Triple-digit spikes at the Southern California border andPG&E citygate were the standout leaders of a strongly risingoverall swing market Wednesday. Virtually all non-California pointswere up between about a nickel and a quarter, with the smallestincreases tending to cluster in the Rockies.

Although not everybody was quite sure what was behind thesoaring California numbers, one source linked it to the state PUC’sdecision Tuesday to require SoCal Edison and PG&E to resumepaying “qualifying facilities” (QFs) for their power supplies. Theknowledge that they would not keep getting stiffed by the utilitiesprobably had the QFs firing up a number of gas-fueled units thathad previously been offline, adding substantially to California gasload, he said.

In other developments related to the California gas/powermarkets, traders reported that a fire had caused a shutdown of thebig Mohave coal-fired plant in Nevada, and that one of the PaloVerde nuclear units in Arizona had begun ramping down formaintenance and would be down to zero output by next week. Bothplants contribute to the California transmission grid.

Continued unusually cold weather for the end of March wasprimarily responsible for the eastern upticks, a marketer said.Also, the screen’s big jump on Tuesday combined with mild firmnessWednesday morning to help support cash, he added.

But Wednesday may have reflected the peak of the late-Marchswing market, at least outside California, he went on. Not only didthe April futures contract crash and burn at expiration yesterdayafternoon (along with the out-months) following release of AGA’sstorage report, but the post-season blast of winter experienced inseveral regions earlier this week appeared to be petering outfinally, the marketer said. A weather warm-up and the screen losseslikely will add up to falling cash prices today, he predicted.

A western trader said California border basis was strengtheningfor both April and the summer (May-to-September), quoting them atan average of plus $7.00 Wednesday. Other new April basis reportsincluded Chicago at plus 16.5-18 cents, NGPL-Midcontinent at minus9-8.5 cents, and Panhandle Eastern at minus 7.5 cents.

A marketer quoting fixed-price PG&E citygates from $10.10 tothe mid $10.30s said he did his first Malin deal Wednesday in themid $7.50s said the price had jumped to $8.31 later. Another tradersaid it was just coincidence that his swing and April Sumas pricesexactly matched each other at $5.43-44.

©Copyright 2001 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. Thepreceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, inwhole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent ofIntelligence Press, Inc.