Dominion East Ohio seeks end to regulated pricing

Dominion East Ohio seeks end to regulated pricing

COLUMBUS

A Northeast Ohio gas utility wants to be the first in the state to end regulated pricing for customers.

If state regulators approve Dominion East Ohio’s proposal, it could mean that a key protection for gas customers would be removed.

The Columbus Dispatch reports that it would end a system where gas marketers compete in an auction to offer the lowest price for customers who receive the regulated service.

Dominion East Ohio, which serves the Cleveland and Youngstown areas, has asked state regulators to approve a plan that would eliminate “default service” for natural gas. If approved, the state would no longer oversee a process designed to help assure low prices for customers.

Opposition has come from Ohio Partners for Affordable Energy, a group that represents low-income customers.

‘X-Ray’ and other features for new Amazon gadgets

Amazon.com Inc. unveiled a slew of new Kindle Fire devices and an e-reader called Paperwhite on Thursday at an event in Santa Monica, Calif. The new gadgets range from $119 to $499. It’s Amazon’s latest effort to compete with Apple’s iPad, the No. 1 tablet. Here’s a look at some of the interesting new features for the gadgets:

“Immersion Reading,” where Kindle books can be synchronized with Audible audiobooks. It lets you read and listen at the same time.

“X-Ray for Movies” on the Kindle Fire HD, where users can tap the screen at any time while watching a movie to find out who the actor is. The feature uses the Amazon-owned IMDb database service to find the information.

“X-Ray for Books” and textbooks, which lets you tap a page in a book to find out more information on characters, places in a book or related YouTube content.

“Whispersync for Games,” lets you pick up where you left off when playing games. There’s also Whispersync for movies and books.

“Time to Read,” which uses your reading speed to tell you when you will finish a chapter in a book on the Paperwhite.

“Kindle FreeTime,” which lets parents create profiles for their children and choose what books, games, apps or videos they can access. They will also be able to set time limits. The feature will be available next month on each version of the Kindle Fire HD.

Eurozone may slip into recession

Europe’s debt crisis is pushing the 17-country eurozone toward recession and dragging down the global economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says.

Even growth in traditional economic powerhouse Germany is slowing, and the OECD’s interim assessment said that Europe’s largest economy could slip into recession by the end of the year.

The U.S. is expected to grow 2.3 percent this year, just below the OECD’s May prediction of 2.4 percent.

Associated Press