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Three independent system operators — ISO New England, The NewYork ISO, and PJM Interconnection — which have been workingtogether to improve power supply reliability, recently addedanother ISO to their cooperation pact.

Competition has arrived in Canadian gas transportation, but onlya case that is escalating into a big one before the National EnergyBoard will tell who gets what out of the changed pipeline grid.The battle — now heating up on paper, to be followed by hearingsbeginning Jan. 18 — is over a proposal to establish minimum,”reserve” or floor prices for excess capacity on TransCanadaPipeLines Ltd.Round one has already been won by the pipeline’scustomers. After receiving strongly-worded protests, the NEBrejected an appeal by TransCanada to adopt floor prices effectiveNov. 1 or the start of the new gas contract year and heatingseason.

The Web site www.energyOn.com of Englewood, CO, has expanded itsservice territory to include gas service for business andresidential consumers in Maryland. The site currently offers aselection of competitive energy suppliers and products forconsumers in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, California,the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. The site alsorecently expanded the Pennsylvania market to include York County.

Williams’ Mid-America Pipeline subsidiary completed a 412-milepipeline that adds 45,000 b/d of capacity to its gas liquidspipeline system coming out of the Rockies. Line-fill and pipelinestart-up operations were completed Nov. 14.

Natural Gas futures slipped lower for the second day in a rowyesterday as light scale-down industrial buying was no match forcommercial and fund selling. The November contract traded to itslowest price in ten weeks at $2.52 before settling at $2.586, 3.9cents lower on the day.

Calpine Corp., Texas’ largest independent power producer,announced plans last week to build, own and operate an 800 MWnatural gas-fired cogeneration power plant at Bayer Corp.’schemical facility in Baytown, TX. Permitting for the $335 millionfacility is under way, the company said. The plant is expected tobegin commercial operation in late 2001.

FirstEnergy Corp. added 30,000 industrial, commercial andresidential customers in the Midwest through an acquisition of theretail natural gas business of Volunteer Energy LLC, a subsidiaryof Williams. The acquisition was filed with the Federal TradeCommission and the Department of Justice and the parties expect toclose later this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Energy consulting company Skipping Stone Inc. is adding acommunications systems notch to its bow with the acquisition ofTransCapacity Inc., an established provider of software and systemsto automate pipeline transportation.

FirstEnergy Corp. added 30,000 industrial, commercial andresidential customers in the Midwest through an acquisition of theretail natural gas business of Volunteer Energy LLC, a subsidiaryof Williams. The acquisition was filed with the Federal TradeCommission and the Department of Justice and the parties expect toclose later this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.