FTC Probe into Retail Sales

Jeff,

This is the info that I referenced on my voice-mail. Please call me after
you have had a chance to review it. Thanks.

Regards,

Lara

FTC Requests Comments on Retail Electricity Competition Plans

The Federal Trade Commission today announced that it is seeking information
regarding the results to date of different regulatory approaches to the
introduction of competition into the retail sale of electricity. The
Commission has approved a Federal Register notice, to be published shortly,
that contains a series of questions designed to help gather this information.
The Commission will produce a report that discusses the advantages and
disadvantages associated with different approaches to particular issues and
that identifies, if warranted, areas in which additional federal legislative
or regulatory action may be desirable.

As detailed in the notice, many states have enacted, and in some cases begun
to implement, legislation designed to introduce competition into the retail
sale of electricity to encourage lower prices, better service and greater
innovation. To date, 24 states and the District of Columbia have set dates
when customers will be allowed to choose their electric power supplier.
Recently, however, substantial price increases and reliability problems in
some areas undergoing this transition have raised questions about the best
way this restructuring can be designed to benefit retail customers. In light
of recent price increases and reliability problems in California and western
states generally, some states have delayed, or are considering delaying,
implementation of retail competition plans.

The Chairman of the Energy and Commerce Committee of the United States House
of Representatives, W.J. "Billy" Tauzin, and the Chairman of the Subcommittee
on Energy and Air Quality, Joe Barton, have requested that the Commission
examine various state retail competition programs and describe those features
that appear to have resulted in consumer benefits and those that have not
yielded consumer benefits. In addition, the Commission has been asked to
examine possible jurisdictional limitations on the states' authority to
design successful retail competition plans and whether there is a need for
federal legislative or regulatory action. To comply with this request, the
Commission will update its July 2000 staff report "Competition and Consumer
Protection Perspectives on Electric Power Regulatory Reform."

For the updated report, the Commission proposes to examine state plans that
allow customers to choose their generation supplier, and state plans with
unique approaches to retail electricity competition. The Commission will work
with the states to understand the various features of the plans and to gather
facts relevant to understanding the market reaction to a particular state's
plan.

The Federal Register notice contains additional questions about which the
Commission seeks public comment. The Commission seeks comments on features of
state retail competition plans that have benefitted consumers and those that
have not. The Commission is particularly interested in receiving information
about the market response to various provisions of state retail competition
plans. It is not necessary to respond to each question for every state.

Written comments in response to the questions in the Federal Register notice
are due by April 3, 2001 and will become part of the public record. They may
be submitted to: Donald S. Clark, Office of the Secretary, Federal Trade
Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C. 20580. Submissions
should be captioned: "V010003 -- Comments Regarding Retail Energy
Competition." Electronic submissions may be sent by e-mail to:
"retailelectricity@ftc.gov" and may also be sent on floppy disk, as described
in the notice.

The Commission vote to publish the Federal Register notice was 5-0.

This is the FR Notice text from the FTC web site at
http://www.ftc.gov/os/2001/02/eleccompetition.htm: