Gas Purchasing-Business, Legal, and Contracting Issues

Authors

  • Eric J. Krathwohl Rich, May, Bilodeau & Flaherty, P.C.

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/dgaej2156-3306.1325

Abstract

These are the buzz words of a new era in the energy business .
Wh ile th e daily newspapers and radio are full of articles and adver-
ti sements concerning the impending opening up of the electric
industry to cu stomer choice of supplier, little attention is being given
to choice in the natural gas markets.
The fact is, however, that except for California and some scat -
ter ed pilot programs , retail electric markets are not y et open and
even the imminent deadlines for retail access may prove to be illu-
sory. For example, Rhode Island retail electric markets , by law, were
open to competition July 1, 1997 but a month later less than a hand-
ful of cust om ers had chosen alternative suppliers . In contra st,
customers everywhere are already able to choose their own gas sup-
pli er , other than the local gas utility that had supplied all customer s
for so many years .
With this new freedom of choice comes not only a number of
ben efits, but also risk s. Th is article seeks to provide cust omers some
guidance in obtaining such benefits and avoiding the risks. Ulti-
mat ely, that is accomplished through a car eful selection process , best
don e by mean s of an RFP with expert assistance , and thr ough a
negotiated gas contract. Before addressing specific contracting issues
one mu st und erstand th e legal and regulatory framework which gov-
erns the transportation of the natural gas .

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Author Biography

Eric J. Krathwohl, Rich, May, Bilodeau & Flaherty, P.C.

Eric J. Krathwohl, a memb er of the Bost on firm of Rich , May ,
Bilodeau & Flah ert y, P. C., conce nt ra tes on ene rgy, t elecommunica-
tio ns a nd regul at ory ma tt er s, including corporate and finance work
for ene rgy a nd telecommunicat ion companies and electric, ga s and wat er utility companies. He is a magna cum laude graduate of the
Uni versit y of Connecticut and has a law d egr ee from Cornell Law
Sch ool and is a m ember of the academic honorary societies, Phi Beta
Kappa , and Phi Kappa Phi .
For nearl y 20 yea rs, Mr. Krathw ohl has had an active practice
befor e the Massa chuset ts Department of Public Utilit ies, ha ving rep-
res ented utility companies in doz ens of adjudicat ory and rulem aking
pr oceed ings . Also , his practice has included numer ous proc eed in gs
b efore the New York Public Service Commission and th e Fed er al
En ergy Regulatory Commission and transactions throughout th e
n orth ea st ern United State s. He has been active in matt er s r elating
to re structuring of th e electric, gas and telecommunications indus-
tr ies, increas ing competition in th ose indu strie s, and unbundlin g th e
se rvice offerings of public service corporations .
Mr . Krathw ohl has repres ented cli ent s in sev e ra l m att er s befor e
th e Ma s sachu sett s Supr em e Judicial Court and has b een a sp eakin g
pan el ist with top indu stry and governm ent officials at conferenc es on
electric r estru cturing and in creasing comp etiti on in th e utilit y indu s-
tr y and tel ecommuni cati ons matt er s . Mr . Krathw ohl h a s al s o
consid er abl e exp erience in a va riety of corp orate and cont r act ua l
m att er s in th e telecommunications a nd ene rgy fields .
He is th e cha ir man of th e Boston Bar Association En er gy Law
Comm i ttee a nd is a memb er of several oth er energy and bar ass ocia-
ti ons. Along w ith tw o of his p artner s, Mr . Krathw ohl a utho red th e
portion of a n adm ini strativ e law tr eat ise d ealin g w ith public utility
r egulati on .

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Published

1998-03-19

How to Cite

Krathwohl, E. J. . (1998). Gas Purchasing-Business, Legal, and Contracting Issues. Distributed Generation &Amp; Alternative Energy Journal, 13(2), 40–46. https://doi.org/10.13052/dgaej2156-3306.1325

Issue

1998: Vol 13 Iss 2

Section

Articles