By Robert J. Michaels
The Justice Department's Guidelines don't tell us very much about
today's (or tomorrow's) electric market.
However many electric utilities remain after this merger wave, competition will be forever changed.
Monopoly rents? Not in the short run. The real enemy is a price war, fueled by indifference to stranded costs. And when that happens, antitrust laws won't offer much help.Competition has formally begun in the electric service industry. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued Order 888, giving generators access to wholesale loads throughout the nation.
Whether you're a utility commissioner in Wyoming or Georgia, a v.p. for a leading marketer, or a commission division director in New Jersey, you share a common activity: learning by the seat of your pants about deregulating gas markets. In this gas forum, PUBLIC UTILITIES FORTNIGHTLY highlights developments across the nation.
A divided Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has set for expedited hearing the proposed merger between Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. (BGE) and Potomac Electric Power Co. (PEPCO) to form "Constellation Energy Corp.," to determine its effect on competition (Docket Nos. EC96-10-000 and ER96-784-000).
It will also consider the applicants' proposed open-access transmission rates. An administrative law judge will certify the record to the FERC by November 1.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that qualifying facilities (QFs) that fail to meet the standards needed to retain QF status will be required to file wholesale rates for sales during the period their facilities do not comply (Docket Nos. EL94-45-001 and QF88-84-006).
The FERC asked QFs to be as vigilant as possible. The new policy states that if a QF fails to comply with the regulations, fails to receive a FERC waiver excusing the lapse, and then returns to noncompliance, the QF will be required to file rates for the noncompliance period.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has issued two orders that indicate for the first time how it would implement the prohibition against "sham" transactions under the Energy Policy Act. The separate decisions involve requests by two municipalities for orders requiring utilities to wheel power.
In one order, the FERC denied a request by the City of Palm Springs, CA, for electric transmission service from Southern California Edison (SCE) under sections 211 and 212 of the Federal Power Act (FPA) (Docket No. TX96-7-000).
not a grab for power.
The jurisdictional issues posed by Order 888 continue to breed tension between federal and state officials. Unfortunately, most of this tension too often elevates form over substance. This jurisdictional tension shifts the focus of decisionmaking from securing the benefits of competition to preserving regulatory turf.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on July 16 upheld Order 636, which required unbundling of natural gas pipeline sales and transportation services, but remanded at least six issues to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for further explanation (United Distr. Cos. v. FERC, No. 92-1485, July 16, 1996).
On January 1, 1998, California will "deregulate" the state's electric utilities. The Western Power Exchange (WEPEX) and the independent system operator (ISO) will start up, creating an open market for wholesale power.
Elizabeth A.
The old shibboleth to some extent is literally true. The electric industry appears different from the natural gas industry in that demand must be matched immediately with production. No viable location comes to mind to put away some of that extra power until it is needed. But literal truth is not necessarily the whole story.