Book Description

This report addresses the need to continue two sections--116 and 133--of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. Title I of the act was established to encourage conservation of energy supplied by electric utilities, efficiency in use of facilities and resources by these utilities, and equitable rates to electricity consumers. Section 116 requires annual reporting by State regulatory authorities, nonregulated electric utilities, and the Department of Energy, on their status in complying with parts of the act relating to consideration of retail electric regulatory and ratemaking standards. Section 133 of the act requires certain utilities to biennially submit extensive cost-of-service filings to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and their respective State regulatory authorities. GAO, recommends that the Congress repeal the annual reporting requirement effective after the third annual report, and that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission review and revise its cost-of-service reporting regulations to reduce the burden on utilities. If this review finds the reporting costs to be greater than the reporting benefits, the Commission should ask the Congress to repeal the cost-of-service reporting requirement.