Wwp Forms Alliance With California Firm

Washington Water Power Co. and a California company have formed an alliance to take advantage of the upcoming deregulation of that state’s electricity market.

The Spokane utility and Mock Energy Services have worked together off and on for 10 years, said Lloyd Meyers, WWP manager for wholesale electricity marketing.

Most of those deals involved natural gas, he said. Mock, a partnership that includes Conoco, sells about 25 percent of the gas purchased by industrial and other customers who have direct access to the market.

Meyers said some of those same customers will be able to buy power wholesale - bypassing their local utilities - starting Jan. 1, 1998.

He said the new partners will work on building relationships with potential customers in the meantime.

Besides one-stop shopping for gas and power, Meyers said, WWP and Mock will promote the availability of other energy services like sophisticated metering and security systems from WWP Energy Solutions, a subsidiary of the utility.

Although the deal makes WWP a competitor of California utilities to whom it sells power, Meyers said those relationships should not suffer.

Deregulation will unleash many newcomers on the market, he said.

, DataTimes