Aimed

Acting on recent Ohio legislation aimed at making natural gas customer-choice programs in the state more “consumer-friendly,” the recently formed Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC), the nation’s largest public energy aggregated buying group, reported that it has entered into a one-year contract with Shell Energy for natural gas services to residents of the 95 NOPEC communities.

Sens. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) and Gordon Smith (R-OR) introduced last week the first bipartisan legislation aimed at restoring price stability and reliability in the western electricity and natural gas markets.

FERC yesterday announced a series of actions aimed at boostingenergy supply, reducing demand and eliminating the deliveryconstraints that continue to plague the wholesale electricity andnatural gas markets in California and other western states.

Spot prices appeared to be aimed at escaping earth’s orbit Mondayas they skyrocketed by huge amounts, led by several western pointsrecording increases in triple digits. A strong screen had someinfluence, but it was frigid weather saturating most of the NorthAmerican continent and prompting a plethora of pipeline OFOs (see Transportation Notes) that played thebiggest role in a market that awed many participants.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a final ruleaimed at toughening the safety standards for large pipelinestransporting hazardous liquids through heavily populated andenvironmentally sensitive areas of the nation. The agency furtherindicated that a comparable rule for natural gas pipelines is onthe horizon.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) Friday issued a finalrule aimed at toughening safety standards for pipelinestransporting hazardous liquids through heavily populated andenvironmentally sensitive areas of the nation. The agency furtherindicated that a comparable rule for natural gas pipelines is onthe horizon.

No one is satisfied much by the California legislature’s11th-hour move late Wednesday to pass two new laws aimed atproviding relief for San Diego electric consumers and their utilitydistribution company, San Diego Gas & Electric. Nevertheless,the governor was expected to sign the measures.

Seven key electric utilities and marketers proposed five”consensus recommendations” aimed at helping the House CommerceCommittee move comprehensive restructuring legislation forwardduring this Congress.

Key Senate Republicans yesterday introduced a broad-basedlegislative package of tax measures and other incentives aimed atspurring the production of crude oil, natural gas and alternativeenergy in the Lower 48 states and Alaska.