Regulators: TEP broke transmission
services rules
Audit finds utility got transmission service not available to
other electricity wholesalers.
Audits conducted between Jan. 1, 2002, and Oct. 31, 2003, found the utilities made energy sales without properly paying for their transmission or received access to power lines before their competitors, said Barbara Connors, a spokeswoman for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
The commission, which tries to ensure fair competition between utilities so that consumers get lower prices for energy, also faulted the companies yesterday for other violations.
Both utilities said they are working to comply with the commission.
Auditors found a TEP control room operator discussed the outage of a transmission line with a merchant employee before that information was posted, said company spokesman Joe Salkowski.
Federal rules restrict conversations between transmission system workers and staff in charge of buying and selling power and access to electric lines.
TEP officials say the conversation between the workers was inadvertent.
Also, the utility was faulted for obtaining transmission service that wasn't posted or made available to other electricity wholesale merchants and for charging some electric merchants higher prices for using its transmission lines.