The New Power Co. (TNPC) has launched the Energy Saving Center, a group of online tools to help residential consumers and small commercial businesses reduce energy usage and costs. The company said key elements of the center are the home and business analyzers. These on-line audit tools, which are free, provide a top-to-bottom analysis of energy usage, and offer specific recommendations on behavior modification and products that can save energy, the company said. The products can then be purchased through the Energy Efficient Products Online store. The Home Analyzer allows residential consumers to learn how much money people in homes similar to theirs spend on energy. They can also uncover specific energy-saving opportunities in their own homes. Using the Business Analyzer, small businesses can choose to analyze one facility or multiple sites. TNPC said the tool examines each aspect of a business’ energy use — including which appliances or systems use the most energy — and provides customized analyses, recommendations, and a means to track their progress. The Energy Saving Center can be found on www.newpower.com.

Southern Union Co. has completed the sale of Morris Merchants Inc. to Joseph C. McCarthy of Massachusetts. “This recent sale is a continuation of Southern Union’s ongoing strategy to divest its non-core assets,” said Thomas F. Karam, president of Southern Union. “In line with Southern Union’s Cash Flow Improvement Plan, this divestiture is another step toward reaching our goal of increasing annualized pre-tax cash flow from operations by $50 million by the end of fiscal year 2002.” Morris Merchants was part of Southern Union’s New England Division — formed in September 2000 through the acquisition of ProvEnergy Corp., Valley Resources, Inc., and Fall River Gas Co. Morris Merchants is a manufacturers’ representative agency for franchised plumbing and heating contract supplies throughout New England. Southern Union is an international energy distribution company serving approximately 1.5 million customers in Texas, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Florida and Mexico.

Enterprise Products Partners LP announced that its operating partnership has agreed to acquire storage facilities from Diamond-Koch LP and Diamond-Koch III LP, which are both jointly owned by affiliates of Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corp. and Koch Industries Inc. The transaction includes 30 salt dome storage caverns with a total permitted capacity of 77 million barrels. The facilities provide storage services for mixed natural gas liquids, ethane, propane, butanes, natural gasoline and olefins, such as ethylene, polymer grade propylene, chemical grade propylene and refinery grade propylene. The caverns are located in Mont Belvieu, TX, and serve the largest petrochemical and refinery complex in the United States. “We are very pleased to execute this agreement with Diamond-Koch to acquire this premier storage business. This is an attractive fee-based business with long-term contracts. These assets will integrate well with our fractionation and pipeline facilities at Mont Belvieu,” stated O.S. “Dub” Andras, CEO of Enterprise. “Upon completion, this acquisition will be accretive to our partnership’s cash flow.” The completion of this transaction is subject to approval by the board of directors of the respective parties and the receipt of various regulatory approvals. The parties said they expect the transaction to be completed by Dec. 31.

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