California power marketer/generators blasted the state transmission grid operator’s (Cal-ISO’s) federally filed market stabilization plan as potentially being “extremely detrimental” to the state’s struggling electricity markets and urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to reject it. The plan promises to cause “more blackouts in the West, chase away much-needed new generation, and jack up wholesale power costs,” according to the Western Power Trading Forum, a trade and lobbying group for marketers, scheduling coordinators, power exchanges and generators. The Cal-ISO proposal includes price caps and restrictions on selling California-generated power out of state. “It is yet another attempt to heap more rules on an already overruled market,” said Gary Ackerman, executive director of the trading forum.

Williams Communications officially became a separate company this week after it completed its spin-off from Williams Cos. The Tulsa-based parent distributed nearly 400 million shares of Williams Communications to Williams’ shareholders in a tax-free dividend that completed the transaction. Williams Communications CEO Howard Janzen said the spin-off would give the market “a more accurate view” of the communication business’ strengths and “give investors the chance to align themselves with a proven high-tech growth strategy.” The communications company, which will also be headquartered in Tulsa, was begun in 1985 by Williams when it began placing fiber optic cable in pipelines. It more than doubled its network revenue in 2000 and last year signed almost $3 billion in new customer commitments.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), an electronic marketplace for over-the-counter (OTC) energy and metals products, announced on Tuesday that it has crossed the $100 billion combined notional value mark, representing over 100,000 trades, only eight months since ICE went live in August 2000. More than 1,000 energy and metals traders worldwide have completed transactions on the ICE system with thousands more logging on each day to view and trade more than 600 listed products for settlement and delivery over a multitude of time periods.

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