Chesapeake Energy Corp. of Oklahoma City, OK, fully exercised ona cash-less basis the common stock purchase warrant issued to itfrom Gothic Energy Corp. in March 1998 and had thereby acquired2,394,125 shares of Gothic common stock. Chesapeake now owns about13% of Gothic’s common stock. The warrant for 2,439,246 shares hadbeen issued to Chesapeake as part of a transaction involving theacquisition by Chesapeake of shares of Gothic’s senior redeemablepreferred stock, a 50% interest in Gothic’s Arkoma basin gas andoil properties and a 50% interest in substantially all of Gothic’sundeveloped acreage. The shares were issued pursuant to thecash-less exercise provisions of the warrant that permittedChesapeake to surrender the right to exercise the warrant inexchange for a number of shares (45,121) of Gothic common stock.

The Illinois Commerce Commission plans to undertake acomprehensive review of the reliability of Commonwealth Edison’spower distribution system and the causes behind a series of poweroutages during a recent heat wave. The investigation will focusfirst on the power interruptions which occurred July 30 throughAug. 13. It also will include a review of the distribution systemdesign and reliability, comparing Commonwealth Edison’s outages andprocedures with those of other major distribution systems in largemetropolitan areas. “Once we determine the root cause of these mostrecent power failures, we intend to give the company specific anddetailed recommendations for fixing the problems and a timetablefor getting it done,” said Chairman Richard Mathias. The CitizensUtility Board (CUB) commended regulators for launching theinvestigation. Last Friday CUB filed a formal request seeking atop-to-bottom review. “The ICC is the only authority ComEd answersto and we’re glad the commission is taking the lead on the issue,because the public doesn’t trust the company to fix these problemsby itself,” CUB Executive Director Martin Cohen said in astatement. Such a full-scale review has not been done since 1991.At that time, the ICC reported the company’s massive power outageson Chicago’s west side in 1990 were a result of decliningreliability caused by underfunding of transmission anddistribution. CUB confirmed that finding in its own analysis,concluding at the time that ComEd had spent 27% less than its ownengineering department said was needed to upgrade the system. CUBcurrently is asking the ICC to appoint an outside firm to overseeimprovements to the system. The ICC has not yet ruled on thatrequest.

Washington Gas Light Co. and Thayer Capital Partners have formedPrimary Investors, LLC, to focus on investment opportunities inafter-market products and services for the heating, ventilating andair-conditioning (HVAC) industry. Washington Gas and Thayer eachowns 50% of the company and has committed $25 million. Earningsfrom investments made by Primary Investors, LLC, are expected to bepositive in the first year of operation. Primary Service Group, theinvesting subsidiary, will focus initially on building a regionalpresence in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia. LouisPearsall has been named president of the company. He has 20 yearsof experience with the Carrier Corp.

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