Public Utility Holding Company Act


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Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935

Legislation in the United States limiting the activities of utility companies such as electric companies. Specifically, the Public Utility Holding Company Act requires utility companies to restrict their businesses to either a single state or to a small, manageable geographic area in order to be subject to state regulations. It also requires them to obtain approval from the SEC in order to engage in business unrelated to the utility industry. The Act was passed in response to near monopolistic activities on the part of utility companies. Most of its provisions were repealed in the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 2005.
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Public Utility Holding Company Act

The 1935 act that gives the SEC authority over the security issues, the accounting systems, the corporate structures, and the intercompany transactions of public utilities. This act was a response to serious abuses of utility managements uncovered during the depression years.
Wall Street Words: An A to Z Guide to Investment Terms for Today's Investor by David L. Scott. Copyright © 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. All rights reserved.
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The Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA) and the Federal Power Act (FPA) of 1935 (Title I and Title II of the Public Utility Act) established a regime of regulating electric utilities that gave specific and separate powers to the states and the federal government (see CRS Report RS20015).
Electricity: the road toward restructuring
A lesser case occurs in the new book's shortening of its predecessor's discussion of the Public Utility Holding Company Act. Shock attributed to the act's proponents the often-reiterated argument that it sought to overcome cost-allocation problems.
A (generally) welcomed update. (In Review)
Here's another example: The Senate recently passed a bill that would repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act, which restricts utility companies from investing ratepayers' money in areas unrelated to electricity.
Regulation now. (Comment)
The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 requires utility holding companies to divest operations not integral to their primary operations.
NiSource completes sale of water company. (Newsline: for the latest industry developments)
Referencing the West Coast electricity crisis and the Enron bankruptcy, Cantwell argued that the current bill's repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, which places restrictions on utility mergers, would leave consumers vulnerable to market abuses and rising prices.
Senate passes comprehensive energy bill after much debate
The California electricity shortage has emboldened the energy industry to once more make an effort to get rid of SEC regulations growing out of the 1936 Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA).
An Unger in Levitt's Clothing
They are not classified as utilities under the Federal Power Act, and, therefore, are exempted from the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.
Energy Connections
Electric and gas utility systems throughout the country voiced strong support for bipartisan legislation introduced to repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.
GOVERNMENT GUIDELINES
These restrictions were imposed under New Deal legislation, the Public Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), after a period when a few massive holding companies controlled virtually all U.S.
Power play
The PUHCA amendments did free some utilities from provisions of the Public Utility Holding Company Act, and they will encourage new entrants into the wholesale generating business.
Implications for utilities of the National Energy Policy Act and other developments
"Concerning the Public Utility Holding Company Act, I think that it is an act that concerns us--as it would limit diversification, which we think is absolutely critical for this company."
Purchases are the key for Thrifty
like PUHCA (the Public Utility Holding Company Act) and PURPA (the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act), making it easier for municipal utilities and cooperatives to open up, and fostering distributed generation."
First Step Taken Towards Federal Electricity Deregulation

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