WGL Holdings is the new the parent company of Washington GasLight Co., a regulated natural gas utility that serves over 875,000customers in Washington D.C., and other subsidiaries formerly underWashington Gas before this restructuring. “The creation of this newstructure strengthens our competitive position in the new energyera,” said James H. DeGraffenreidt, Jr., CEO of WGL Holdings. “Itprovides greater financial and regulatory flexibility and enhancesour ability to continue improving our utility operations andgrowing profitable energy-related retail businesses.”

CP&L Energy took the first step towards the construction ofa 525 MW natural gas-fired power plant by taking the option topurchase a site in Effingham County, GA, just northwest ofSavannah. Pending the receipt of certain permits and necessaryinfrastructure approvals, construction would begin during thesummer of 2001 with a tentative in-service date of June 2002. The$200 million-plus project would be owned and operated by CP&L’sMonroe Power subsidiary. The site was chosen because it lies nearan El Paso natural gas pipeline and has Southern Company’s electrictransmission lines crossing the property

Green Mountain Energy, AES NewEnergy, Enron Energy Services,Exelon Energy and the New Power Company have formed the Alliancefor Retail Markets (ARM) to collectively participate in the PublicUtility Commission of Texas’ electric restructuring proceedings andrelated activities before the Texas State Legislative OversightCommittee on Electric Restructuring. ARM intends to work with thestate to ensure the rules for restructuring the Texas electricitymarket will establish fair and open retail competition whilefostering the broadest choice for energy consumers. “Texas has thepotential to be the best market for retail competition in thecountry by creating a healthy, competitive environment thatmaximizes consumer choice,” said Gillan Taddune, Texas regionalmanager for Green Mountain. ARM’s members said they welcome otherretail electricity providers that are interested in entering theTexas market.

Canada’s National Energy Board released the latest in a seriesof Energy Market Assessment (EMA) reports entitled Canadian NaturalGas Market Dynamics and Pricing. The report identifies factors thataffect natural gas prices and describes the current functioning ofthe regional gas markets in Canada. It concludes that Canada hasbecome part of an integrated North American gas market. With theincreased integration of the markets, regional supply and demandforces are felt throughout the marketplace. It also noted acombination of strong economic growth, a preference for gas-firedelectricity generation, and low gas prices led to sustained growthin gas demand throughout the 1990s. However, the growth in supplylagged during the last few years because of the low oil priceenvironment of 1997/1998. A review of the annual weighted averageborder price paid for Alberta gas indicates that domestic gas userspaid less than export customers until 1998 at which point the twoprices have converged. This indicates that Canadians have hadaccess to natural gas on terms and conditions, including price, noless favorable than export customers. The report concludes thenatural gas market has been functioning so that Canadianrequirements for natural gas have been satisfied at fair marketprices. Copies of the EMA report available on request from:www.neb.gc.ca

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