Florida Gas Transmission has filed an application with FERC toupgrade two compressor stations in order to add 80,000 MMBtu/d ofmainline firm transportation capacity on the Western Division ofthe pipeline for service to Alabama Electric Cooperative, which hassigned a 12-year contract for the entire amount. FGT requested itbe granted authorization to begin construction and operation of the$6.9 million expansion on Nov. 1, 2000. It would receive the gasfrom its Destin Pipeline interconnect and transport it 90 miles toAEC’s existing meter station yard in Alabama. FGT plans to add4,800 hp of compression at two units at station 11A. It isproposing to charge negotiated rates for the service to AEC, andsaid it expects to be “fully reimbursed for the cost of thefacilities.” The pipeline told FERC, “under the Commission’s Sept.15, 1999 ‘Statement of Policy’ concerning natural gas pipelinefacilities, this proposal meets the criteria for rolled-inpricing.”

PG&E Corp. said it was outraged at a proposed decisionissued by a California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC)administrative law judge (ALJ) in its general rate case. PG&Esaid it had requested a combined gas and electric rate increase of$822 million to support delivery requirements, service reliabilityand safety improvements, but on Tuesday the judge effectivelydisallowed all but $18 million. The opinion, however, states theutility was seeking $1.07 billion and the judge recommendedallowing only $243 million, an $827 million cut. Despite thediscrepancy, it’s clear PG&E would get a lot less thanrequested if the ALJ’s decision is accepted and approved by thefull commission. PG&E said it would strip out much of theneeded funds for safety and reliability programs and leave theutility “significantly under funded to support these criticaloperations.” The utility said it will “vigorously urge the CPUC’sfive commissioners to reject the ALJ’s proposal and develop adecision that ensures that the current levels of safe, reliable,and responsive service are continued.” PG&E Corp. will filecomments on the proposed ALJ decision with the CPUC by Nov. 8.PG&E Corp. had 1998 revenues of almost $20 billion and holds$33 billion in assets.

NW Natural, an LDC to 450,000 customers in the state ofWashington, said yesterday it has filed for a rate increase torecover higher costs paid for natural gas purchases on behalf ofits customers, together with its cost of service relating to anexpansion of the pipeline from its Mist Storage facility. Theincrease averages 10.8% for NW Natural’s Oregon residentialcustomers and would be effective December 1. It also averages13.8%for commercial customers and 15.3% for industrial firmcustomers, and would cause the average residential customer’smonthly bill to rise $5.08 a month, from $47.08 to $52.16, assumingaverage consumption of about 68 therms a month, the utility said.

LG&E Energy’s LG&E Power Inc., announced an agreementwith GE Power Systems (GEPS) to purchase six GE Frame 7F naturalgas turbines and six heat recovery steam generators. They will becombined with two 400 MW steam turbines to create 1,600 MW of newgeneration for the state. They will create two 800 MW combinedcycle power islands, with each island having three natural gasturbines, heat recovery steam generators, a steam turbine, fourgenerators and associated equipment. LG&E is pursuingdevelopment of a merchant power plant to be located in the ElectricReliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) region, a power pool thatserves approximately 85% of the electric load in Texas. LG&Esaid the most favorable location on the list of potential sites isin Anderson County, near Palestine, Texas, with interconnection toERCOT through 345 kV transmission lines owned by Texas UtilitiesElectric Co.

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