How can you tell if it is for real?
August 1986
— Alvin Kaufman
State utility commissions are faced with the necessity of screening out real bypass candidates from those who are attempting to take advantage of the situation, i.e., the bluffers. In order to begin such screening, the regulator must ask questions. NRRI was asked to set out the appropriate questions a public utility commission should ask in an effort to decide if the threat of bypass is real. In order to formulate what needs to be asked, we attempt, in this paper, to carefully define bypass, discuss why it may be considered a problem, analyze the characteristics of a bypass candidate, and finally pose the questions.
Read More ›January 1986
— J. Stephen Henderson, Jean-Michel Guldmann, Ross C. Hemphill, and Kyubang Lee
The natural gas industry in the United States today, while not in crisis, stands at an important crossroad. The direction of its future evolution is not yet clear, but important changes in its organization seem likely. Although the major regulatory reforms are occurring at the federal level, PUCs are active participants in the process. To assist the state PUCs in these matters, NRRI was asked to study natural gas design issues in the context of the greater market uncertainty that is likely to accompany the current reforms. This report addresses these rate design issues in particular and in addition discusses gas transportation policy, a topic that has gained considerable importance since the inception of this research.
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