ENERGY

Labor, Consumers Join Utilities Against Retail ‘Wheeling’: Labor unions, independent power producers, consumer activists and environmentalists--including San Francisco-based Toward Utility Rate Normalization and the Natural Resources Defense Council-- announced that they also oppose any move to deregulate retail electricity sales. Wholesale generation is now largely deregulated. But some big industrial power users--including General Motors--want to shop for electricity outside their local utility service territory, with that utility only delivering the power. Consumer activists and the utilities say this could let big users “cherry pick” low rates while leaving small businesses and residential ratepayers to pay more of the utilities’ fixed costs. Environmentalists fear that retail deregulation could reduce utilities’ efforts to conserve energy and cut pollution. Industrial users say that retail wheeling would cut rates to homeowners as well as their companies.