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Enron Mail |
Competition under electric deregulation some way off
May. 30, 2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. CONCORD, N.H. (AP) - In theory, New Hampshire's electric industry is deregulated and ready for competition. Rates are down for customers of Public Service Company of New Hampshire, the state's largest utility, but not because of competition. The rates were cut because of a deal struck between the governor and the utility, ending a long legal battle. So far, only two potential energy suppliers have registered with the Public Utilities Commission to sell electricity in the state, but neither is yet set up to do so. The Campaign for Ratepayers Rights, which is pursuing a U.S. Supreme Court appeal to overturn the deregulation agreement, went to Merrimack County Superior Court last week to have the agreement invalidated. The nonprofit group's lawsuit says the state deregulation law requires that customers have a choice of "viable suppliers," and despite two years of effort, there is still no choice. Joshua Gordon, the lawyer who filed the suit for the group, said the PUC acknowledged in a letter to the group's president, Robert Backus, that there is no choice among electricity suppliers. "Competition will not occur all at once, or appear solely as the result of regulatory actions taken or avoided. Markets need time to develop and emerge," the PUC wrote. "We've gone through several years now and all kinds of litigation to get competition, and bailed out PSNH for $2 billion in the name of customer choice, and we still don't have it," Gordon said. Rates have dropped 15 percent since last September for Public Service customers, and those rates will remain low because of the transition period factored into the state's bargain with the utility, said Amanda Noonan, the PUC's director of consumer affairs. The transition period, planned originally for 33 months, has been extended by the Legislature to 57 months. Public Service rates will rise gradually during that time, the idea being that rate increases will spur consumers to find other electricity suppliers. Noonan says she believes few companies will enter the market until those rates rise.
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