While the prices play catch up, utilities and regulators should start looking for ways to mitigate costs.
Water utility rate increases have outpaced those of other utilities. In fact, water rate increases since 1984 %n1%n have surpassed the overall rate of inflation. Yet among utility services, water remains a real bargain; consumers spend less on water than on any other utility.
I read with interest your editorial regarding securitization in the April 15 edition of PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY. As the chairman of the New York State Standing Committee on Energy & Telecommunications, I must take issue with your inclusion of statements from opponents to such legislation without providing its sponsors with the opportunity to press their case.
The Senate, on March 19, 1997, passed legislation that I sponsored at the request of Gov. George E.
I was surprised and disappointed at the limited and unbalanced perspective that Bruce Radford brought to his comments on securitization ("Wall Street's New Game," PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY, April 15, 1997, p. 4).
The article implies that the push for securitization legislation is being driven by the investment community's desire to create an investment product with a guaranteed return.
Mr. Lindsay's March 1 letter (PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY, p. 6) requires some further discussion. We do agree that reducing cooling seasonal peak electric demand is desirable. Lessening the electric infrastructure's environmental effects and electric system failures, as we witnessed in the summer of 1996, is to the public good. However, thermal storage systems have siting issues and the potential to run out of capacity at the worst possible time on peak days.
When viewed as serving market segments, utilities differ little from manufacturing companies, where most costs are shared among products and processes.
Activity-based cost management has had a tremendous impact on manufacturing enterprises; and its use has spread to some service industries such as banking, insurance and health care. ABCM encompasses two well-known management concepts: activity-based costing and activity-based management. Now that electric utilities are gearing up for competition, it is time to ask if ABCM has any relevance in the public utility industry.
"When they come to town ... we'll ... accompany them to Capitol Hill ... to make their trip to Washington a 'two-fer,' if you will."
Paul Rodgers knocked NARUC on its ear last July when he announced his resignation as executive of that century-old association.
Rodgers, also general counsel, had served the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners for more than 30 years.
His unexpected move came in the midst of strategic planning at NARUC.
Retail wheeling in Kansas: Stranded costs could bewitch customer choice.
With the advent of retail wheeling, some customers will see their electricity prices fall while others will see them rise. And stranded costs may have a lot to do with it (em at least according to a report by the Docking Institute of Public Affairs at Fort Hays State University in Kansas.
The Michigan Public Service Commission has authorized Michigan Gas Utilities to increase rates and has ruled that revenues booked by an affiliate that offers administrative, gas brokering and appliance repair services should be included as part of the utility's net income.
The commission said Michigan Gas can increase rates $1.7 million, including an allowance for return on equity of 10.75 percent.
Michigan Gas had excluded from rate calculations revenues found unrelated to utility operations, such as an unregulated affiliate's propane operations.
Responding to a high level of consumer concern, the Connecticut Department of Public Utility Control has directed a water utility to treat supplies from one of its underground supply sources to reduce radon contamination.
The department said Bridgeport Hydraulic Co. could recover the costs over three years through a surcharge on customers in its Litchfield division who use the contaminated water. The department acknowledged there is no public health standard for radon in drinking water.
The New Jersey Board of Public Utilities has approved a settlement plan authorizing Jersey Central Power and Light Co. to recover up to $149 million in purchased power contract buyout costs.