Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) administrative law judge Jerome Nelson has found the proposed merger between Central and South West Corp. (CSW) and the bankrupt El Paso Electric Co. (EPE) consistent with the public interest (Docket Nos. EC94-7-000 and ER94-898-000). However, Judge Nelson recommended that approval be subject to a FERC decision on a number of comparability issues. (The FERC had issued an earlier opinion imposing comparability as part of the merger deal, but excepting ERCOT members.

The issue of the day is what to do with the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA). Whether the act will be repealed or merely revised is open to debate, but the consensus is that changes are forthcoming.

Ever since the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) issued its February order finding that the California commission had violated PURPA by requiring Southern California Edison Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co.

John Huey (Fortune, Feb. 21, 1994) suggests that some corporate leaders resemble candidates running for office. Cynically, this conjures an image of the slick campaigner (em a blue suit, a thick head of hair, makeup artists, acting class, and speech coaches. Yet, Mr. Huey raises an issue that cannot be ignored. How can public utilities learn to communicate better?

I've worked as a communications director at a major investor-owned electric company.

After losing its battle to punish North Carolina for not moving quickly enough to site a low-level radioactive waste disposal facility, Gov. David Beasley (R) of South Carolina has threatened to pull out of the Southeast Compact.

In April, Beasley had asked the Southeast Compact Commission for permission to reopen the Barnwell disposal facility to generators in every state except North Carolina.

On May 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of New York, Niagara Mohawk Power Corp. (NMP) filed suit against the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) and the New York Public Service Commission (PSC), seeking relief from what it terms "mandated, above-market electricity purchases" from unregulated generators.

The Virginia commission on April 20 authorized Virginia Electric and Power Co. (VP) to implement a five-year, experimental real-time pricing rate (RTP), but denied a proposal to custom-build dispersed generating facilities at customer sites.

The RTP will allow VP to set rates for large industrial customers (over 10,000 Kw) based in part on the actual hourly cost of generating electricity (Case No. PUE940080). The pilot program allows VP to experiment with market-based pricing by offering industrial users the opportunity to directly control their energy costs.

Texas Utilities Electric Co. and Gulf States Utilities are looking to an April 13 Texas Supreme Court decision (involving GTE-Southwest) that says the state PUC need not employ the actual taxes paid method in setting utility rates. Gulf States will now amend its appeal of a March 20 Texas PUC order forcing a $52.9-million rate reduction, which had included a $25.8-million actual taxes paid component. Texas Utilities had put its faith in legislative relief, but saw its hopes dashed in late April when a Texas state senate committee defeated a proposal to take up the matter.

The Columbia Gas System, Inc., and its principal pipeline subsidiary, Columbia Gas Transmission Corp. (CGT) have filed separate reorganization plans with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware.

The parent company's plan proposes total distributions of about $3.6 billion to creditors, including $2.3 billion to pay prepetition debt, with $1.1 billion in interest.

The California PUC on April 26 issued interim rules that could allow local telephone competition in the Pacific Bell and GTE-California service areas as early as June. The rules would manage competition between local carriers (CLCs) and franchised local telcos. Under the rules, CLCs could offer individual service components (such as subscriber loops, line side ports, signaling links, signal transfer points, service control points, and dedicated channel network access connections) or choose to handle the entire phone call.

The board of directors of Yankee Energy System, Inc. has elected Ellen J. Quinn v.p., corporate and environmental planning, and Sarah K. Sanders treasurer for the company. Before joining Yankee Energy, Quinn worked as a scientist at Northeast Utilities, and at the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Sanders also came from Northeast Utilities, where she worked as an analyst.

David H.