Kansas City Power & Light

State Legislatures

UTILITY HOUSE CALLS. Michigan Gov. John Engler (R) signed into law a bill making it a felony to impersonate a utility employee to enter private property for criminal purposes. The new law calls for those convicted to be imprisoned for not more than two years and to pay a maximum fine of $1,000, or both.

ELECTRIC RESTRUCTURING. Illinois Gov. Jim Edgar (R) signed into law an electric restructuring bill for the state. Edgar noted that concerns over the bill were addressed by the state's two largest utilities, Commonwealth Edison and Illinois Power Co.

BY WHAT AUTHORITY CAN STATES FAVOR RENEWABLE

energy in a restructured electricity market?

Renewable resource funding marks a major point of contention in utility deregulation. Environmental groups fear that without some form of compulsion or subsidy, or both, renewable resources will not survive in an energy economy based on least direct consumer cost. However, utilities do not want to be saddled alone with the chore of carrying all renewables to market.

KCPL first with meters, automation; APS second for T&D management.

IF THE 1997 ULTRA COMPETITION CAN SERVE AS A GUIDE, then perhaps the forgotten "wires" business offers the next great opportunity for new applications in information technology.

That's the lesson of this year's contest, which saw Kansas City Power & Light Co., and Arizona Public Service Co. win the top two prizes. Each company gained recognition for IT applications designed in large part to modernize electric utility distribution systems.

The Missouri Public Service Commission has directed Kansas City Power & Light Co. to offer stand-by electric services to self-generation customers at market-based prices.

The rate design approved by the commission allows the utility to recover stranded costs that might otherwise be shifted to customers who continue to take bundled electric service on the utility's regulated distribution system.

The PSC approved a plan proposed by its staff that would require the utility to employ "real-time pricing" for the energy component.

Bay State Gas Co. has sold its 17.5-percent equity interest in the Masspower cogeneration plant to Energy Investors Fund Group. The sale price wasn't released; Bay State said it was more than book value. The 240-megawatt, gas-fired combined-cycle plant provides steam for Monsanto Co.

Bridgeport, Conn., is the planned site of a $260-million, 520-MW power plant. Duke Energy Power Services, United Illuminating Co. and Siemens Power Ventures signed a letter of intent to build the gas-fired, combined-cycle merchant plant.

Do mergers and "critical mass" really make a difference? The answer, it seems, is yes.

To become more competitive, U.S. electric utilities have embarked on a quest in recent years to improve operational efficiency and factor productivity. The question is: Are utilities making progress? And, which companies have gained a competitive edge? Which have not?

Industry analysts have long argued that given the structure of the markets they serve and their cost-based, rate-setting procedures, electric utilities tend toward monopolistic behavior.

After months of trying, which included the derailment by Western Resources of the proposed merger of UtiliCorp United and Kansas City Power & Light Co., the boards of directors of Western Resources and Kansas City P&L have approved a merger of the two companies in a stock-for-stock transaction valued at $2 billion. If approved by the necessary regulatory authorities, the new company would have $9.5 billion in assets, $3 billion in annual revenues and more than 8,000 MW of electric generation.

Some shareholders do find bottom-line value

in a "marriage of convenience."

With six merger and acquisition (M&A) deals announced between May 1995 and January 1996, and three more so far this year, the long-predicted consolidation of the electric utility industry is taking hold. At least 23 utilities, with business-combination transactions pending, are part of the frenetic domestic M&A activity that has swept the industry.

Lisa S. Beal was hired by the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America as environmental affairs director. She comes from the Hazardous Waste Management Association, where she was transportation/safety manager.

Commissioner Stan Wise was elected second v.p. of the Southeastern Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners. Wise is vice chair of the Georgia Public Service Commission.

The City of Anaheim Public Utilities hired Dale Tarkington away from Arizona Public Service Co.

What to Do With All that CASH?Seeing no need to build, utility managers are looking

to invest. Can they be trusted

with stockholder money?With little of the fanfare that surrounds the debate on utility competition, robust cash flows and declining capital outlays have created forces that will reshape the industry no matter how competitive restructuring unfolds. Cash generation already exceeds investment in core utility activities, and the differential will grow sharply over the next several years.