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A group of about 20 consumer activists, complaining of highcompensation for utility executives and excessive bail-out costs oftheir companies, attempted to disrupt the annual meeting of theEdison Electric Institute in Chicago Monday.

Following a tough first quarter in which earnings fell short of1Q97 levels by about $32 million, Sonat Inc. announced plans for amassive restructuring of its E&P properties, including the saleof 19% of its gas reserves, or 487 Bcf, and 24% of its production,or 200 MMcf/d.

The Canadian Province of Nova Scotia told FERC it is concernedit could loose royalty revenue and pay higher rates on theMaritimes and Northeast pipeline as a result of Maritimes recentrequest to defer Phase I pipeline construction costs and servicefor one year. Maritimes told FERC last month its only Phase Ishipper, affiliate Duke Energy, exercised a provision in itscontract with the pipeline allowing it to defer using its firmtransportation on the line by a year.

Starting Friday, about 90,000 gas consumers in 165 Nebraskacommunities served by KN Energy will begin two weeks of shoppingfor alternative suppliers. Three suppliers have signed up for theone-year pilot, including KN’s unregulated energy services arm,Brighton, CO-based United Gas Service, and Public Alliance forCommunity Energy, an organization of 33 municipalities based inLincoln, NB. KN, the regulated utility, will serve as the defaultsupplier. Supply and transportation services will remain on asingle bill mailed by KN.

Overall movement of cash prices was lower Monday, but there wereconsiderable differences among markets as to the degree ofdownturn. The Gulf Coast, Appalachia and Rockies barely budged withvery few points falling more than a penny or two. TheMidcontinent/Midwest tended to occupy the middle ground-fieldprices were only off 2-3 cents, but declines at marketarea-oriented points such as Northern Natural-demarc, NGPL AmarilloMainline and Chicago citygates were more like a nickel or greater.The biggest losses of around a dime occurred at Northeastcitygates.

Just as the old saying about the lion and the lamb goes, no onecan ever be sure what kind of weather March will bring. This lackof clear fundamental direction has made its way to the New YorkMercantile Exchange, where the spot April contract was unable tobreak outside of a tight $2.115-$2.205 trading range last week.Since April had virtually no room to move, it is fitting the spotmonth could settle the week only 0.8 cents higher at $2.137.

The Alliance Pipeline project’s in-service date is expected tobe delayed by about one year, Alliance Pipeline President and CEODennis Cornelson announced yesterday. The massive Canadian gaspipeline project designed to bring 2.3 Bcf/d of supply to theChicago hub from supply basins in British Columbia and Albertalikely won’t start flowing gas until late in 2000 rather than inNovember 1999 because of continued regulatory delays in Canada. Theproject has come under a hail of protests from competitors inongoing hearings in front of Canada’s National Energy Board.

Expiration week is supposed to be about extreme volatility atthe New York Mercantile Exchange, but the March natural gascontract exhibited anything but that on Monday. The spot monthinched 1.9 cents lower to $2.179 yesterday, amid a session bound bya tight 4-cent trading range

For now, Nova Gas Transmission continues to handle about 80%(4.5 Tcf in 1997, or 12.3 Bcf/d) of Canadian gas on its provincialgathering grid because Alberta remains both the biggest producerand center of growth in output. But expectations of serious growthin British Columbia showed clearly when the National Energy Boardvisited the province’s resource development frontier of Fort St.John for regional hearings on the Alliance Pipeline Project