A Maryland-based Internet consulting firm says it plans to askFERC to initiate an inquiry into the impact of the e-commercerevolution on regulated energy industries and vice versa, but firstit wants to get industry input on the issue.

Energy E-Comm.Com has scheduled a collaborative conference forFeb. 1, during which it hopes to “focus public debate” on the issueof e-commerce in the regulated natural gas and electricityindustries, and receive “candid comment[s]” from energy officialson a draft of the petition it plans to file with the Commission atthe end of February.

The company, which was founded by energy consultant Vinod K.Dar, believes the collaborative setting would be preferable to thetypical file-and-respond approach at FERC. “Rather than confrontother industry participants with a filing to which they respond ina court-like, adversarial manner – as has been the case too oftenin this overly-contentious industry – we are pursuing acollaborative approach of inviting advance comments from allinterested parties. We seek input from both inside and outside whatis traditionally viewed as ‘the utility industry’ and ‘the Beltway’in order to better define and, together, shape the evolving publicagenda,” said DAR, who is CEO of the company.

In a recent ranking of 100 Energy and Utilities (E&U)corporate web sites, Energy E-Comm.Com found they sorely laggedbehind in the area of e-commerce. Although the E&U industry is”at least…..discovering e-commerce,” generally the “sites arepoor and the gap between its performance and best practice ishuge,” Dar noted. The top five energy/utility web sites, it said,were Reliant Energy, Consolidated Edison, Edison International,Questar and Potomac Electric Power Co. (Pepco).

“While e-commerce is rapidly reshaping a host of industries, theregulated energy industries have been relatively unaffected, owingto several factors, including regulatory restrictions and the focus[of energy companies] on restructuring corporate assets,” he said

The collaborative conference will be held from 10 a.m.-3 p.m. atthe Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, VA. Interested partiesshould sign up via the company’s web site before Jan. 26. Thecollaborative, which will be limited to about 100 parties, is free.A special rate ($135 per night) will be provided to those needinghotel accommodations.

Susan Parker

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