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Illicit Marketing Practices

State PUCs take aim at unscrupulous electric and gas suppliers.

We’ll cover state PUC rulings from New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and Ohio, dealing with 1) billing overcharges, 2) deceptive promises of savings, 3) faulty enrollment practices, 4) “slamming,” 5) misleading sales scripts used in telemarketing, 6) hidden fixed charges, and 7) concealed pass-through clauses.
Byline: 

Phillip Cross

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Equity Returns: ‘Allowed’ vs. Earned

Understanding how PUC rate case findings differ from a utility’s financial reports.

 

(November 2015) Setting an allowed return on equity has consistently proven to be the most contentious and subjective part of a rate case proceeding.
Byline: 

Phillip S. Cross

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Open-Access Chronicles: The Backstory Behind Electric Restructuring

Part 3: When Competition Turns to War

By September 1997, Philadelphia Electric Co. had outflanked key opponents and filed a proposed partial settlement with the Penn. PUC to allow the company to recover costs that might become stranded under a new law (enacted a year before) that had brought a measure of competition to the state’s electric utility industry. Then Enron went to work.
Byline: 

William Pentland

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Cybersecurity and the PUC

Regulators and utilities should collaborate more to address cyber threats.

Public utility commissions face a growing need to understand cybersecurity issues, so they can address utility investments and processes. A collaborative approach will allow an effective response.
Byline: 

Andy Bochman

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Minnesota Public Utilities Commission Selects Geronimo's Distributed Solar Proposal

Submitted by aburr on Tue, 2014-04-01 12:39

Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) ruled in favor of solar as a cost-competitive energy source for Xcel Energy. Geronimo Energy's Aurora Solar Project was selected by the PUC to fill a portion of Xcel's future generation needs. The Aurora Solar Project is a 100-MW distributed solar generation project that will utilize solar arrays ranging in size from 2 MW to 10 MW across Xcel's service territory.

FERC vs. Idaho

PURPA and the future of avoided cost rates.

A tussle between Idaho and the feds exemplifies the flood of petitions that QFs have filed during the past several years, asking FERC to enforce or confirm their PURPA-guaranteed rights.
Byline: 

Bruce W. Radford

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The Old Drawing Board

Portfolio planning in the age of gas.

PUCs are concerned that a rapid shutdown of coal-fired plants will start a full-tilt dash to gas—similar to the one that caused bankruptcies among independent power producers in the late 1990s and early 2000s. But this time around, ratepayers and not IPP investors will be stuck with the risk, if utilities rush to add all that new gas-fired capacity to rate base.

Byline: 

Michael T. Burr, Editor-in-Chief

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