utilities

Almost a month after it received approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to implement a natural gas customer choice program, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio last week launched its customer education initiative for Vectren Choice Advantage (VCA).

Unlike pipes and shippers who appear to favor continuing negotiated rates, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) called on FERC this week to halt the negotiated-rate program for pipelines, claiming it has turned jurisdictional pipes into profit-takers and has resulted in abuses that were unforeseen by the Commission when it instituted the practice six years ago.

Almost a month after it received approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to implement a natural gas customer choice program, Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio launched its customer education initiative for Vectren Choice Advantage (VCA).

Moody’s Investor’s Service downgraded the senior unsecured debt of Bedminster, NJ-based NUI Utilities to Baa1 from A3 and the senior unsecured debt of its non-regulated parent, NUI Corp., to Baa2 from Baa1, with a negative outlook. NUI’s earnings and cash flow have been under pressure by warm winter weather, a lackluster economy and the unfavorable market conditions in the marketing and trading business.

Moody’s Investor’s Service downgraded the senior unsecured debt of Bedminster, NJ-based NUI Utilities to Baa1 from A3 and the senior unsecured debt of its non-regulated parent, NUI Corp., to Baa2 from Baa1, with a negative outlook. NUI’s earnings and cash flow have been under pressure by warm winter weather, a lackluster economy and the unfavorable market conditions in the marketing and trading business.

Two months after it was applied for, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) said it has approved the implementation of the Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio natural gas customer choice program. Under the program, customers can purchase gas from a competitive supplier and Vectren will continue to deliver that gas to their home or business. In addition, customers can now take advantage of joining governmental aggregating groups, which pool residents together to negotiate a better natural gas rate.

Two months after it was applied for, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) on Friday approved the implementation of the Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio natural gas customer choice program. Under the program, customers can purchase gas from a competitive supplier and Vectren will continue to deliver that gas to their home or business. In addition, customers can now take advantage of joining governmental aggregating groups, which pool residents together to negotiate a better natural gas rate.

The Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission (WUTC) has granted Bellevue, WA-based Puget Sound Energy (PSE) a 5.8% increase in revenue to cover higher costs of providing natural gas service to customers. This service-related boost in gas-system revenue was offset by a pass-through rate reduction tied to lower PSE costs to buy customers’ gas on the wholesale market. The two separate but related rate actions approved by the WUTC — a $35.6 million increase in service-related revenues for PSE, and a $45 million rate decrease related to falling gas-supply costs — will save residential customers on average about 30 cents a month beginning in September. In June, PSE customers, which number about 613,000 in the state, received an average 22% cut in gas rates after wholesale gas prices fell. The earlier pass-through reduced the average residential gas bill by about $12 a month. The revenue increase resulted from weeks of review and collaborative negotiation between PSE, WUTC staff, the consumer branch of the state Attorney General’s Office, and various PSE gas customers. The utility’s last increase in general rates for gas delivery service was in 1995. The collaborative settlement approved marks the second phase of a comprehensive, multi-party review of PSE rates and service. In the first phase, the WUTC granted a 4.6% average increase in PSE electric rates, effective July 1. PSE serves primarily central and southern Puget Sound, including the cities of Everett, Seattle, Bellevue, Tacoma, Gig Harbor and Olympia.

FERC’s proposal to place limits on the participation of regulated public utilities and natural gas and oil pipelines in intra-corporate cash management programs, or money pools, would duplicate existing regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), inflict higher administrative costs on companies and discriminate against smaller jurisdictional entities, companies said last week.