Niagara Mohawk Power Co. (NiMo) has appealed a New York Public Service Commission (PSC) order upholding its purchased-power contract with Sithe Energies. In a series of decisions, the PSC had allowed Sithe to sell electricity from the 1,040-megawatt Independence plant to two NiMo customers: Alcan Rolled Products and Liberty Paperboard. In April 1994, the PSC ruled that if Sithe were to sell electricity at retail it would be lightly regulated.
The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) has completed a series of workshops on what it calls "electronic information systems" (EINs). The NERC workshops were held in response to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) "Mega-NOPR" of March 29, which contemplates opening the wholesale electric industry to competition.
Philip R. Sharp, former 10-term congressman from Indiana, has been named director of the Institute of Politics at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government. Sharp assumes the position on July 1, succeeding Charles Royer, former mayor of Seattle, WA.
NICOR Inc. has elected Thomas L. Fisher, currently president and COO, to the additional position of CEO. Fisher will continue as president and CEO of Northern Illinois Gas Co., the company's largest subsidiary.
Charles W.
"It could have been worse."
"It says to the market, `It won't be so bad.' It will take longer now, so that's better for the utilities."
"It creates a new bureaucratic entity that will make regulatory choices."
"It's regulated deregulation. It's alarming if that's the prototype for the nation."
That's the word, respectively, from Barry Abramson at Prudential Securities, Edward J. Tirello, Jr. of NatWest Securities, Steven Fetter at Fitch Investors Service, and Dan Scotto of Bear Stearns.
In his article, "Entering the Appliance Repair Business" (Feb. 1, 1995), Gordon Canning paints a bleak picture for independent contractors seeking to prevent utilities from entering the appliance repair business. However, contrary to Mr. Canning's suggestion, at least one utility has been forced to withdraw from this business.
As the debate over restructuring the U.S. electricity industry moves forward, there comes a host of new theoretical models. Two proposals in particular serve well to frame the debate.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Mega-NOPR1 covers four topics:
1) The FERC's jurisdictional powers to implement wholesale open access
2) The FERC's proposal for electric utilities to recover "legitimate and verifiable stranded costs" from departing wholesale customers (a small fraction of all stranded investment), and its belief that states should ensure recovery on retail bypass (the much larger share)
3) A range of measures to implement
In talking to electric utility managers from across the country we have found that most believe direct access will have major repercussions on all aspects of their business by the end of the decade. Not surprisingly, there is an emerging consensus that revenues will drop rapidly as supply options grow for retail customers.
The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) has approved a series of charges levied by local exchange carriers (LECs) under their agreement with the state government to operate the North Carolina Information Highway (NCIH). The NCIH is a broadband network that
uses fiber-optic cable and advanced switching and transmission equipment to provide data, video, and imaging communications to sites throughout the state. The technology is not yet generally deployed in the public telephone network.
The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) has approved a proposal by New York State Electric & Gas Corp., an electric utility, to offer a new rate mechanism to retain and regain low-load-factor (5 to 35 percent) customers with viable self-generation options.