The New York Mercantile Exchange Inc. (Nymex) announced that beginning on Monday it will expand block trading and exchange of futures for swaps (EFS) to include its core energy futures contracts. Additionally, trading at settlement (TAS) will be expanded on the floor and electronically. Block trades will be available with a minimum quantity of 200 contracts for crude oil futures, and 100 contracts for natural gas, heating oil and gasoline futures. Block trades may be submitted on the trading floor or by fax to the Nymex facilitation desk, if registered for Nymex ClearPort. An additional fee of $1.50 per lot per side will apply. EFS will be available for crude oil and heating oil futures, as is currently available for natural gas and gasoline futures contracts. Nymex said submission will be expanded beyond the trading floor to include Nymex ClearPort. A fee of $2.50 per lot per side will apply. TAS will expand to include the third nearby trading month for all eligible energy contracts on the Nymex trading floor and on the CME Globex electronic trading platform.

PG&E Corp. announced late Wednesday it was elevating utility CEO Thomas King to the newly filled role of president at the holding company. He will report to PG&E CEO Peter Darbee, who previously also held the title of president. Darbee will remain chairman and CEO. The move is effective July 1, and was approved by the utility holding company’s board. In his new role, King will be in charge of “strategic growth opportunities” in addition to continuing to oversee the overall utility operations in Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Replacing King as CEO of the utility will be William Morrow, the current COO at the utility. Morrow in his new role will be in charge of all utility operations, including the electric part of the utility, which King had headed up as utility CEO. Three years removed from its utility’s emergence from Chapter 11 bankruptcy and the break up of its merchant energy businesses, PG&E is signaling that it is ready to look for more growth opportunities, and Darbee’s prepared statement on the promotions undercores this: “These changes are designed to optimize our leadership structure as we prepare to take the company to the next level in pursuit of our vision to be the nation’s leading utility,” Darbee said. “It reflects PG&E’s commitment to deploying our best talent where it can have the greatest impact for shareholders and customers.”

Lodi Gas Storage LLC is holding a nonbinding open season for firm storage capacity beginning in September 2008 in anticipation of expansion of its northern California facilities. The proposed expansion is anticipated to add an incremental 12 Bcf of capacity, with 100,000 MMBtu/d of firm injection and 200,000 MMBtu/d of firm withdrawal. LGS intends to file an application for the expansion with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) in early May. All services will be performed under LGS’ current CPUC Tariff Schedule FSS, a copy of which is available at www.lodistorage.com. The expansion service will be offered for two cycles per year; however, it can be customized to allow bidders to request higher or lower rates of injection or withdrawal according to their individual requirements. The open season started runs until March 15. Responses to the offering are due in the Lodi Gas Storage Houston Office no later than 3 p.m. Central time March 15. Lodi currently provides the California market with 22 Bcf of working capacity, with 450,000 MMBtu/d of firm injection, and 550,000 MMBtu/d of firm withdrawal through interconnections with the PG&E 400 and 401 lines. For more information, contact Lisa Reichel or Masoud Kasraian at (713) 600-4415 or (713) 600-4408.

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger recently named Timothy Alan Simon, a financial industry lawyer/professor, to fill the fifth seat on the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC). The seat had been vacant since the end of last year when the term of another lawyer, Geoffrey Brown, expired. The six-year appointment is subject to state Senate confirmation. Simon, 51, most recently was the governor’s appointments secretary, joining Schwarzenegger’s administration in January 2006 from the position of general counsel/chief compliance officer at Global Crown Capital LLC. From 2002 to 2005, Simon was vice president and chief compliance officer for Preferred Trade Inc. In naming the fifth member of the CPUC, Schwarzenegger said one of his top priorities is to “reduce California’s greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions,” and in that regard he has worked closely with the CPUC on his million solar roofs program. Simon holds a law degree from the University of California Hastings College of Law and a bachelor’s degree from the University of San Francisco.

Two western utilities last week announced changes at the top — one at Sierra Pacific Resources effective immediately, and the other at Avista Corp. scheduled to be phased in at the beginning of next year. Both companies have been reporting increased earnings at their respective utilities in recent years. Sierra’s Michael Yackira, 55, was named president and COO of the Nevada utility holding company, relinquishing his previous executive vice president/CFO role. The company named a new CFO, William D. Rogers, 46, who had been the company’s treasurer since June 2005. Yackira spent 11 years at the FPL Group in Florida before coming to Sierra Pacific Resources in 2003, and Rogers is a Wall Street veteran, serving as managing director of debt capital markets for Merrill Lynch & Co. in New York City before joining Sierra. Spokane, WA-based Avista announced that CEO Gary Ely is retiring the end of this year, and that Scott Morris, the current president/COO, would replace him. Morris also became a member of Avista’s board of directors, effective immediately. He will assume the chairman/CEO duties Jan. 1 next year. Ely joined Avista 40 years ago as an engineer, and Morris, 49, came to the company in 1981 as a marketing employee.

Houston-based Aspen Pipeline LP and Texas Independent Energy, a wholly owned subsidiary of Public Service Enterprise Group Inc. (PSEG), said they have signed a memorandum of understanding that could lead to the development of a Texas intrastate pipeline that would deliver high-nitrogen gas production to a 1,000 MW power plant operated by Texas Independent Energy near Odessa, TX. The pipeline would have a capacity to deliver about 50,000 Dth/d of gas from the Yates formation in Gaines, Andrews, Ector and Winkler counties in West Texas. “The Yates formation is approximately 3,000 feet in depth and production of the gas can be viewed as an advantageous market fuel source for Texas Independent Energy in concert with supporting additional exploration and production opportunities for the producer in the region,” said Russ Bourquein, managing general partner of Aspen. For more information on the project contact Bourquein at (713) 554-4476.

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