The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has canceled efforts to develop a performance incentive mechanism for costs associated with the Nine Mile 2 nuclear power plant. The efforts stemmed from a 1993 settlement that determined recoverable plant operation and maintenance costs. The PSC said its staff had withdrawn from ongoing incentive negotiations, citing a "change in emphasis" from specific to broad-based incentives in electric regulation.
The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has modified an earlier ruling (Re Restructuring of the Emerging Competitive Natural Gas Market, 158 PUR4th 553 (N.Y.P.S.C. 1994)) that set forth a policy framework to guide the post-Order 636 transition of the state's natural gas distribution industry. The 1994 ruling divided local distribution company (LDC) customers into core and noncore groups, and allowed flexible market-based pricing for unbundled services to the noncore group.
The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved a Florida Power Corp. plan to curtail its purchases from qualifying cogeneration facilities (QFs) during minimum load conditions. The PSC said that minimum load conditions typically occur between midnight and 6:00 a.m. when weather is mild and system demand low, and that the utility had curtailed QF purchases seven times in late 1994 and early 1995.
The West Virginia Public Service Commission (PSC) has issued a series of legal rulings favoring Energy America, Inc., developer of a qualifying cogeneration facility (QF), in a complaint proceeding to enforce Wheeling Power Co.'s power-purchase obligation under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). The PSC ruled that Wheeling should be viewed as a stand-alone company, not a part of the American Electric Power (AEP) system as alleged by the utility.
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has upheld a Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) ruling permitting Metropolitan Edison Co. to charge current ratepayers approximately $8.3 million a year for a portion of the cost of decommissioning the disabled Three Mile Island Unit 2 (TMI 2) nuclear generating plant. A lower court found the cost recovery improper because the plant was not and would not be "used and useful" in providing service to customers (see Irwin A. Popowsky v. Penn. PUC, 642 A.2d 648, 153 PUR4th 244 (Pa.Commw.Ct.
Concluding an investigation of supply-cost recovery for the Associated Natural Gas Co., a natural gas distribution company (LDC), the Missouri Public Service Commission (PSC) has found imprudent the LDC's long-term supply contract with an affiliated supplier, SEECO, Inc. The PSC excluded from adjustment clause recovery one-half the premium paid above spot-market prices under the contract for firm fixed-price swing-gas supply. The PSC said the LDC failed to properly evaluate other gas suppliers prior to entering into the contract or to document its gas purchasing practices.
Companies in competitive industries routinely collect information about their customers through a variety of sources (em including surveys, national census, and government and private sources. Such customer information and its applications are jealously guarded secrets, rarely shared with others in the industry. Customer information is not limited to expenditure on a company's products or services, but usually includes a customer profile.
Nathan Rothschild knew before anyone else that Napoleon would lose the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. With this advance knowledge he dumped his British-backed government securities on the market, making it appear as if he had heard the opposite outcome. His competing merchant bankers, following Rothschild's move, also sold their securities. After Rothschild saw the market bottom out, he repurchased every piece of paper he could lay his hands on (em at fire sale prices.
The challenges facing the information technology (IT) industry into the next century are significant. Yet so are the opportunities.
IT has become strategic. And important. So important that utility companies are seeking outside expertise to help them leverage technology to conduct business more efficiently, help grow revenues, and hone their edge in the new competitive world. Time has become an unaffordable luxury.