Energy Reg Agency Gets Boost

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission emerged as a clear winner in the Clinton Administration's March 25 proposal to introduce competition into the electricity industry.

Under the plan, the arcane FERC would gain broad authority over electric utility mergers, among other things, thus greatly enlarging its role in overseeing the electricity industry.

Edison Electric Institute president Thomas R. Kuhn calls the increased regulatory oversight "a dramatic unnecessary expansion of government authority over the newly emerging restructured electricity markets."