Legislature

Uncertainty over the treatment of municipal aggregation in NewJersey’s energy deregulation legislation caused the state’srestructuring bill to be bounced back and forth several times lastweek between the general assembly and senate, resulting in at leasta two-week delay before a final decision. The restructuring billprovides strict deadlines of Aug. 1 for statewide electric utilitygeneration unbundling, and Dec. 31 for statewide gas utility supplyunbundling. It is being reviewed by the assembly at the presenttime, and the next available voting session will take place Jan.28.

In the wild final hours of the California state legislature’s1998 session Monday (August 31), another bill aimed at curbing theleeway of the state energy regulators was passed (Senate Bill 1757)and is now awaiting the governor’s signature. A California PublicUtilities Commission representative at the state capitol said theregulators’ remain neutral on the bill, but may take a positionwhen they meet for a regularly scheduled commission conferenceThursday (Sept. 3).

Three members of the Wisconsin Legislature told FERC this weekthey would not be supporting the Viking Voyageur project unlesssignificant safety and evironmental modifications were made.Included among the modifications are thicker pipeline in ruralareas rather than just urban areas, automatic or remote shutoffvalves every five miles rather than the planned manual shut-offvalves every 20 miles, use of technology that minimizes the noisecreated by the Hancock Compressor Station, additional pipelineprotection at certain locations so large trucks can be driven overthe line, placement of the line away from residential and schoolareas in Wautoma, routing across farmland in a way that does notimpact irrigation or drainage, and giving property owners the rightto decide where the pipeline should be placed.