Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), the state’s largest electricity and natural gas provider, said it has signed a 15-year gas supply agreement with two power plants in the City of Farmington, NM. The company estimates the contract, which takes effect in January 2005, will produce about $550,000 in annual revenues. Under the terms of the agreement, PNM will transport a daily minimum of 15,000 MMBtu of gas to fuel an existing power plant and a second plant now under construction. The city has contributed $2.7 million for construction of a gas line to serve the new plant.

Vectren Energy Delivery of Ohio (VEDO), a subsidiary of Vectren Corp., has issued a pre-filing notice with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) to adjust base rates and charges for the company’s natural gas distribution business in a 17-county region covering west central Ohio. If the filing is approved, VEDO expects to increase base rates by approximately $25 million to cover the ongoing cost of operating, maintaining and expanding the approximately 5,200-mile distribution system used to serve more than 310,000 customers. The official application is expected to be filed in late May. If approved, the typical VEDO residential customer who uses natural gas would see less than an 8% increase on the annual bill total, according to the company. The base rate filing would be the first time in 13 years that VEDO has requested a base rate increase, the company said.

©Copyright 2004 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.