Gas-Fired Generation
Stephen P. ReynoldsPresident & CEO
Pacific Gas Transmission Co.
Two or three years ago, gas-fired generation was hailed as a cure-all for everything that ailed the natural gas industry.
The Monolith is Cracking: Electric Restructuring and its Implications for Gas
The profound changes now occurring in the electric industry will most directly affect those who are engaged in the enterprises of generation, transmission, and distribution of power. But challenges and opportunities confront gas companies as well. Certainly, the electric industry will continue to influence markets for gas: both in bulk fuel supply and in retail energy.
N.C. Defers Retail Wheeling
Finding the state's electric regulation in excellent condition, and noting a slowdown in the movement toward retail wheeling in other states, the North Carolina Utilities Commission (UC) has decided against ruling on the issue at this time. It rejected calls to open a formal "adversarial" proceeding to investigate issues associated with retail wheeling or retail generation competition.
N.C. Reviews QF Avoided-cost Rates
The North Carolina Utilities Commission (UC) has completed its latest biennial proceeding to establish rates and contract terms for utility power purchases from qualifying facilities (QFs).
N.C. Expands Self-generation Deferral Rates
The North Carolina Utilities Commission (UC) has approved a North Carolina Power Co. plan to use its special self-generation deferral rate to persuade a large industrial customer to use utility supply for a planned plant expansion rather than existing self generation facilities. The UC rejected allegations that the discount to the Weyerhauser paper plant in Plymouth, NC, must pass a stricter analysis than past cases involving rate discounting guidelines because it applies to new load.
Canadian Regulators Move to Unbundle Gas Rates
After reviewing gas supply and related matters as part of a general rate case for Centra Gas Ontario, Inc., the Ontario Energy Board has directed its technical staff to develop a mechanism to separate the utility's commodity sales from its transportation and distribution functions. The Board said the move was necessary because competition in the sale of natural gas and the introduction of indexed pricing had made regulation of the utility's existing tariffed services difficult.
D.C. Court Reviews DSM Rate Treatment
The District of Columbia Court of Appeals has upheld parts of a decision by the District of Columbia Public Service Commission (PSC) disallowing 25 percent of actual and projected
demand-side management (DSM) costs claimed by Potomac Electric Power Co. in a recent rate case. While agreeing that Potomac had failed to justify 100-percent recovery of its DSM costs, the court remanded the case to the PSC for a better explanation of why 25 percent represents an appropriate amount for the disallowance.
Wash. Approves DSM Financing Plan
The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (UTC), in a case of first impression, has approved a request by Puget Sound Power & Light Co. to finance the full amount of its unamortized conservation investment through a new Conservation Asset Transaction and a Pooling Service Agreement. Estimated savings to the company associated with the financing arrangement total $22.7 million, with $19.9 million passed through to ratepayers and the rest allocated to the benefit of shareholders.
Michigan Affirms Electric Discount Rates
The Michigan Public Service Commission (PSC) has reaffirmed its earlier approval of special manufacturing contracts submitted by Detroit Edison Co. to supply power to Chrysler Corp., Ford Motor Co., and General Motors Corp. Opponents had argued that the PSC erred by approving the price discounts while deferring consideration of their rate treatment as well as their effect on existing competitive programs.
LDC Must Shoulder Coal Tar Clean-up Costs
The Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission (URC) has denied an Indiana Gas Co., Inc. request for rate recovery of environmental costs associated with three of its instate manufactured gas plant (MGP) sites. The URC found that the local distribution company (LDC) had assumed the associated environmental liability in purchasing the properties, and that the costs were not related to providing gas service to current ratepayers.