Delay still possible in electric competition

Friday, Jan. 21, 2000 | 11:53 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Concerned about possibly violating the state open meeting law, the state Public Utilities Commission on Thursday delayed action on a plan aimed at speeding Nevada towards a competitive market in the sale of electricity that could start as early as March 1.

The commission backed off a vote on the proposal and will schedule a special meeting with adequate public notice for all those involved in the case to be present and submit testimony.

The issue involves conditions Nevada Power Co. of Las Vegas and Sierra Pacific Power Co. of Reno must satisfy as part of their merger. The two utilities, the staff of the utilities commission and the Consumer Advocate Fred Schmidt agreed on a stipulation that would allow the state to move towards open competition.

But Commissioner Judy Sheldrew on Dec. 29 raised objections that all the parties to the case had not been properly noticed of the stipulation as required by the open meeting law. She said they didn't have a chance to study the document and appear at a hearing.

Commission Chairman Don Soderberg on Thursday said that staff counsel Jeff Parker now has similar concerns over the notice of the hearing on the stipulation. Soderberg said a vote on the plan would be delayed and a special hearing scheduled, possibly in 10 days.

At the Thursday meeting, Sheldrew said, "In my opinion March 1 is no longer possible," referring to the date of open competition.

One hitch, she said, is the requirement that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will have to review and approve some of the state decisions. And some of those rulings have not been made by the state.

The Legislature said open competition could be started as early as March 1 if Gov. Kenny Guinn agrees. The governor has hinted he may delay the date until he is satisfied the state is ready to open its doors to new power providers.

The original stipulation ran 48 pages setting forth how Nevada Power and Sierra Pacific Power Co. intended to sell off their generating plants. The plan said that when competition arrives, the two utilities would operate transmission lines temporarily until an independent third-party operator could be chosen.

Supporters of the stipulation said allowing the two utilities to continue to run the power lines would overcome another roadblock on the road to open competition. Opponents said this would be unfair to other companies that want to compete with the two utilities in supplying power.

These alternative sellers would take a lower place on the priority list in the transmission of their electricity, with the two utilities getting the first priority, critics said.

When Soderberg delayed a vote on the 48-page document, he presented a slimmed down version that endorses the concept of having an independent operator to make sure all power sellers are treated equally. The rest of the document will be discussed at the future meeting.

The abbreviated order Thursday gained unanimous approval. Acting Commissioner Jo Ann Kelly attended the meeting and voted for the plan. She was appointed to temporarily replace Commissioner Richard McIntire, who has recused himself because of a conflict of interest. He was a staff member of the utilities commission and took positions in the merger before his promotion to commissioner.

The commission also asked FERC to give speedy approval of the plan for creation of a Mountain West Scheduling Administrator, the third party independent organization that would operate the transmission facilities.