Energy Issues
- Bonneville Power Administration -
waiting for the end of the world
Once upon a time, there was a federal energy marketing agency that actually
worked. Now, the old party apparatachiks are showing up in the dead of night
to systematically loot the public trust. This drama is both a fascinating microcosm
of restructuring issues that are sweeping the electric utility industry, and
a comic case study of what happens when public ennui collides with private greed.
- FERC NOPR on electric industry restructuring
- Final Rule 888
The big action in the US is happening at the Federal level at the moment.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has just issued the result
of their year-long effort to sort out how the industry should be restructured.
If you aren't ready to plow through the entire 300 page document, you can also
look at a summary which hits the high points.
- Meanwhile, elsewhere in the Pacific Northwest...
- Oregon UE 94
Oregon is in the closing phase of a restructuring case which will establish
a regional precedent for how restructured utilities get regulated on a state
level. A coalition of state agencies and public interest groups have filed
arguments and a closing brief in the
case.
- Electric Industry Restructuring in Canada
- British Columbia
The British Columbia Utilities Commission is attempting to drag BC Hydro,
the provincial utility agency, kicking and screaming into the 1990's. This
report is the culmination of a year-long inquiry process examining the options.
BC Hydro has responded with a wholesale wheeling tariff proposal that essentially
locks in their vertical monopoly status indefinitely. Convergence Research
presented expert testimony in the case
on behalf of the British Columbia Energy Coalition (BCEC), advocating
full restructuring and a public benefits charge for capitalizing a competitive
market for energy efficiency. The
BCEC closing brief for
the case is also available.
- Alberta
Alberta has already moved to a provincial pool with and independent
system operator.
- Ontario
Ontario has proposed a complete restructuring and partial privitization
of Ontario Hydro.
- Electric Industry Restructuring in California
It's looking like California is where a lot of the industry restructuring
issues will be thrashed out first in the United States.
The process has been described
as mudwrestling in full opera dress, but actual results are emerging.
The short version goes like this: the California Public Utility Commission released
two competing orders in June 1995, one
authored by Commissioner Knight, the other
authored by Commissioner Fessler.
Then, a consortium of the usual suspects banded together with a
Memorandum of Understanding, which was
countered by a consumer/environmental
Framework for Restructuring. The
result, announced at the end of 1995, was essentially the Fessler proposal,
with numerous tweaks.
Events are moving rapidly. The California Energy Commission is holding workshops
on independent funding of energy efficiency and renewable energy. Meanwhile,
Southern California Edison and
Pacific Gas and Electric are frantically
trying to regain the initiative by divesting overpriced resources on their own
terms.
Meanwhile, the next step has begun. The California Energy Commission is in charge
of actually implementing the order. The California Legislature passed
restructuring legislation in August 1996
that basically rearranges the deck chairs, but signs onto the concept of a massive
restructuring of the industry.
- Electric Industry Restructuring in New
England
The most interesting processes in New England right now are in Vermont and Massachusetts.
In Massachusetts, the New England Electric System (NEES) and the Conservation
Law Foundation (CLF) are in the final stages of
making a deal on restructuring. The
state Department of Public Utilities, Division of Energy Resources, and Office
of Attorney General have all issued interesting discussions of restructuring
issues. And a slew of utilities, power wholesalers and assorted riff-raff have
something to say.
In Vermont, the Public Service Commission
has initiated a restructuring inquiry,
which has in turn generated an interesting
proposal from Green Mountain Power.
- Energy in Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe and the old European Soviet republics are attempting to build
a modern energy infrastructure on the rubble of their old economy. This recent
status report from the US Office of Technology Assessment focuses on opportunities
to sell lots of US technology, so it's kind of self-serving. Even so, it's also
informative.
Interesting Energy Policy Papers
- A Regulatory
Compact Worthy of the Name, by Peter Bradford, November 1995
Peter Bradford is a former New York utility commissioner, and an insightful
observer of the current turmoil in the electric utility industry. This article
cuts to the chase of the stranded investment issue.
- US Office of Technology Assessment report on
environmental costing methodologies,
October 1994
A reasonable survey of ways to understand the external costs of energy production.
- Recent work by the Northwest Power Planning Council
The Northwest Power Planning Council is a quasi-federal agency charged with
developing and implementing regional long-range power plans. The Council
members are appointed by the governors of
the four Pacific Northwest states, and work on a variety of energy policy issues
as part of their regional planning function. Among other things, the Council
is currently coordinating a regional review of utility industry restructuring,
and a new five year plan, both due in 1996.
The Council itself is hopelessly mired in politics, but their
analytical staff is excellent, and their
policy publications are generally worthwhile.
- Pacific Northwest Regional Forum on Restructuring
Experiences, February 1996
As part of a rear-guard action to preside over the collapse
of the Bonneville Power Administration, the governors of the state of Washington,
Oregon, Idaho and Montana have convened a panel to discuss electric industry
restructuring issues. This transcript from a recent meeting summarizes restructuring
experiences in Great Britain, Australia, Argentina, and the US natural gas and
telecommunications industries.
