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One of the most significant aspects of the energy legislation enacted last year by the U.S. Congress was the repeal of the 70-year-old Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA). Although PUHCA was originally intended to protect consumers from abuses dating back to Depression-era conduct, over time many in the electric utility industry concluded that it impeded investments by certain classes of investors and failed to reflect the market structure modern electric utility industry. In PUHCA’s place, Congress set forth a new set of rules. Among other things, it gave states new responsibility to possibly craft their own rules to govern large, multi-state utility holding companies.

Robert W. Gee, President of Gee Strategies Group LLC, has been providing thought leadership on this subject, examining the after-effects of this new legislation. Last month he addressed a significant meeting of utility commission staff from a number of states where he offered insights into what factors they might weigh prior to exercising their new responsibilities in a presentation entitled “Electric Utility Industry After PUHCA Repeal.”

Moreover, in the May 2006 edition of Public Utilities Fortnightly, Mr. Gee offers a detailed outlook over the possible strategies of state utility commissions in his article entitled: After PUHCA Repeal: The State Response.

Finally, on June 26, Mr. Gee will moderate a panel discussion entitled: "How the Repeal of PUHCA Changes the Playing Field” at Platt’s Third Annual Utility Mergers & Acquisition Conference in New York City.