Burlington Resources Inc. has completed and tested the fifthDeep Madison formation well, the Bighorn 6-27 at the Madden Fieldin central Wyoming. Burlington, headquartered in Houston, operatesthe well and holds a 49% working interest. The well reached a totaldepth of 25,855 feet in early January and now, Burlington intendsto move to a two-rig development drilling program in the secondquarter. BR currently operates four wells producing from the deepMadison formation, each capable of gross production in excess of 50MMcf/d. Current gross production is approximately 130 MMcf/d fromthe Madison formation, but production is constrained by processingcapacity at the Lost Cabin Gas Plant in Lysite, WY. The plant’sthird train, now under construction, is scheduled for completion inlate 2002, which will allow gross production to increase to a totalof 310 MMcf/d.

The Shaw Group Inc., based in Baton Rouge, has signed anagreement with PG&E National Energy Group to construct 3,300 MWof new generating capacity, comprising three combined-cycle powerplants, with the first plant to be constructed in Michigan. Noexact location or financial details were disclosed. PG&ENational Energy Group currently owns or manages more than 7,000 MWand has more than 10,000 MW in new power plant development orconstruction under way. It operates 30 power plants in 10 states.Stone & Webster, a Shaw subsidiary, will construct the threefacilities, and plans to begin work in six-month intervalsbeginning in June once project financing is secured. Engineeringhas begun for the first project, and the third project is expectedto be completed and in commercial operation by the end of 2004. AShaw spokeswoman said that PG&E did not want to disclose thelocation of the plants, including the exact location of theMichigan site. She affirmed that the other two plants would belocated in the Midwest.

Green Mountain Energy completed its largest-ever energyaggregation contract and has picked up more than 400,000 Ohioelectricity customers in a six-year agreement with Northeast OhioPublic Energy Council (NOPEC), a public electricity buying group.Green Mountain will provide natural gas and renewable wind andsolar energy to households in eight Ohio counties. The Austin,TX-based company now has a customer base of 500,000 households infive states: Connecticut, California, Pennsylvania, New Jersey andOhio, with plans to enter the Texas market when its pilotderegulation program begins in June. Under terms of the contract,Green Mountain will begin serving residential customers across theNOPEC area beginning Sept. 1. The electricity will be generatedfrom natural gas, as well as renewable wind and solar energy. GreenMountain stated that its product blend would emit 1/3 less carbondioxide, 2/3 less nitrous oxide, no sulfur dioxide and no mercury.Green Mountain also plans to develop new renewable generationfacilities in the state, including constructing Ohio’s largest windfarm and solar arrays, to generate energy for NOPEC customers. Itsaid it would work with its investors and strategic partners, BPSolar and Nuon, a European energy supplier, to developcommercial-scale solar power and wind facilities. Its initialtarget is a wind facility with a capacity up to 10 MW, but Kellysaid the company also plans to support the development of at least100 kW of new solar capacity in Ohio.

Sierra Pacific Resources Co. wants to build a $300 million highcapacity transmission project to serve the growing population insouthern Nevada. The 500-kilovolt transmission project wouldprovide about 3,000 MW of generating capacity now proposed near LasVegas, with completion by 2003. When possible, Sierra Pacific,headquartered in Reno, NV, would follow existing corridors, but ithas filed a construction permit and is considering alternateroutes. Construction could begin next year if the permittingprocess is approved. Gary Porter, the executive director oftransmission for Sierra Pacific Power Co. and Nevada Power Co.,subsidiaries of SPR, said Sierra developers are now working onsiting locations, but he said the financial details had not beencompleted. Under Sierra Pacific’s plan, generation companies wouldpay for access to the transmission system. As many as 14 new powerproject could be developed in the state by generating companies inthe next two years if there is transmission capacity available toserve the plants, Porter said. He said Sierra Pacific also isconsidering more transmission capacity in northern Nevada, but ithad no timeline. Two years ago, Sierra Pacific added a 345 kVelectric transmission line, which almost doubled its capacity toimport electricity to the northern part of the state from otherutilities.

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