[Federal Register Volume 61, Number 111 (Friday, June 7, 1996)]
[Notices]
[Pages 29150-29152]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 96-14356]



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SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
[Release No. 35-26526]


Filings Under the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, As 
Amended (``Act'')

May 31, 1996.
    Notice is hereby given that the following filing(s) has/have been 
made with the Commission pursuant to provisions of the Act and rules 
promulgated thereunder. All interested persons are referred to the 
application(s) and/or declaration(s) for complete statements of the 
proposed transaction(s) summarized below. The application(s) and/or 
declaration(s) and any amendments thereto is/are available for public 
inspection through the Commission's Office of Public Reference.
    Interested persons wishing to comment or request a hearing on the 
application(s) and/or declaration(s) should submit their views in 
writing by June 24, 1996, to the Secretary, Securities and Exchange 
Commission, Washington, D.C. 20549, and serve a copy on the relevant 
applicant(s) and/or declarant(s) at the address(es) specified below. 
Proof of service (by affidavit or, in case of an attorney at law, by 
certificate) should be filed with the request. Any request for hearing 
shall identify specifically the issues of fact or law that are 
disputed. A person who so requests will be notified of any hearing, if 
ordered, and will receive a copy of any notice or order issued in the 
matter. After said date, the application(s) and/or declaration(s), as 
filed or as amended, may be granted and/or permitted to become 
effective.

Columbia Gas System, Inc., et al. (70-8471)

    Columbia Gas System, Inc. (``Columbia''), 20 Montchanin Road, 
Wilmington, Delaware, 19807, a registered holding company; nineteen 
wholly-owned subsidiary companies of Columbia,\1\ all of which are 
engaged in the natural gas business; twelve subsidiary companies of 
TriStar Ventures (``TriStar Ventures Subsidiaries''); \2\ Columbia 
Service Partners, Inc. (``Columbia Service''), 121 Hill Pointe Drive, 
Suite No. 100, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, 15317, a non-utility 
subsidiary of Columbia; and TriStar System, Inc. (``TriStar System''), 
20 Montchanin Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19807, a non-utility

[[Page 29151]]

