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As deregulation changes the utility market, service providers are facing a multitude of new challenges. In their regulated markets, they had virtually 100 percent market share, a percentage that can [...]

California's decision to change their utilities regulation strategy to one based on performance-based regulation is being watched closely by the rest of the nation. California adopted retail wheeling to give consumers more choice, hoping to lower prices. The next step was the unbundling of electric services to allow for more targeted marketing, which will allow the market to determine capacity and promote conservation. It remains to be seen if the industry can remain vertically integrated in such a marketplace., The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) issued an order on April 20 proposing radical reform of the state's utility regulation. Specifically, the order would replace traditional cost-of-service regulation with competition [...]

Regulators should not exert least-cost and spot pricing demands on the public utilities market without allowing incentives for long-term, fixed-price contracts. Regulators should pursue unbundled services and rely on deregulated market forces to govern the utilities market. Long-term contracts should be preapproved and incentives, rather than regulations, should be used to achieve efficiency of cost and production. Absolute reliance on spot-pricing could lead to extreme fluctuations in pricing and would dissuade long-term investments., A trio of tenets state regulators can use to maximize benefits from natural gas and emission allowance markets. A DRAMATIC CHANGE HAS OCCURRED IN RECENT YEARS IN THE ROLE MARKETS [...]

DALLAS - Even before the Texas Senate agreed last week to deregulate the state's electric power market, the specter of greater competition had prompted one city to leave the generation [...]

Many parallels exist between regulated industries. Universal service riders used to fund accessibility mimic those of the telecommunications industry. Emergent service fees levied by gas and electric utilities resemble trends [...]

Energy and gas utilities, gearing up for full-blown deregulation in Pennsylvania, are busy either buying out or trying out the region's heating, ventilation and air-conditioning companies. Recently, some of the [...]

In its second sweeping deregulation move in as many years, the Colorado Legislature is preparing to overhaul Public Service Company of Colorado's decades-long power monopoly. To kick off what it [...]

PUC Chairwoman Joan Smith grapples with the chaos created by technological and market forces Change--even welcome change--is usually messy. Nowhere has that been more true than in the realm of [...]

Public utilities and conservationist groups have joined forces in opposition to an Ohio bill that would institute retail deregulation in the state's utility industry. Public utilities oppose the plan because it would topple their monopoly control over the industry. Conservationists oppose it because they fear price competition will stall investments in environment-friendly technology. State consumers have not come forward in support of the bill even though they stand to benefit the most from the deregulations., A retail wheeling bill, introduced in the Ohio legislature by Rep. Ron Amstutz on February 28, has met with powerful and effective opposition from utilities and from conservation and environmental [...]

Antitrust law is becoming increasingly important in the public utilities industry as deregulation continues. Antitrust law must be used to protect facilities, such as transmission wires, that are fundamental to all utility companies and ensure that they do not become the exclusive property of any one utility. It must also be used to ensure fair access to the market and reasonable pricing schemes. Prudent application of antitrust law in the public utilities market will foster better competition and serve the needs of the consumer., With the growth of a more competitive bulk-power supply market, the antitrust laws--both federal and state--become of greater significance. There is a need to protect equitable availability of 'essential facilities' [...]

A year after the New York Power Authority restructured $1.4 billion of outstanding debt, essentially paving the way to relaxed bond covenants, analysts are encouraged by public utilities' progress in [...]

Dave Parker will implore state legislators next week to do something soon to help Wisconsin's investor-owned utilities escape the deregulatory 'limbo land' that's dragging down their stock performances. Parker, a [...]

The Colorado Business Alliance for Cooperative Utility Practices successfully lobbied for legislation prohibiting utilities in the state from cross-subsidizing their non-utility programs and won a case against the Public Service Company of Colorado. The alliance consists of 10 statewide contractor organizations and represents about 500 small businesses. The alliance's six utility deregulation principals and tips for contractor advocacy are given., DENVER -- The Colorado Business Alliance for Cooperative Utility Practices was formed in 1990 to protect small businesses from unfair utility practices, and to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with utilities. [...]

Bondholders should be wary of how pending federal legislation that would force utilities to compete with each other could affect the municipal power industry, according to a report by John [...]

The California Public Utilities Commission will implement a six-year plan in 1996 to deregulate utilities that will begin with large industrial users. The action could spur competition that would result in lower rates and stock prices, and likely reduce utility involvement in social objectives.

France's government is inching toward deregulation of its natural gas and electric power sectors. The government commissioned Claude Mandil, general manager of energy and raw materials at the Ministry of [...]