Utility Service Strategies

The National Energy Policy Act of 1992 paved the way for increased competition within the electric utility industry by opening access for all generators to the nation’s “transmission highway.” In further pursuit of the long-term goal to promote increased levels of competition, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (“FERC”) issued its Orders Nos. 888, 889, and 200 which, among other provisions, formalized open access transmission wheeling tariffs, and functionally unbundled transmission and ancillary services. The emergence of Regional Transmission Organizations is creating further changes to the way the nation’s transmission grid is administered and operated. Following these initiatives by the FERC, virtually every state has initiated some level of activity pertaining to industry restructuring, retail wheeling and customer choice.

For both the current and evolving structure of the deregulated marketplace, ERG offers comprehensive capability in assisting clients in evaluating their overall competitive positions and in developing portfolios of services to successfully meet customer needs in a cost-effective manner. The specific areas for which ERG can provide assistance include:

• National /state legislative and regulatory impact analysis
• Competitive supply-side resource planning
• Market evaluations, product / service portfolio design
• Conjunctive billing arrangements
• Outsourcing arrangements
• Facility acquisition analyses
• Load aggregation services
• Interruptible buy-through arrangements
• Industrial self-generation programs
• Performance standards /measurement programs