Contentious

As the initiators of a cost-saving regulatory-based financing step for one of the state’s largest and most contentious utilities, California’s regulators who supported a controversial settlement last year Tuesday cheered on state elected officials for producing a law that will allow formerly bankrupt Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to continue with its final steps to full recovery.

Heading off contentious state opposition, South Dakota-based utility holding company, NorthWestern Corp., Friday reached “preliminary agreement” with Montana regulators and consumer officials on the company’s proposed plan in federal bankruptcy court to emerge from Chapter 11 protection.

Heading off contentious state opposition, South Dakota-based utility holding company NorthWestern Corp. Friday reached a preliminary agreement with Montana regulators and consumer officials on the company’s proposed bankruptcy reorganization. As part of the deal, the Montana Public Service Commission and state Consumer Counsel agreed to settle the PSC’s investigation of the company’s utility transmission/distribution operations in the state. NorthWestern had accused the state regulators of trying to stifle its emergence from bankruptcy.

The debate over creditworthiness standards for gas pipeline service has proved to be too contentious so far for the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB), which told FERC last week that its Executive Committee failed to endorse the entire set of proposed standards at its May 20 meeting. NAESB had planned to send the matter to FERC unresolved, but in a letter to the Commission on Friday, it asked that its deadline be pushed back to June 15 from June 1 so that it could schedule one last vote on the standards on June 5.

The debate over creditworthiness standards for gas pipeline service has proved to be too contentious so far for the North American Energy Standards Board (NAESB), which told FERC last week that its Executive Committee failed to endorse the entire set of proposed standards at its May 20 meeting. NAESB had planned to send the matter to FERC unresolved, but in a letter to the Commission on Friday, it asked that its deadline be pushed back to June 15 from June 1 so that it could schedule one last vote on the standards on June 5.

Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX) of the House Energy and Air Quality Subcommittee has stripped out contentious environmental and air quality provisions of his emergency legislation for California that came under attack from Democrats on the panel and state officials last week (see Daily GPI, May 2).

If the staff of the Senate Energy and Natural ResourcesCommittee fails to reach agreement today on two contentious areasin electricity restructuring — the extent of FERC jurisdictionover interstate transmission and whether to include a renewableportfolio standard — the Democratic and Republican committeeleaders, may drop efforts to pass a comprehensive bill this year infavor of a stripped-down measure addressing reliability.

A long and often contentious processes came to a close last weekin Oklahoma with an Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) orderapproving a comprehensive agreement between Oklahoma Natural Gasthe OCC staff and the Oklahoma Attorney General’s office.