The Utility Relationship to its Key Industries

Abstract

While the price of energy may have stabilized for the moment, the impact of several years of rate increases in the cost of energy, materials, and labor have made American industry re-evaluate their operations. Utilities serving clusters of industrial segments are seeing dramatic and rapid changes in their industrial load. At the same time, some electric utilities are experiencing rate shock as new plants are cancelled or rolled onto their rate bases. What will the impact be? What can industry do? How large a problem could occur if a utility or public utility commission merely assumed that their industrial base just had to “grin and bear it?” This presentation highlights the history of utility roles and recent experiences and generalizes the observations to a framework of roles a utility or public utility commission can play. The conclusion is that we are passing through a time where cautions and appropriate initiatives are required or a high price for the consequences could result.