The New York State Public Service Commission (PSC) plans to review the programs and practices initially established to encourage market development of retail electric and natural gas access to determine whether they may have outlived their usefulness and could be allowed to expire or whether the costs of the programs could be shifted from ratepayers to market competitors. PSC Chairwoman Patricia L. Acampora said there currently are more than 100 energy service companies (ESCO), which serve more than 1.3 million customer accounts, with about 40% of the state’s electric usage and 46% of natural gas usage met by ESCOs or through other alternatives to utility supply. The PSC is seeking proposals to modify the existing retail access programs and practices to better align the programs and practices to the current state of market development. Additionally, the PSC said it could consider changes to proposals in future rate proceedings with the understanding that it may be necessary to defer to the generic process in reaching a decision on any particular policy or program. Proposals on Case No. 07-M-0458 may be submitted to the PSC until June 7. Reply comments may be filed until June 27. For information, visit the website at www.dps.state.ny.us.

El Paso Corp.‘s Tennessee Gas Pipeline announced last Wednesday that it plans to carry out an expansion of its Carthage Line to meet the growing natural gas needs of a major power generator in Louisiana. The project would add 100,000 Dth/d of capacity from the Carthage production area in East Texas to a new interconnect with Entergy Corp.‘s Perryville generation station in Ouachita Parish, LA, Tennessee said. The expansion calls for the installation of an additional 7,700 horsepower (hp) of compression on Tennessee’s Carthage lateral and an additional 3,550 hp of compression at the pipeline’s West Monroe Compressor Station. Tennessee said it expects to file an application with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in the third quarter of this year. The project has a targeted in-service date of May 2009. The project is part of Tennessee’s continuing efforts to “meet the growing natural gas demand requirements for power generation,” said Bryan Neskora, senior vice president of Tennessee. The Tennessee pipeline stretches 14,200 miles from the Gulf Coast region to the Canadian border, serving major cities in the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic and Northeast natural gas markets.

Washington Gas Light Co. filed an application with the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) to increase its rates and charges to better reflect its costs. In the four years since its last rate increase, Washington Gas has weathered several factors that have increased business costs substantially, the company said. These factors include new investments in infrastructure, general inflation, rising labor and employee benefits costs, higher insurance costs and additional compliance-related expenses for new laws such as the Pipeline Safety Improvement Act. The proposed rates and charges will increase Washington Gas’s overall annual Maryland revenues by $33.8 million, an increase of 4.4%. The typical residential heating customer would see an increase of about 5.62% in his gas bill, or an average of about $5.70 per month. Washington Gas also is seeking approval for a performance-based rate (PBR) plan, which would allow the company to share the benefits of any future efficiency improvements and cost reductions with both investors and customers. With the approval of the proposed PBR plan, Washington Gas would agree not to request a base rate increase for three years. Washington Gas proposes the new rates and PBR Plan be implemented in November. About 421,000 of the company’s one million customers live in Maryland.

The Minerals Management Service‘s (MMS) lease sale in the Alaska Beaufort Sea, which was held Wednesday, generated more than $42 million in total bids from oil and natural gas producers. Producers submitted bids totaling $42.33 million on 92 blocks, with high bids in Lease Sale 202 totaling $42.16 million, covering about 502 million acres offshore Alaska’s arctic coast, according to Interior Department’s MMS. The highest bid received for the sale was $14.10 million submitted by Shell Gulf of Mexico Inc. for Flaxman Island NR06-04 Block 6609. Shell Gulf also bid the most high bids (49), totaling $39.25 million. Other company high bidders included Total E&P USA Inc., Eni Petroleum US LLC, ConocoPhillips Alaska Inc. and BP Exploration (Alaska) Inc. The Beaufort Sea Lease Sale 202 offered 8.7 million acres offshore Alaska’s northern coast extending from the Canadian border on the east to new Barrow, AK, on the west, according to MMS. The area is located in water depths ranging from 33 to 2,970 feet, although a majority of the area is less than 330 feet deep, the agency said. It is believed to hold substantial energy reserves. The state of Alaska receives 27% of all revenues generated as a result of federal leasing within three to six miles off the Alaska coast.

©Copyright 2007Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news reportmay not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in anyform, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.