Although

Although FERC is pulling out the stops to address this summer’s upheaval in California’s bulk power market, Chairman James J. Hoecker made clear last week that most of the responsibility for correcting the dysfunctional electric market lies with the California legislators and regulators who created it.

Although FERC is pulling out the stops to address problems inthe bulk power market, with an emphasis on California, ChairmanJames J. Hoecker yesterday made clear most of the responsibilityfor correcting the dysfunctional power market lies with theCalifornia legislators and regulators who created it.

Although Nevada utilities took in stride all-time record peakelectric demand last week, drawing on a diverse supply portfoliothat includes about one-third purchased power deals under long-termfixed-prices, the major energy holding company, Sierra PacificResources, reported a $20.2 million net loss for the second quarterended June 30. The red ink was attributed to $70 million ofunanticipated fuel and purchased power price increases that werereported by the company last month.

Although energy e-commerce is a burgeoning industry, there areonly a few electronic exchanges so far that can be used for servingaggregated retail energy customer loads, and even those that are upand running still may need to be customized, according to AvistaAdvantage, an Avista Corp. subsidiary.

Most of the East was flat to slightly higher Tuesday, although afew points registered gains of more than a nickel. But westernprices softened by as much as a dime despite a continuation ofpower shortages in California.

Prices continued to fall Tuesday, although by lesser amountsthan on Monday in most cases. The majority of Tuesday’s dropsranged from about a nickel to a little more than a dime, withisolated points such as the PG&E and Algonquin citygatesfalling by slightly more than 15 cents.

Although the proposed project is focused primarily on newelectric generation and large industrial/wholesale localdistribution loads, the backers of a proposed 212-mile natural gaspipeline from the Arizona-California border south into northernBaja, Mexico are testing potential market interest for thepipeline’s U.S. segment as part of an open season running throughJuly 14.

The market was beginning to show more signs of volatilityWednesday, although the swings weren’t quite as wide-ranging asmost of those last week. Cash numbers fell by 10-15 cents at nearlyall points but were expected to rebound again today after futurestraders treated AGA’s afternoon storage report as bullish.

Although officials at the Northeast Power Coordinating Council (NPCC), which oversees electric power grid reliability for Northeastern North America, are forecasting sufficient electricity supplies to meet demand this summer, they cautioned last week that reserves are low.