Spotlight: Natural Gas Deregulation Delayed Until 2000

Any deregulation of the natural gas industry will be delayed until at least Jan. 1, 2000, under a bill signed recently by Gov. Pete Wilson. The California Public Utilities Commission’s staff issued a report in January that explored options for “unbundling” various retail services and markets that are now controlled by a few utilities, and the commission last month took its first official steps toward restructuring the natural gas market. Utility unions have opposed deregulation.