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.

ITC Holdings shareholders approved the proposed acquisition of Entergy’s transmission business. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2013, subject to regulatory approvals and closing conditions. 

Atlantic Power closed on its previously announced sale of interests in three Florida projects—Auburndale, Lake Cogen, and Pasco Cogen—to Quantum Utility Generation, a Houston-based generation company owned by Quantum Energy Partners and Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. The total sale price was approximately $140 million, with net proceeds of $117 million, after repayment of project-level debt at Auburndale and settlement of all outstanding natural gas swap agreements at Lake and Auburndale.

Siemens entered a long-term service contract for the largest combined cycle power plant in Russia, the 800-MW Kirishi power plant, which was repowered in March 2012. Per the agreement, Siemens will provide maintenance of the gas turbines and generators for 12 years. Kirishi was the first combined-cycle repowering project in Russia, and it increased the unit’s capacity from 300 MW to 800 MW, and raised its efficiency from 38 percent to 55 percent.