Second-Guessing the Engineer

The relationships between utilities and the bodies that regulate them have changed drastically in the past few years. No longer can any costs associated with the construction of new power plants be passed directly on to consumers. Public service commissions increasingly are scrutinizing construction project to make sure that they were done prudently. Imprudent expenditures are increasingly being kept from utilities' rate bases. Engineers are finding themselves involved, not only as those being second guessed, but occasionally, as the consultants who are doing the second-guessing.