An original gift...$14.95
SPRINGFIELD -- While this state is injecting more free-market competition into its power industry, its chief regulatory agency is growing quickly.
But the chairman of a key legislative committee said yesterday he wants to rein in the regulators while lifting controls on the industry.
It was part of a broadened debate over the future of state energy regulation as a new era of deregulation take hold.
"The state Department of Public Utilities is a big, massive, slow and cumbersome bureaucracy," said state Rep. Dennis Murphy, D-Springfield, co-chairman of the Legislature's Energy Committee. "We need to reshape it so it is more streamlined and far more responsive."
But John B. Howe, the agency's chairman, called it "lean and highly productive."
He said his agency, which lawmakers granted 10 percent more in state funds this year over last year, needs the extra money to usher in deregulation of power generation. The agency has been conducting many of the discussions with electric utilities on how to remove bureaucratic controls on who can build and run power plants.
The department's budget rose this year to $7.6 million. Howe said he believes legislators will consider another increase for next year. He said it is not yet clear how many more employees might be hired.
Murphy said the bulk of the agency's work in recent years has centered on deciding if new power plants are needed. He said that role will be greatly reduced when the market can decide if new power plants will attract enough customers to survive.
But Howe said plant siting is actually a small part of his department's agenda, and it is handled by its semi-independent Energy Facilities Siting Board.
The Department of Public Utilities also sets electric rates, supervises high-voltage transmission and distribution of power, and regulates natural gas, telecommunications, and some water and transportation companies. Some lawmakers also proposed that the agency begin to regulate the cable television industry, Howe said.
"It is appropriate to pare back the role of the siting board," he said. But he added of other regulatory work, "I'm expecting the next couple of years there will be, if anything, an increased regulatory work load."
He said he expects some agency shrinkage later, if competition is successfully introduced.
Murphy predicted that the monopolies in transmission and distributions of power, though left intact for now, will eventually be dissolved.
He agreed that some sort of oversight agency will still be needed after deregulation, perhaps with even more enforcement power in some areas. He suggested that the agency ensure that power plant developers and operators make good on their promises to communities they woo.
But he said that role would not necessarily be filled by the Department of Public Utilities.
He also said he hopes to cut down on long delays in siting a power plant, while still protecting local interests.
"The process is now a nightmare for all sides," he said.
| -Top- | -Home- | -Digest- | -Index- | -Staff- |  |