Alerts

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week notified several regulated natural gas pipelines that it will audit their financial and operational data as part of the agency’s plans to carry out an industrywide review.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission notified several regulated natural gas pipelines Tuesday that it will audit their financial and operational data as part of the agency’s plans to carry out an industrywide review.

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) said that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the assets of CommodityLogic, a collection of back office software and hardware, from Enron Net Works LLC, an affiliate of the bankrupt Enron Corp. ICE said the purchase and sale agreement has been filed with the bankruptcy court and is subject to final bankruptcy court approval following a standard notice period. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Responding to a California power market gone haywire andteetering on the brink of operational and financial disaster, FERCFriday issued a series of remedial measures, virtually strippingthe Cal-PX and Cal-ISO of their control of the market and callingmarket stakeholders together to negotiate bilateral forwardcontracts.

California energy officials declared another power alert Mondayas statewide electricity reserves threatened to dip below 7% in theface of near-record cold weather power demand and more than 11,000MW out of service, about 4,000 MW of which were on an unplannedbasis. Part of the unplanned loss of generation capacity wasattributed to a transmission breakdown in the San Joaquin Valley onpart of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s system.

California power end users probably thought they were justhaving another nightmare Monday when the California ISO announcedStage One and Stage Two Electric Emergencies. After all, it’sNovember, not August. However, August apparently left a lastingimpression on the state’s ailing power plants.

In the midst of this week’s power alerts exacerbated byCalifornia’s shortage of electric generating capacity, theSacramento Municipal Utility District drew only three responses toa proposal put out for bids early in the summer to have a developerbuild, own and operate a natural gas-fired 500 to 1,000 MWgeneration plant on part of a 2,000-acre site owned by the nation’slargest municipal utility. The earliest the plant would beoperational would be in 2004.

California energy officials held their breath Monday and bracedthemselves for what might be the severest test yet for the state’soverworked electricity infrastructure and overheated wholesalepower market.

In the midst of this week’s power alerts exacerbated byCalifornia’s shortage of electric generating capacity, theSacramento Municipal Utility District drew only three responses toa proposal put out for bids early in the summer to have a developerbuild, own and operate a natural gas-fired 500 to 1,000 MWgeneration plant on part of a 2,000-acre site owned by the nation’slargest municipal utility. The earliest the plant would beoperational would be in 2004.