subsidiary of Columbia, have filed a post-effective amendment to the 
application-declaration previously filed under Section 6, 7, 9(a), 10, 
12(b), 12(c), and 12(f) of the Act and Rules 42, 43, 45, and 46 
thereunder.
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    \1\ Columbia Gas of Pennsylvania, Inc. (``Columbia 
Pennsylvania''), 200 Civic Center Drive, Columbus, Ohio, 43215; 
Columbia Gas of Ohio, Inc. (``Columbia Ohio''), 200 Civic Center 
Drive, Columbus Ohio, 43215; Columbia Gas of Maryland, Inc. 
(``Columbia Maryland''), 200 Civic Center Drive, Columbus, Ohio, 
43215; Columbia Gas of Kentucky, Inc. (``Columbia Kentucky''), 200 
Civic Center Drive Columbus, Ohio, 43215; Commonwealth Gas Services, 
Inc. (``Commonwealth Services''), 200 Civic Center Drive, Columbus, 
Ohio, 43215; Columbia Gulf Transmission Co. (``Columbia Gulf''), 
1700 MacCorkle Avenue, S.E., Charleston, West Virginia, 25314; 
Columbia Gas Development Corp. (``Columbia Development''), One 
Riverway, Houston, Texas, 77056; Columbia Natural Resources, Inc. 
(``Columbia Resources''), 900 Pennsylvania Avenue, Charleston, West 
Virginia, 25302; Columbia Coal Gasification Corp. (``Columbia 
Coal''), 900 Pennsylvania Avenue, Charleston, West Virginia, 25302; 
Columbia Energy Services Corp. (``Columbia Services''), 121 Hill 
Pointe Drive, Suite No. 100, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, 15317; 
Columbia Gas System Service Corp. (``Service Corporation''), 20 
Montchanin Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19807; Columbia Propane Corp. 
(``Columbia Propane''), 800 Moorefield Park Drive, Richmond, 
Virginia, 23236; Commonwealth Propane, Inc. (``Commonwealth 
Propane''), 800 Moorefield Park Drive, Richmond, Virginia, 23236; 
TriStar Ventures Corp. (``TriStar Ventures''), 20 Montchanin Road, 
Wilmington, Delaware, 19807; TriStar Capital Corp. (``TriStar 
Capital''), 20 Montchanin Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19807; 
Columbia Atlantic Trading Corp (``Columbia Atlantic''), 20 
Montchanin Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19807; Columbia LNG Corp., 20 
Montchanin Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19807; Columbia Gas 
Transmission Corp. (``Gas Transmission''), 1700 MacCorkle Avenue, 
S.E., Charleston, West Virginia, 25314; and Columbia Energy 
Marketing Corp. (``Energy Marketing''), 121 Hill Pointe Drive, Suite 
No. 100, Cannonsburg, Pennsylvania, 15317.
    \2\ TriStar Pedrick Limited Corporation, TriStar Pedrick General 
Corporation, TriStar Binghamton Limited Corporation, TriStar 
Binghamton General Corporation, TriStar Vineland Limited 
Corporation, TriStar Vineland General Corporation, TriStar Rumford 
Limited Corporation, TriStar Georgetown General Corporation, TriStar 
Georgetown Limited Corporation, TriStar Fuel Cells Corporation, TVC 
Nine Corporation, and TVC Ten Corporation, all of 20 Montchanin 
Road, Wilmington, Delaware, 19807.
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    By Order dated December 22, 1994 (HCAR No. 26201), Columbia, and 
fourteen of the subsidiary companies,\3\ were authorized to 
recapitalize Columbia Gulf, Columbia Development, and Columbia Coal, to 
implement the 1995 and 1996 Long-Term and Short-Term Financing Programs 
of the Subsidiaries, and to continue the Intrasystem Money Pool 
(``Money Pool'') through 1996.
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    \3\ Columbia Pennsylvania, Columbia Ohio, Columbia Maryland, 
Columbia Kentucky, Commonwealth Services, Columbia Gulf, Columbia 
Development, Columbia Resources, Columbia Coal, Services 
Corporation, Columbia Propane, Commonwealth Propane, TriStar 
Capital, and Columbia Atlantic.
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    By order dated March 14, 1995 (HCAR No. 26251), the TriStar 
Ventures Subsidiaries were authorized to invest in, but not to borrow 
from, the Money Pool. By order dated November 8, 1995 (HCAR No. 26404), 
Gas Transmission and Energy Marketing were authorized to invest in, but 
not to borrow from, the Money Pool. By Order dated February 16, 1996 
(HCAR No. 26471), Columbia was authorized to revise the cost of money 
on all short-term advances from, and the investment rate for money 
invested in, the Money Pool.
    Columbia now proposes that Columbia Service and TriStar System be 
included as potential investors in the Money Pool.\4\ Columbia also 
requests authorization, through December 31, 1996, to include in the 
Money Pool as potential investors any new direct or indirect 
subsidiaries engaged in new lines of business established pursuant to 
an order of the Commission or any new direct or indirect subsidiaries 
engaged in existing lines of business.
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    \4\ Service Partners was formed on March 21, 1996 by Columbia 
Services to provide energy-related services to customers of local 
distribution companies (``LDCs'') affiliated with Columbia and non-
affiliated LDCs served by Columbia interstate natural gas 
transmission companies. TriStar System was formed on September 28, 
1995 by TriStar Ventures to engage in natural gas vehicle 
activities.
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General Public Utilities Corporation, et al. (70-8829)

