Commerce

The Citizens Utility Board (CUB) scored two wins yesterday asthe Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) voted to begin aninvestigation into Nicor Gas’ gas deregulation program andtemporarily block a proposed expansion of the program until thecompany can prove it benefits customers.

A U.S. House Commerce Subcommittee set the stage Monday in SanDiego for a continuation of California’s “great electricitydebate,” and the actors all showed up to deliver their linespredictably from the often-conflicting perspectives of consumers,generators, state regulators, energy officials and federalregulators. With two San Diego-based members of the subcommitteeamong the Congressional lawmakers attending, all sides got in theirtwo-cents worth, and are expected to do the same today when theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission holds its hearing on San Diegoelectricity price spikes.

Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the HouseCommerce Committee, has called on Transportation Secretary RodneyE. Slater to undertake a “thorough review and restructuring” of thedepartment’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) in the wake of a newreport that contends OPS officials have become too cozy with thepipelines that they are supposed to bee regulating.

Less than a month after FERC scolded the New York IndependentSystem Operator (NYISO) for failing in its responsibilities byrejecting commercially viable power imports, the ISO is under the gunagain, this time for computer-related snafus that rejectedcommercially viable power exports to the Pennsylvania, New Jersey andMaryland ISO (see Daily GPI, June 1).

Rep. John Dingell of Michigan, the ranking Democrat on the HouseCommerce Committee, has called on Transportation Secretary RodneyE. Slater to undertake a “thorough review and restructuring” of thedepartment’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) in the wake of a newreport that contends the agency has become too cozy with thepipelines it is supposed to be regulating.

Seven key electric utilities and marketers proposed five”consensus recommendations” aimed at helping the House CommerceCommittee move comprehensive restructuring legislation forwardduring this Congress.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas J. Bliley (R-VA) saysthat while the short-term fixes approved by FERC last week toprevent power outages this summer are laudable, he doubts they’llbe effective.

The Senate Energy and Commerce Committee debated yesterdaywhether to get themselves off the hook for this summer by enactingstopgap electric reliability legislation or go for the gold of acomprehensive electric restructuring bill.

The phrase “if you build it, they will come” sounds too ancientto describe the nascent e-commerce scene. Perhaps it’s moreappropriate to ask, “if everyone builds something, will they knowwhere to go?” The months ahead will see no dearth of online tradingoptions for energy and related properties, products and services asplayers scramble to create new sites or get on board existing ones.Among this week’s happenings: