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Politics : High Tolerance Plasticity -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Think4Yourself who wrote (4814)	5/22/2001 10:09:49 AM
From: Second_Titan	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 23153

Sithe Denies Charge Of Manipulating New England Pwr Mkt Dow Jones Newswires (This article was originally published Monday) NEW YORK -- Sithe Energies Inc. (X.STE) hasn't overcharged for electricity it sold in New England's wholesale power market, the head of the company said Monday. The comment came in an open letter responding to a complaint NStar (NST) filed with federal regulators accusing Sithe and another New England generator of manipulating the power market at times when imports are limited. NStar's filing was "at best baseless, and at worst disingenuous and misleading to both regulators and New England's electricity consumers," Barry Sullivan, Sithe's vice chairman wrote in his letter. NStar had filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission May 14 saying units of Sithe and PG&E charged customers excessive rates when transmission constraints prevented other power plants in the region from importing cheaper electricity. NStar said utilities paid more than $70 million in New England last year due to transmission constraints that forced them to buy more expensive power from affiliates of Sithe and PG&E Corp. (PCG), which control almost 90% of the power produced in the region. In its filing, NStar asked FERC to limit the prices both companies can charge during congestion periods to actual production costs. The company also asked regulators to revoke the authority of both companies to charge market-based rates when power can't be imported and to require them to sell some of their generating units if they want to retain the right to charge market-based rates. Sithe doesn't overcharge customers, and ISO-New England has systems in place to prevent market manipulation, Sullivan wrote. The grid operator uses its ability to identify bids it thinks should be lowered to avoid market manipulation, Sullivan added. Sithe said it plans to file a formal response with FERC. NStar's request that FERC order generators to sell some of their units contradicted the utility's own preference for selling its portfolio to a single company. Sithe purchased NStar's non-nuclear power plants in 1998 for $650 million, Sullivan said. As a transmission company, NStar is responsible for correcting transmission bottlenecks, but it has failed to add enough new capacity, Sullivan wrote. NStar said it has spent more than $63 million in the past three years on new transmission lines, transformers and substations and on increasing the capacity of several lines in Northeastern Massachusetts. Sithe itself is spending about $70 million in transmission upgrades, Sullivan wrote. -By Kristen McNamara, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2061;