Jeff,

This is the info that I referenced on my voice-mail.  Please call me after 
you have had a chance to review it.  Thanks.

Regards,

Lara


FTC Requests Comments on Retail Electricity Competition Plans

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it is seeking information 
regarding the results to date of different regulatory approaches to the 
introduction of competition into the retail sale of electricity. The 
Commission has approved a Federal Register notice, to be published shortly, 
that contains a series of questions designed to help gather this information. 
The Commission will produce a report that discusses the advantages and 
disadvantages associated with different approaches to particular issues and 
that identifies, if warranted, areas in which additional federal legislative 
or regulatory action may be desirable.

As detailed in the notice, many states have enacted, and in some cases begun 
to implement, legislation designed to introduce competition into the retail 
sale of electricity to encourage lower prices, better service and greater 
innovation. To date, 24 states and the District of Columbia have set dates 
when customers will be allowed to choose their electric power supplier. 
Recently, however, substantial price increases and reliability problems in 
some areas undergoing this transition have raised questions about the best 
way this restructuring can be designed to benefit retail customers. In light 
of recent price increases and reliability problems in California and western 
states generally, some states have delayed, or are considering delaying, 
implementation of retail competition plans. 

The Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the United States House 
of Representatives, W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, and the Chairman of the Subcommittee 
on Energy and Air Quality, Joe Barton, have requested that the Commission 
examine various state retail competition programs and describe those features 
that appear to have resulted in consumer benefits and those that have not 
yielded consumer benefits. In addition, the Commission has been asked to 
examine possible jurisdictional limitations on the states' authority to 
design successful retail competition plans and whether there is a need for 
federal legislative or regulatory action. To comply with this request, the 
Commission will update its July 2000 staff report "Competition and Consumer 
Protection Perspectives on Electric Power Regulatory Reform."

For the updated report, the Commission proposes to examine state plans that 
allow customers to choose their generation supplier, and state plans with 
unique approaches to retail electricity competition. The Commission will work 
with the states to understand the various features of the plans and to gather 
facts relevant to understanding the market reaction to a particular state's 
plan. 

The Federal Register notice contains additional questions about which the 
Commission seeks public comment. The Commission seeks comments on features of 
state retail competition plans that have benefitted consumers and those that 
have not. The Commission is particularly interested in receiving information 
about the market response to various provisions of state retail competition 
plans. It is not necessary to respond to each question for every state. 

Written comments in response to the questions in the Federal Register notice 
are due by April 3, 2001 and will become part of the public record. They may 
be submitted to: Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade 
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions 
should be captioned: "V010003 -- Comments Regarding Retail Energy 
Competition." Electronic submissions may be sent by e-mail to: 
"retailelectricity@ftc.gov" and may also be sent on floppy disk, as described 
in the notice.

The Commission vote to publish the Federal Register notice was 5-0. 

This is the FR Notice text from the FTC web site at 
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2001/02/eleccompetition.htm: