Action

Legal action against a just-retired state regulator, Henry Duque, ended last week when the California Supreme Court refused to take an appeal by the former commissioner’s opponents. However, the court roadblock prompted a powerful state legislator to propose a new law that in the future would automatically toss out a regulator caught voluntarily buying stock in a company that he or she regulated.

Legal action against a just-retired state regulator, Henry Duque, ended last week when the California Supreme Court refused to take an appeal by the former commissioner’s opponents, but the court roadblock prompted a powerful state legislator to propose a new law that in the future would automatically toss out a regulator caught voluntarily buying stock in a company that he or she regulated.

It was an active week for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), which agreed to a major settlement with El Paso Corp. over charges of gas price manipulation (see related story) and sued a former PG&E Energy Trading natural gas trader, Christopher Chapman of East Brunswick, NJ, for fraud. The CFTC ordered Chapman to pay a $240,000 fine last Tuesday.

In addition to a major settlement agreement Wednesday with El Paso Corp. over charges of gas price manipulation (see related story), the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also sued a former PG&E Energy Trading natural gas trader, Christopher Chapman of East Brunswick, NJ, for fraud and ordered him to pay a $240,000 fine.

An initial review undertaken by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission seems to suggest the spike in natural gas prices in the Northeast and elsewhere last week was “fundamentally driven” by market forces, rather than abusive practices, said the head of the agency’s Office of Market Oversight and Investigations (OMOI) last Wednesday.

Natural gas futures were caught in choppy trading action Thursday morning as bullish storage data met head on with the market’s seasonal propensity to move lower in the first quarter of the year. After an initial dip failed to attract much follow-through selling, buyers managed to support the market throughout the rest of the session. March finished at $6.162, up 2.8 cents for the day.

Tennessee Gas Pipeline issued an operational flow order because of colder temperatures and reduced operational flexibility. The OFO Action Alert will be effective 9 a.m. CST Feb. 12 for all LMS-MA Balancing Parties with meters located in Zones 1, 2, 3 and 4. Balancing contracts are required to maintain an actual daily flow rate that does not exceed the greater of 500 Dths or 102% of scheduled quantities. Customers will be assessed twice the LMS Daily Variance Rate ($0.3936 x 2 = $0.7872) for that portion of physical quantities related to overtakes from delivery meters which exceed this tolerance. Penalties will not apply to customers who under take out of the system. Tennessee said it cannot accept unscheduled imbalances and requires all customers to nominate and schedule all payback. A prior OFO Balancing Alert and MAV remains in effect for Zone 5.

The new Congress with slim Republican majorities in each house has a better chance to pass a trimmed down energy bill or to sneak through an Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) drilling bill in the next two years, according to Slade Gorton, a former three-term Republican senator from the state of Washington.

The new Congress with slim Republican majorities in each house has a better chance to pass a trimmed down energy bill or to sneak through an Alaska National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) drilling bill in the next two years, according to Slade Gorton, a former three-term Republican senator from the state of Washington.