Western States Wary Of Electric Dereg Amid Calif's Woes 
By Jessica Berthold 
? 
09/27/2000 
Dow Jones Energy Service 
(Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones&Company, Inc.) 

OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES  

   

LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)-  Electricity customers in several Western states 
are getting cold feet about their upcoming deregulation deadlines after 
watching San Diegans' bills more than double under deregulation this summer. 

The New Mexico Public Regulation Commission held a public meeting Tuesday to 
discuss consumers' requests for a delay in that state's scheduled Jan. 1, 
2002, deregulation start date.   

"Everyone is worried about the fly-up in wholesale and retail prices in San 
Diego as the result of a tight market, so they're asking for a delay until 
more supply can be secured," said John Curl, director of the PRC's utility 
division.   

In Nevada, Governor Kenny Guinn has postponed signing that state's 
deregulation schedule several times amid pressure from legislators concerned 
about higher rates for constitutents. Guinn is expected to make a decision by 
early next week, which means deregulation could get underway as soon as Nov. 
1, 2000.   

Oregon has also taken California's troubles seriously. Under electricity 
restructuring rules adopted late last month, large industrial and 
nonresidential customers will deregulate starting Oct. 1, 2001, but 
residential and small commercial customers will still get a regulated rate.   

"This is the first big step in implementing electric restructuring in Oregon 
in a unique way that is very different from what California and other states 
have done," said Oregon Public Utilities Commission chairman Ron Eachus. 

Folder Name: Utilities, Electric: Deregulation 
Relevance Score on Scale of 100: 99

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