The Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities found it’s unnecessary at the current time to require electric utilities to enter long-term contracts for power supply to address forecasts of insufficient peak-load requirements in the state. The department said that requiring electric distribution companies to enter into long-term contracts with generators would be proper only if there was convincing evidence that the competitive market has failed and that there are imminent reliability concerns.

The Colorado Public Utilities Commission (PUC) upheld an initial decision by an administrative law judge (ALJ) issued in January, which had recommended that Xcel Energy subsidiary Public Service Company of Colorado (PSCC) be denied any further rate recovery of SmartGridCity costs. The commission said the utility had been given ample opportunity to prove the prudence of the rising costs of the project but that the company had failed to do so.

New Hampshire Public Utilities Commission authorized Public Service Company of New Hampshire (PSNH) to institute two different default energy rate schedules, a standard rate for those customers who have never left the utility for a competitive energy supplier and a discounted, albeit “above market,” rate for customers who took service with an alternative provider and then return to the utility’s default service. According to the utility, such pricing flexibility is necessary in order for it to compete effectively against other suppliers.