-year period. Wisconsin Gas will continue to transport the gas, but customers will be billed by the marketer. Wisconsin Gas proposes to develop standards of business conduct to screen potential marketers.

The Nuclear Energy Institute reports that nuclear power plants are exceeding performance goals for safety and reliability. In 1995, the U.S. nuclear industry:

s Achieved the highest capability factor ever: a median value of 82.6 percent. (Unit capability is a percentage of the most electricity a plant can produce, limited by plant management.)

s Reduced unplanned automatic shutdowns or scrams by almost 90 percent since 1980.

s Met safety performance in 94 percent of the systems.

Deregulation, competition, and marketplace practices have been spreading slowly across the communications business for decades. In their wake, they have left lower prices, faster innovation, and more services, jobs, profits, and productivity.

Among the proposals for still further change, one of the most shocking is the idea that radio rights should be bought and sold on the open market, just like land or any other commodity.

The three largest California investor-owned utilities (IOUs) (em Pacific Gas and Electric Co., San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDGE), and Southern California Edison Co. (SCE) have circulated for comment working drafts of future Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) filings concerning a deregulated electricity industry.

One 150-page proposal asks that operational dispatch control of transmission facilities be conveyed to an ISO, beginning January 1, 1998.

Regulatory Commission to allow it to charge only marginal transmission costs (cost incurred due to additional electric power being transmitted on the system), and no embedded costs (fixed investment in plant and other facilities).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) generally has denied rehearing of its comprehensive September 29 rate order concerning Southern Natural Gas Co. (SNG). The order settled 23 rate cases, resolved the company's costs associated with the transition to Order 636, and refunded about $150 million to customers. Last September, FERC chair Elizabeth A.