utilities

South Jersey Gas Co. filed a petition with New Jersey’s Board ofPublic Utilities (BPU) to increase eligibility in its customerchoice pilot program from 25,000 to 50,000. The announcement marksthe second time in the past 12 months the utility has increased thesize of its pilot. The BPU has set Dec. 31 as a deadline to definecomplete statewide gas deregulation. South Jersey said 22,000customers have participated in the program. The utility serves260,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in thestate.

The New York State Public Service Commission (NYPSC) approvedthe merger of Consolidated Edison of New York and Orange andRockland Utilities. NYPSC Chairman Maureen O. Helmer said Consumerswill benefit from the strength of the companies’ combinedmanagement and from merger-related savings over the next fiveyears.

In separate announcements, Southern Company and PacifiCorptouted their readiness for the year 2000. Both said utilitysubsidiaries are testing systems by setting their clocks forward toreplicate conditions in a year 2000 environment. Generation,transmission and distribution systems are being tested by thecompanies.

Western Gas Resources-California last week applied to theCalifornia Public Utilities Commission to operate a Californiautility. Western-California, a subsidiary of Western Gas Resources,has acquired an option to buy the Steelhead Pipeline System andportions of the Sacramento River Gas System in northern Californiafor an undisclosed sum. Western is seeking to change the systems’status from proprietary to public utility.

In separate announcements, Southern Company and PacifiCorptouted their readiness for the year 2000. Both said utilitysubsidiaries are testing systems by setting their clocks forward toreplicate conditions in a year 2000 environment. Generation,transmission and distribution systems are being tested by thecompanies.

The Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) gave its blessing to the proposedmerger of MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. and CalEnergy Co. Inc.last week, removing the final regulatory hurdle to a transactionthat will combine and complement the assets and expertise of a U.S.utility with those of a United Kingdom utility. The deal isexpected to be completedon Friday.

The consumer advocacy part of the California Public UtilitiesCommission is trying to get state regulators to second guesswinning bids on the final natural gas-fired power plants PacificGas and Electric Co. auctioned last year. The auction resulted inSouthern Company being awarded three winning bids for plants in theSan Francisco Bay Area totaling 3,065 MW and using up to 50 MMcf/dof gas.

The Supreme Court last Tuesday rejected a petition for writ ofcertiorari filed by the California Public Utilities Commission(CPUC) and Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) after the partiesfailed to meet the deadline. The petitioners, which filed forreview on Nov. 5, missed the deadline by three days. The CPUC andSoCalGas had asked the high court to review a 1996 FERC decision -upheld by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals two years later – thatthey claimed amounted to a “power grab” of California’sjurisdiction by the federal agency.

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and SouthernCalifornia Gas (SoCalGas) petitioned the Supreme Court last week toreview the nettlesome issue of where does FERC’s jurisdiction endand the states’ jurisdiction begin.