Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc., the parent company of Niagara Mohawk Power Corp., reported earnings of $4.2 million, or three cents a share for the third quarter, up from $2.7 million or two cents for the same period of 2000. The Syracuse, NY-based company, which serves most of the State of New York, saw its electric revenues jump 13.4% from a year ago to $940.9 million. Retail sales and total deliveries of electricity also were up from the third quarter of 2000. Electric revenues for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, 2001 were $3.4 billion, up 4.1% from same period a year ago. Retail sales of electricity for the three months increased 1.6% and for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, decreased 2.3% compared to the same periods a year earlier. Total deliveries of electricity, which include deliveries to customers who chose to buy electricity from other energy service providers, were up 26.1% for the third quarter of 2001, and up 8.8% for the 12 months ending Sept. 30, compared to the same periods in 2000. Niagara Mohawk’s natural gas revenues for the third quarter of 2001 were $69.1 million, down 13.4% from the same period in 2000. For the 12 months ended Sept. 30, 2001, natural gas revenues were $786.1 million, up 31.1%, compared to the same period in 2000. Revenues in both periods were primarily influenced by the market price of natural gas. The company passes the commodity cost of natural gas directly on to customers without markup.

Despite the current nationwide economic slowdown, spending for the development and operation of power generation, transmission facilities and natural gas pipelines in the United States remains strong, according to ENSR International, a worldwide environmental and energy development services firm. “The United States’ generation and transmission infrastructure is over 40 years old and the nation’s concern over reliability, redundancy, and security, which was already high, has been further heightened by the terrorist attack on September 11,” said Michael A. Beck, senior vice president for ENSR’s strategic energy development practice. He added that the Energy Information Administration in a recent report increased its long-term forecast for energy demand. “Increasingly, we have found that speed-to-market is a priority of companies building new and expanded facilities,” said Beck. “To meet these needs, we are relying on our considerable experience and our excellent working relationships with the regulatory community to keep our clients’ projects on the fast track. Of ENSR’s 300 environmental/energy development staff, half are senior level professionals, with an average of 17 years of regulatory and industry experience.” ENSR said it sees continued strength and growth in the international energy market, as well. To support this growth, the company said it recently acquired an interest in RSK, an environmental and energy development consulting firms in the UK focusing on the oil and gas industry. Now known as RSK ENSR, the company said it is currently working on several major pipeline projects in Europe, South America, and the Middle East. ENSR is one of the environmental industry’s leading suppliers to the energy sector, specializing in siting, routing, permitting, and compliance for the development, expansion/modification, and operation of power, pipeline, and transmission facilities.

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