自由化のもたらす効果は既存電力会社にとっても、成長のビッグチャンスとなる。
消費者は10%の料金削減。
1998年度単年度でもカリフォーニア州での消費者の受ける利益は、600−700億円となる。
このため、州学校教育にかかる予算が大幅に改善する。(3000人の教師の確保、1600の教室の確保)
世論の自由化への歓迎、行政の確固たる信念、通信自由化から得られた経験をふまえ、前進。
カリフォーニアは21世紀を前にしたフロントランナーたる気概を持っている。
公益事業が解体自由化されたおりには価格、供給の信頼性も向上することになる。
PG&Eの歴史は発展と伸張の連続であり、ガスパイプラインの州際敷設、発電会社ベクテルとの共同事業、などにより発展してきている。
送電会社、小売り会社、サービス会社など多岐にわたる関連子会社設立を行ってきた。
従って、
自由化のおかげで、発電、送電、配電、ガスパイプライン、に関わる州際化のビジネスがPG&Eにおいては確保された。
という状況にある。
PG&Eコーポレーションは、傘下にパシフィックガス&エレクトリック社を抱えるホールディングカンパニーである。
(東京電力梶A東京電力配電鰍ニいった位置づけが日本では考えられる。) |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November
17, 1997
PG&E CORP'.S GLYNN OUTLINES
FOR BUSINESS LEADERS THE COMING CHANGES IN THE ELECTRIC INDUSTRY
PG&E Corporation CEO and President
Robert D. Glynn, Jr., told business leaders in Fresno today that changes
in the nation's annual $250 billion energy market will bring significant
customer benefits.
Industry restructuring will also
force dramatic structural and organizational changes for energy companies
throughout the country, said Glynn.
"Across the nation, energy
consumers stand on the threshold of being able to purchase electricity--for
the first time--from competitive energy providers, not only from their
local utility companies," said Glynn. "As this change unfolds,
consumers will benefit significantly, and so energy companies will change
dramatically to take advantage of new competitive energy markets. It's
a huge change, a huge opportunity for consumers to lower their energy costs,
and a huge opportunity for energy companies to prosper as national energy
providers."
Leading the nation in this change
are areas in California and the Northeast, said Glynn. In California, residential
and small commercial customers will receive a 10 percent electricity price
reduction beginning next year as part of the state's restructuring plan.
"In aggregate, (customers
in California) will save about two-thirds of a billion dollars in 1998
alone," said Glynn. "This represents true disposable income that
these customers can use for any purpose they choose."
And, according to California Governor
Pete Wilson, deregulation of the electric industry will save California
schools more that $123 million by the year 2002. "That's enough money
to hire 3,000 new teachers, to build 1,600 new classrooms or to purchase
a million and a half sets of reading materials," said Glynn. "These
are real economic savings that will begin in 1998, continue for about four
years, after which energy prices are expected to drop again significantly."
Supporting this change in California
is landmark energy legislation, said Glynn, which was endorsed by a broad
coalition of consumer groups and unanimously approved by the legislature
and signed by Governor Wilson in the Fall of 1996. This legislation ensures
change at a rapid pace, provides immediate rate reductions for residential
customers, protects reliability, preserves California's pro-environment
energy policies, and ensures consumer protection to avoid the abuses that
occurred when the telecommunications industry was deregulated.
"As we stand on the verge
of the 21st Century, it is fitting that, once again, California is in the
forefront of change," said Glynn. "The savings are big and they
are real. And in California, they are less than 70 days away."
And while the utility industry
itself is being transformed, so are many companies around the nation, like
PG&E Corporation, which will compete for customers based on price,
reliability and quality of customer service, said Glynn.
What started out as Pacific Gas
and Electric Company, a utility that has operated in Northern and Central
California for nearly a century, has now grown into PG&E Corporation,
parent company to this regulated utility as well as four non-regulated
subsidiary companies.
For several decades, explained
Glynn, the company has had a natural gas transportation business, which
is now called PG&E Gas Transmission. It owns and operates pipelines
in the Pacific Northwest, Texas, and Australia.
In the 1980's, the company, in
a joint venture with Bechtel Enterprises, formed an independent power generating
business called U.S. Generating Company (USGen) that today operates in
eight states across the country. Earlier this year, PG&E Corporation
acquired Bechtel's share of USGen and next year, USGen expects to complete
the acquisition of 18 fossil and hydroelectric power plants in the New
England region.
Earlier, PG&E Corporation formed
PG&E Energy Trading and PG&E Energy Services. PG&E Energy Trading
specializes in providing gas and electric commodity trading services to
regulated utilities and large end-use customers throughout North America.
PG&E Energy Services provides competitively priced electricity, gas
and related energy services directly to retail customers.
"National generation, national
gas pipelines, national energy trading and services businesses, and a strong
California utility, that is what's happening to PG&E Corporation as
deregulation unfolds," said Glynn
###
CONTACT:
Greg S. Pruett (415) 973-5900
Editors: Please note, PG&E Corporation is the proper name for the energy
services holding company which trades on the NYSE under symbol PCG. Please
do not use Pacific Gas and Electric when referring to the holding company.
Effective Jan. 1., 1997, Pacific Gas and Electric Company became one of
five subsidiaries of PG&E Corp.
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