NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd. (NGTL), a unit of TransCanada Corp., and ATCO Pipelines will hold meetings Feb. 28 in Edmonton and March 1 in Calgary to update customers on the ATCO/NGTL integration initiative. In September 2008 the companies said they had reached an agreement to provide seamless gas transmission service in Alberta (see Daily GPI, Sept. 10, 2008). The meetings are intended to provide an update on the initiative’s progress; review NGTL service and attributes; review ATCO/NGTL contract administration, transition and election requirements; and address shipper questions or concerns. Those planning to attend either meeting should RSVP to Laurie Summy at (403) 920-5571, or at laurie_summy@transcanada.com by Feb. 23.

Natural Gas Exchange Inc. (NGX), a unit of TMX Group, now offers physical clearing at two hubs in Texas. The hubs are Houston Ship Channel — Houston Pipeline Pool, located east of Houston; and Oasis — Waha Pool, a broad region in West Texas. The offering provides clients with the option of NGX physical clearing of transactions executed on IntercontinentalExchange Inc. NGX now offers physical clearing at 32 U.S. locations.

A recent study said California and New York cities offer the largest market for plug-in electric vehicles (PEV). Boulder, CO-based Pike Research concluded that the metropolitan areas with the largest numbers of PEVs in 2011-2016 will include New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco. In another report Pike concluded that worldwide sales of natural gas vehicles would increase to more than 3.2 million units annually by 2016, a 68% increase compared with 1.9 million units in 2010, with commercial sales in North America and Western Europe leading the surge (see Daily GPI, Jan. 21). Pike said certain utilities, such as Southern California Edison Co. and Pacific Gas and Electric Co., will need to prepare for a much larger onslaught of PEVs than their counterparts around the nation. “Electric vehicle adoption will follow markedly different patterns in various parts of the country,” said Pike’s Dave Hurst, a senior analyst.

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