In addition to providing about 1,500 MW of new power supply since the outset of summer, Calpine Corp. Tuesday told investors on a conference call that it has also enhanced California’s natural gas resources for the state market and its own operations.

“We now have 315 Bcf of low-cost gas reserves (an average of 100 MMcf/d of supplies) in the Sacramento Valley Basin, and we’re securing new transmission capacity to bring competitive new supplies in the state at two of our new generation facilities, and we have a partnership to build our own pipeline that will bring additional gas from the Southwest basins right into the heart of California,” said Jim Macias, a Calpine senior vice president with chief responsibility for the California markets.

“And we have increased our [gas] storage capacity to give us added market flexibility.”

On its third in a series of three conference calls with the investment community, Peter Cartwright, Calpine’s CEO and founder, said a fourth conference to discuss the company’s growing natural gas infrastructure and commodity holdings will be held in the fall, most likely in October.

Calpine officials said it intends to continue to increase its transmission capacity for gas to increase “flexibility and access to multiple sources of supply.” For firm gas supplies matched with firm electricity, the company has firm transmission rights locked up, Macias said.

“We have additional rights, but I would not want to disclose too much as far as what our position is currently in the [gas] marketplace,” he said in response to a conference caller’s question. “I would not want to share that with our competitors.”

All of its gas supplies are locked in for fixed-price power supply contracts Calpine has signed on its existing and future generation plants in the state, Macias said in response to a separate question. For the variable-priced power deals, the prices are tied to a formula that includes an indexed gas price.

“For the pass-through contracts, we’ll buy gas as it is called for,” he said, noting that “everyone benefits from declining gas prices,” but Calpine is relatively unaffected either way the gas prices turn.

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