Study calls for energy authority - State agency would build plants, partially re-regulate

[cyberpj]

Study calls for energy authority
State agency would build plants, partially re-regulate
By JEFF MONTGOMERY, The News Journal
Posted Tuesday, May 8, 2007

State consultants recommended partial re-regulation of Delaware's electricity market on Monday, adding another twist to the debate over the need for new power plants in the state. "Delaware cannot simply turn the clock back to pre-1999 and try to reinstate regulation," the report, written by national experts Nancy Brockway and John Stutz, cautioned.

The state could take partial control of the electricity market by creating a state-run Delaware Energy Authority to build power plants and sell electricity to residential customers, the report recommended. Such a system could end consumer rights to sign up with other suppliers but create a stable, consumer-friendly market.

The recommendations surfaced hours before today's scheduled Public Service Commission review of a staff-developed recommendation for new offshore wind and natural gas power plants in Sussex County.

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The report also recommended use of a public process to regularly develop the right mix of energy sources, fuels and supply arrangements. Work on the proposal should start this year and continue into coming years.

Delmarva Power already has warned that it will not open contract talks with the wind and gas turbine companies. Company officials insist that the new plants are unnecessary and more expensive than buying power from regional suppliers. They also dismissed the PSC staff plan as the product of "fatally flawed research" that misrepresented current and future supplies.

http://www.delawareonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070508/NEWS/705080344/1006&theme=LEGHALL