Category: Updates
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FERC Adopts Electricity Transmission Siting Rules: Says it Can Reverse State Denials
In Section 1221(a)of the Energy Policy Act of 2005, Congress for the first time enabled the federal government to approve the siting and location of new electric transmission projects. The […] -
APPA Study Debunks NY PSC Report on Electric Restructuring
In March 2006 the New York Public Service Commission issued a Staff Report on the State of Competitive Energy Markets lauding the claimed results of its efforts to restructure New […] -
NY Court of Appeals Says PSC "Lightened Regulation" of New Electric Companies Justifies Local Property Tax Reductions
The New York PSC’s “Light Regulation” Regime for New Electric CompaniesIn the 1990’s heyday of electricity deregulation championed by Enron, 15 state legislatures authorized “restructuring” of their electric industries. In […] -
Yertle the Turtle? AT&T Now "Two Mergers Away" from Reintegration
AT&T was divided into seven regional bell operating companies (RBOCs) as a result of protracted antitrust litigation that ended in the 1980’s. The RBOCs basically were confined to local phone […] -
What Happened to the "Independent Study" of the Effects of Electric Industry Restructuring on Reliability?
Blackout Task Force Recommends an Independent StudyThe Joint U.S. Canada Task Force Final Report on the widespread Northeast blackout of August 14, 2003 issued a number of recommendations. Number 12 […] -
New FERC Rules to Impose Voltage Stability Obligations on Local Utilities
The Energy Policy Act of 2005 added a new Section 215 to the Federal Power Act to establish mandatory reliability rules for the bulk power system. This was a recommendation […] -
Power Outages, Utility Regulation, and New Utility Holding Company Structures
Reliability under the PSC’s “Performance-Based Regulation” Recent long duration electric power outages in hot weather and slow recovery after storms have raised concerns about reliability, the level of utility investment […] -
RG&E Tightening Collection Policies
Rochester Gas & Electric (RG&E) may be tightening its collection practices for customers in arrears who are threatened with termination of their electricity or natural gas service. An August 2006 […] -
Think Twice Before Switching Utilities
In 1996, the New York PSC adopted a utility “restructuring” paradigm prominently championed by Enron. Under that model, customers could deal with two utilities for electricity and possibly two more […]