Nstar asks regulators to stop power price increases

BOSTON (Bloomberg) — Nstar, the largest investor- owned utility in Massachusetts,
asked U.S. regulators to stop electricity generators PG&E Corp. and Sithe
Energies Inc. from boosting prices in the Boston area during times of peak demand
and to force the companies to refund some charges. Prices should be frozen when
Nstar can’t import cheaper electricity from competing generators, the company
said in a statement. About 90 percent of the Boston area’s power comes from PG&E’s
generating unit and New York-based Sithe Energies, owned by Exelon Corp., Vivendi
Universal SA and Marubeni Corp. “With two local companies controlling almost 90
percent of that supply, they have the ability to corner the market and dictate
excessive prices that we and our customers believe are unjust and unreasonable,”
Paul Vaitkus, Nstar vice president of Energy Supply, said in the statement.