    General Public Utilities Corporation, 100 Interpace Parkway, 
Parsippany, New Jersey 07054, a registered holding company (``GPU''), 
and its subsidiaries, Jersey Central Power & Light Company, 300 Madison 
Avenue, Morristown, New Jersey 07962 (``JCP&L''), Metropolitan Edison 
Company, P.O. Box 16001, Reading, Pennsylvania 19640 (``Met-Ed''), 
Pennsylvania Electric Company, P.O. Box 16001, Reading, Pennsylvania 
19640 (``Penelec'') and Energy Initiatives, Inc., One Upper Pond Road, 
Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 (``EI''); (together with GPU, JCP&L, Met-
Ed and Penelec, the ``EIM Applicants''), and GPU Service Corporation, 
100 Interpace Parkway, Parsippany, New Jersey 07054 (``GPUSC''), have 
filed an application-declaration pursuant to sections 9(a), 10, 12(b) 
and 13(b) of the Act and rules 45, 90 and 91 thereunder.
    The EIM Applicants believe that there are business opportunities 
that they may wish to pursue which involve energy information and 
management (``EIM'') systems. EIM systems employ interactive technology 
which, among other things, enables customers to automatically and 
remotely control HVAC and other appliance usage in response to variable 
energy pricing, thus providing customers with more control over their 
electric usage and costs. EIM systems also allow utilities to implement 
various demand-side management and load-control programs, and to 
remotely read the customers' meters. EIM systems also store customer 
load profile data and allow utilities to remotely access such data for 
forecasting and marketing purposes. EIM systems may also provide 
opportunities for real-time inter-active communications with customers 
with respect to a wide variety of information, products and services 
that are not exclusively energy-related. Communications may be 
effectuated through, but not limited to, fiber optics, radio, paging or 
personal communications systems.\5\
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    \5\ See The Southern Company, Holding Co. Act Release No. 26221 
(January 25, 1995) (Southern was authorized to develop, purchase, 
construct, own or operate a prototype energy management 
communications network to provide both energy-related and nonenergy-
related services, including fire, intrusion and health alarm 
monitoring services).
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    One or more of the EIM Applicants have been engaged in discussions 
with nonassociate EIM system companies (each, an ``EIMCo'') which 
design, manufacture, fabricate, integrate, market and distribute EIM 
system and components, or the enabling technology for EIM systems, 
which are in various stages of development, testing and deployment. 
These discussions, to date, have addressed two different approaches to 
possible involvement with EIM systems. First, JCP&L, Met-Ed and Penelec 
have discussed limited deployment of EIM systems to their respective 
electric utility customers within their respective service territories 
as part of a pilot program, looking towards possible broad-based 
deployment among their respective electric utility customers.\6\ In 
addition, one or more of the EIM Applicants may acquire an interest in 
the business of designing, manufacturing, fabricating, integrating, 
marketing and distributing EIM systems to non-customers both within and 
beyond the boundaries of the service territories of JCP&L, Met-Ed and 
Penelec (collectively, the ``EIM Business''), either directly, through 
the acquisition of securities of an EIMCo, or, alternatively, through 
new wholly-owned or partly-owned subsidiary compan(ies), to be formed 
(each, an ``EIM Subsidiary''), or through a joint venture involving any 
of the foregoing and an EIMCo or an EIMCo affiliate (each, and ``EIM 
JV'').\7\ Notwithstanding the foregoing, GPU will not acquire a direct 
interest in the EIM Business other than through the acquisition of 
securities of an EIMCo.
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    \6\ See Leidy Hub, Inc., Holding Co. Act Release No. 26048 (May 
6, 1994) (National Fuel Gas Company was authorized to make a series 
of equity investments in Leidy Hub, Inc., which was developing and 
commercializing an automatic remote meter reading system).
    \7\ See Eastern Utilities Assoc. et al., Holding Co. Act Release 
No. 26232 (February 15, 1995) (EUA was permitted to expand its 
energy management services business beyond its service territory and 
without regard to the 50% revenue limitation previously imposed by 
the Commission in similar matters).
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    The EIM Applicants therefore propose to: (1) Engage in the EIM 
Business; and (2) acquire the securities of an EIMCo or one or more EIM 
Subsidiaries or, directly or indirectly, one or more EIM JVs. It is 
also requested that the Commission authorized the provision of goods 
and services relating to the EIM Business: (1) To JCP&L, Met-Ed and 
Penelec by EI or any EIM Subsidiaries or EIM JVs; and (2) to any EIM 
Subsidiaries and EIM JVs by GPUSC, all of which goods and services will 
be provided at cost in compliance with Rules 90 and 91 under the Act. 
For this purpose, each EIM Applicant, EIM Subsidiary and EIM JV will 
maintain separate financial records relating to the EIM Business. The 
aggregate amount of the EIM Applicants' investment in the EIM Business 
will not exceed $50 million through December 31, 1998.
    The EIM Applicants or any EIM Subsidiaries or EIM JVs may provide 
financing to utility customers within the respective service 
territories of JCP&L, Met-Ed or Penelec through direct loan and 
operating or finance lease arrangements in connection with, for 
example, a customer's purchase of EIM systems either from an EIM 
Applicant, affiliate or a third party. The ability to make such loans 
would include participation in or facilitating customer

[[Page 29152]]

access to government energy-related loan programs. Interest on loans 
and imputed interest on lease payments will range from zero percent to 
the then prevailing market rate. The obligations may either be secured 
or unsecured, will generally be evidenced by promissory notes and will 
have maturities not exceeding five years. The aggregate amount of such 
outstanding obligations at any one time will not exceed $20 million.
    The authorization requested with respect to the acquisition of 
securities of an EIMCo or any EIM Subsidiaries or EIM JVs shall expire 
upon the first to occur of: (1) December 31, 1998; and (2) the adoption 
by the Commission of proposed rule 58 (HCAR No. 26313, June 20, 1995) 
or such other rule, regulation or order as shall exempt the 
transactions as proposed from section 9(a) of the Act. The 
authorization requested with respect to financing transaction shall, 
upon the enactment of Rule 58, extend to any energy-related company, as 
defined in Rule 58, which is a subsidiary company of GPU and engaged in 
the EIM Business.

    For the Commission, by the Division of Investment Management, 
pursuant to delegated authority.
Jonathan G. Katz,
Secretary.
[FR Doc. 96-14356 Filed 6-6-96; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8010-01-M