Cries

In response to cries for more regulation in the offshore, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar Tuesday announced plans to split the Minerals Management Service (MMS) into two independent entities, with one enforcing safety and environmental matters and the other handling leasing, revenue collection and permitting functions.

While California’s utility watchdog, The Utility Reform Network, called PG&E’s $800 million rate cut last week for electric utility customers “a long way from fair,” utility customers still will be looking their first rate cut since before the 2000-2001 electricity crisis.

Calls by senators for investigations and/or hearings into causes behind the latest run-up in prices for natural gas could turn out to be the final nail in the coffin of the omnibus energy bill (HR 6) that was stalled in the Senate last year, said a leading energy policy analyst last week.

Calls by senators for investigations and/or hearings into causes behind the latest run-up in prices for natural gas could turn out to be the final nail in the coffin of the omnibus energy bill (HR 6) that was stalled in the Senate last year, said a leading energy policy analyst.

Locking horns yet again with Naperville, IL-based Nicor Gas, the Citizens Utility Board (CUB) — a utility watchdog group — last week urged state regulators to scrap a controversial “alternative regulation” plan that has allowed the natural gas distributor to charge customers at least $27 million more than they would have paid under standard ratemaking rules.

Despite cries by Republican senators last week for a stripped-down energy bill in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said he remains undeterred in his drive to vote out a “balanced and comprehensive” energy bill during this session.

Despite cries by Republican senators for a stripped-down energy bill because of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee said he remains undeterred in his drive to vote out a “balanced and comprehensive energy” bill during this session.

Upon urgings from its staff, the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC) voted unanimously early last week to establish a schedule of hearings regarding an earnings review for Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGLC), which the Commission staff said is earning between 4% and 7% more than its authorized return on equity (ROE). In response to the commission’s action, AGLC said it will file a motion for reconsideration this week.

An AGL Resources subsidiary, Atlanta Gas Light Co., said it will file a motion for reconsideration next week in response to the Georgia Public Service Commission’s vote to launch a rate review earlier this week into AGLC’s earnings. After two separate but related studies, the GPSC staff alleges that AGLC’s earnings are 4-7% more than its authorized return on equity (ROE) (see Daily GPI, Aug. 23).