Settlement

The reaction to Monday’s failure to obtain a federal mediated wholesale electricity settlement from a California state legislative leader and the state’s largest investor-owned utility were mixed, but both resolved that the state’s stakeholders will move on, seeking relief from what are alleged to be excessive charges from merchant generators/suppliers over the past months.

National Fuel Gas Co. announced yesterday that it has reached arate settlement agreement with the staff of the Department ofPublic Service, the Consumer Protection Board and multiple otherinterveners. The New York Public Service Commission approved theagreement at its regular session on Oct. 11.

Georgia regulators have become bitter following the thirdsettlement of a slamming case involving a retail gas marketer andthe second retail marketer bankruptcy. Simmering tempers havereached the boiling point with some public service commissionersconcluding the deregulation process has been a total failure.Others remain hopeful that the many lessons learned in the processwill help the PSC proceed with electric deregulation when itbecomes the next order of business.

Although a recent rate case settlement allowed PG&E to raiseits distribution rates, the hike will not translate into higherbills for customers. The utility said its revised gas tarifffiling, which the California Public Utilities Commission yesterday,will actually reduce overall residential gas rates by 3.1%.

Parties in ongoing settlement negotiations have given up hope ofan all-encompassing, permanent solution to California’s futurenatural gas unbundling puzzle following an Oct. 6 meeting in LosAngeles. The best and most realistic hope now appears to be forattaining consensus on an interim solution by the regulator-imposedOct. 27 deadline, along with what parties describe as an”aggressive” timetable of up to two years for resolving andimplementing the issues of intra-state transmission and storageunbundling.

The Securities and Exchange Commission announced yesterday ithas simultaneously sued and reached settlement with a formerdirector of Portland General Corp. and his friend for insidertrading in connection with the July 1996 merger of the Oregonelectricity company and Enron Corp.

In a case that points up the marketplace failure of FERC’scapacity release rules, Consumers Energy and the Commission’senforcement section have come to a no-fault agreement over chargesConsumers collected payments in excess of maximum lawful rates forupstream pipeline capacity released to shippers.

The Texas Railroad Commission (TRC) issued a complaint and offerof settlement to Mitchell Energy & Development alleging pasttechnical violations of drilling and completion rules. Thecomplaint involves 112 wells, all of which were drilled more than35 years ago. The TRC said the actual depth of the surface casingset in each well was shorter than the depth required by andreported to the commission. Mitchell said there is no evidence ofpollution from the wells.