The announcement that leading consumer and regulatory groups, along with industry leaders, have agreed on competition principles can be another stepping stone toward passage of electricity restructuring legislation, PPL Corporation's top executive said Thursday (4/6).
"This wide spectrum of agreement on restructuring principles is a clear indication that now is the time to act on federal legislation that restructures the electricity business in a way that will result in long-term benefits for all consumers," said William F. Hecht, chairman, president and chief executive officer of PPL Corp. (NYSE: PPL).
Pennsylvania-based PPL Corp. was one of the first energy companies in the nation to support increased competition in the electricity business. PPL was a leading advocate for the passage of comprehensive competition legislation in the Keystone State, which now has more than 500,000 customers shopping for competitively priced electricity.
"Numerous states have taken bold steps to restructure the electricity business so that users can reap the benefits of the free market," said Hecht. "And, while there have been significant successes with this approach, federal legislation is necessary to clarify roles and remove the remaining impediments to the free market setting of prices for electricity."
This morning, PPL representatives were part of a Washington, D.C. news conference that laid out principles that should drive federal restructuring legislation, which has been debated in the last two sessions of Congress.
Participating in the announcement, in addition to PPL, were AARP, American Public Power Association, Americans for Affordable Electricity, Chemical Manufacturers Association, Consumers for Fair Competition, Consumer Federation of America, Dynegy, Enron, Electricity Consumers Resource Council, Electric Power Supply Association, Indiana Municipal Power Agency, Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, Madison Gas & Electric, Missouri River Energy Services, National Energy Marketers, Northern California Power Agency, PG&E Corp., Minnesota Power, Transmission Access Policy Study Group, UtiliCorp, Wisconsin Electric and Wisconsin Public Power, Inc.
"Federal legislation can assure that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has the authority it needs to establish non-discriminatory access to the nation's electricity transmission system -- a key to using the free market system to reward efficient producers of electricity and to penalize inefficient producers. The benefits of this free market system -- which has helped the United States achieve the highest standard of living in the world -- now can be brought to the production of electricity which will benefit all consumers over time," said Hecht.
Hecht said PPL has "strongly supported federal restructuring legislation for more than four years." The growing consensus among such a wide-range of stakeholders, he said, is "an indication the time has come to move forward on this issue."
In addition to providing clarification on jurisdictional issues, Hecht said, federal electricity restructuring legislation should contain provisions that accelerate participation in Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs). RTOs are organizations of transmission owners, transmission users, and other entities interested in coordinating transmission planning, expansion, operation and power usage within a region. While RTOs are beginning to develop, the process needs to move more rapidly, and all transmission-owning entities need to be involved. "Transmission organizations such as PJM Interconnection and RTOs forming around the country are the framework for a competitive, national, marketplace," Hecht said.
"In the several years that we have been working with this process, we have learned many lessons that could be incorporated into federal legislation to make the process smoother for those who will be moving in this direction in the future," said Hecht.
PPL's marketing company, PPL EnergyPlus, is one of the leading suppliers of competitively priced electricity in the unregulated electricity markets in the Mid-Atlantic region, with customers in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Maryland. The company also sells electricity in the unregulated market in Maine and soon will be offering electric supply service in Montana as well, two states in which PPL Corp. now owns power plants.
"The PPL family of companies has been a leader in the drive to use the free market to set electricity prices," said Hecht. "We are proud of these efforts and pleased to join with new partners in this effort."