2003

Gaining the final regulatory approval necessary, Piedmont Natural Gas said the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) approved its requested exemption under the Public Utility Holding Company Act in connection with the pending purchase of North Carolina Natural Gas Corp. (NCNG) and 50% of Eastern North Carolina Natural Gas (ENCNG) from Progress Energy, Inc.

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP), Puget Sound Energy, PacifiCorp, Morgan Stanley Capital Group and Reliant Resources all have signed separate settlement agreements in recent days with FERC staff that dismiss allegations that they tried to game California’s electricity markets in 2000-2001.

Coming out with a much different forecast than some of its peers, WSI Corp.’s seasonal outlook for September-November calls for warmer-than-normal temperatures in all locations except for parts of the northern Plains and Great Lakes, with the warmest temperatures relative to normal expected in the Southwest.

Ben Glisan Jr., the indicted former treasurer of Enron Corp., apparently is negotiating a plea bargain and cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors, according to a story that appeared Friday in the Houston Chronicle. Glisan was indicted in May on 24 felony counts of money laundering, fraud and conspiracy as part of the 109-count superseding indictment against former CFO Andrew Fastow and ex-finance executive Dan Boyle (see Daily GPI, May 26).

FERC staff last week moved to clear various power-related entities of charges that they tried to manipulate California’s electricity markets in 2000-2001. Under separate settlements, FERC staff proposed tossing out gaming allegations against Portland General Electric (PGE), American Electric Power (AEP), San Diego Gas & Electric Co. (SDG&E) and Aquila Merchant Services Inc.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week issued a controversial equipment replacement provision to the Clean Air Act’s New Source Review (NSR) permitting program, which could allow an estimated 17,000 power plants, refineries, chemical plants, pulp and paper mills and other industries to replace equipment without installing more emission controls — even if the new equipment increases pollution.

The recent wave of power outages that hit parts of the Midwest, Northeast and eastern Canada last month offer a stark reminder that there is a need for electric grid operators such as the Midwest Independent Transmission System Operator (MISO) to serve as electric “traffic controller(s)” in the management of power flows over the country’s transmission lines, FERC Chairman Pat Wood said last week.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee has scheduled two days of hearings on Sept. 3 and 4 to explore the reasons for the massive cascading blackout that hit eight states and two Canadian provinces last week.

Joining the increasing crowd of energy plant developers on North Baja beaches, Shell Mexico Tuesday announced that it received a permit from federal energy regulators in Mexico to build its proposed liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal in North Baja, joining Sempra Energy and Marathon affiliates that also have obtained approvals from the Comision Regulatodora de Energia (CRE).