Eastern Edison Co. and Montaup Electric Co., both subsidiaries of Eastern Utilities Associates, have each filed an agreement with the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities to introduce electric industry competition.

The target date for introduction of competition is Jan. 1, 1998, when Eastern Edison customers would experience a 10-percent rate cut or could choose an alternate electric supplier. Retail rates would be frozen until Dec. 31, 2000. But customers staying with the utility would be offered a price starting at 2.8 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Finding it "too early" to consider proposals by Enron and Wheeled Electric Power to assign the state's electric utility customers to retail competitive energy service companies, the New York Public Service Commission nevertheless has mapped out a proposal to introduce competition in retail energy markets through a state-established retail provider of last resort.

The commission also would like to make information readily available to allow consumers to make informed choices. The proposed policy would permit adequate oversight of the market to ensure its fair operation (Opinion No.

The Illinois Commerce Commission has approved the three-way merger of WPL Holdings, IES Industries, and Interstate Power Co. to form Interstate Energy Corp.

The commission agreed that the public will benefit from the cost savings produced by the merger. The companies predict savings of about $750 million for the first 10 years after the merger. The Minnesota Public Utilities Commission granted merger approval on March 24. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission concluded hearings in May and had yet to rule at press time.

With electric bills in Congress, and Moler bound for DOE, the Commission needs new vision.

Speaking in May at an informal press luncheon at the Washington International Energy Group in Washington, D.C., FERC Commissioner William L. Massey described the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's role in an open-access electric industry as "nourishing" competition.

The governors of Maine and Montana (em two states with very different electricity markets (em have signed three bills into law to allow competition in the electric and natural gas industries in their respective jurisdictions.

Maine. Gov. Angus King signed an electric restructuring bill that mandates competition in the state starting March 1, 2000.

The Maine law, An Act to Restructure the State's Electric Industry, L.D. 1804, was signed on May 29. It allows for recovery of stranded costs as determined by the Maine Public Utilities Commission.

ABB Systems Control sold an OASIS gateway system to Cinergy Corp. The system is configured to communicate with the ECAR OASIS node, handling TTC and ATC calculations, transmission service requests and other required transmission path information. Cinergy also bought an ABB enhanced interchange scheduling system, ISplus(.

Northern State Power Co.'s Monticello Nuclear Generating Plant in Minneapolis, Minn. was expected to start up in July or August after a May 9 shutdown to correct a design problem.

Edison International elected former U.S. Secretary of State Warren Christopher to its board and its utility company's board, Southern California Edison. Christopher was elected chair of the executive committees of both boards. Howard P. Allen retired as chair and CEO.

John T. Coughlin, former Wisconsin Public Service commissioner, was elected chair of the PJM Interconnection L.L.C.

Former U.S. Department of State Legal Adviser Conrad K. Harper was elected to the board of both Public Service Enterprise Group Inc., and Public Service Electric and Gas Co.

When I took this job three years ago, I posed the question, "Price or Service?" in the title of my first frontlines column.I suggested that natural gas utilities appeared willing to sell on price, but not electrics. The CEOs all claim that electricity has become a commodity. But I'll bet the franchise that electric utilities haven't yet figured out whether they are selling electrons (a commodity) or comfort and peace of find (a niche service).

Changing the culture at American Electric Power.

As the electric industry gears up for competition, attention shifts to things like load migration, technology and customer service. The pressure is rising like never before to identify, catalogue and track costs.

Thus, at American Electric Power Company, we decided two years ago to reengineer much of our internal financial management apparatus, including systems, databases and technology. With the help of consultants, we developed, designed, tested and implemented an activity-based management system.

New England states, feeling threatened by increased pollution from Midwest coal-fired generation, recently began lobbying for tougher national environmental standards tied to electric deregulation legislation. The perceived threat is based on the belief that coal-fired plants in the Midwest with excess capacity will increase exports to higher-cost New England states. This increased generation and exportation could lead to more pollution in the New England states.