The Colorado Public Utilities Commission opened a docket to develop rules requiring investor-owned utilities to file distribution system plans, according to a Dec. 3 news release. Distribution planning would help ensure that grid modernization allows for continued safe, reliable and cost-effective utility operations, according to the agency. The move stems from legislation enacted in June…
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission has approved a proposed settlement with Avista Utilities that reduces annual base electric revenues by $7.18 million, or 2.84 percent, according to a Dec. 2 press release. According to the settlement, which takes effect Dec. 1, 2019, a residential electric customer who uses an average of 900 kilowatt-hours per month…
Nearly a year had passed before net electricity generation in Puerto Rico approached levels similar to those in the months before Hurricanes Irma and Maria damaged the territory’s electricity grid in September 2017, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest annual Power Plant Operations Report. When Hurricane Irma passed near Puerto Rico in early September 2017,…
The Ontario Energy Board has received an Assurance of Voluntary Compliance (AVC) from Elexicon Energy Inc. stating the company is committed to paying a series of fines after it admitted to disconnecting customers, according to a November 28 press release. The OEB’s inspection found, and Elexicon admitted, that during the period from May 1 to July…
The Missouri Public Service Commission approved changes to The Empire District Gas Company’s natural gas rates to reflect estimated changes in the wholesale cost of natural gas as well as a change in the company’s Actual Cost Adjustment (ACA) factor, according to a Nov. 25 press release. In the company’s North System, residential customers currently pay approximately $0.45 per…
The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio on Nov. 21 directed the Dayton Power & Light Company, a subsidiary of AES Corporation, to terminate its distribution modernization rider, which authorized the utility to collect $315 million over a three-year period for future investments in grid modernization. The agency based its decision on a recent ruling by…
The staff of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission recommended rejecting Puget Sound Energy’s requested electric and natural gas rate hikes, proposing smaller increases instead, according to a Nov. 25 press release. In June, the company applied for $139.9 million, or 6.9 percent, in additional electric revenue and an extra $65.5 million, or 7.9 percent, in…
Democratic Governor Andrew Cuomo on Nov. 25 announced a settlement with National Grid plc to immediately lift the moratorium on gas service in Long Island, Queens and Brooklyn. The move follows Cuomo’s notification earlier this month threatening to revoke National Grid’s operating license over its inability to provide reliable supply. The utility committed to short-term…
Staff members of the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission have reached a partial settlement with Avista on the company’s request to hike electric and natural gas rates for its customers, according to a Nov. 21 press release. The proposed settlement lays out an agreement that recovers in rates the remaining costs associated with Avista’s partial…
The Missouri Public Service Commission has approved a series of changes to Summit Natural Gas of Missouri Inc.’s rates to reflect the wholesale cost of natural gas and the company’s Actual Cost Adjustment factor, according to a November 12 press release. For its Gallatin Division, residential customers will see a rate decrease from $0.43 per hundred cubic feet…
The Michigan Public Service Commission on Nov. 14 announced that the state’s utility customers will benefit from about $4.1 billion in refunds, following the final round of adjustments to tally the impacts of the federal tax law, which slashed the corporate income tax rate to 21 percent from 35 percent effective Jan. 1, 2018. The agency…
The Public Utility Commission of Texas approved a settlement against a retail electric provider, concerning over-billing of customers and ordering the payment of $35,000 in administrative penalties as well as refunds to 7,610 customers, according to a Nov. 14 press release. The retail energy provider had already provided refunds totaling about $10,500 to almost 40,000 of…