Approved

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) approved a NewYork Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) application to trade electricityfutures and options based on delivery at the Pennsylvania-NewJersey-Maryland (PJM) western hub.

Giving gas unbundling efforts in California a shot in the arm,FERC last week approved a major agreement to restructure thelong-term transportation and gas sales arrangements that haveenabled Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) over the years toreceive imports of Canadian gas through its paper pipelineaffiliate, Pacific Interstate Transmission Co. (PITCO).

Westcoast Energy announced plans to buy an additional 9.1% shareof the now-approved Alliance Pipeline Project from Unocal Corp.,which indicated its interest in selling the share earlier this yearas part of a corporate restructuring. The purchase will increaseWestcoast’s total interest in the project to 23.6% from 14.5%.Westcoast’s total equity in the project is now about $500 million.The sale is scheduled to close by the end of December, subject tothe completion of formal agreements.

FERC yesterday approved an initiative paving the way for it tobegin discussions with state regulators as a preliminary step topotentially dividing up the nationwide electricity transmissiongrid into regional districts and boundaries to further promotecompetition and eliminate undue discrimination against powercustomers.

FERC last week approved, subject to modifications, a majorsettlement that spells out how Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America(NGPL) will auction off long- and short-term transportationcapacity on its system. The decision was seen as a big win for theMidwest pipeline, with the Commission siding with it on keycontested auction-related issues.

FERC yesterday approved, subject to modifications, a majorcontested settlement that outlines how Natural Gas Pipeline Co. ofAmerica (NGPL) will auction off long- and short-term transportationcapacity on its system. Although the Commission stressed theNatural auction shouldn’t be considered a blueprint for theproposed auction procedures that are now being considered forindustry-wide use, the decision does provide a sneak preview intoFERC’s thinking on the issue.

The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) approved New YorkState Electric and Gas Co.’s (NYSEG) sale of all of itsfossil-fueled generation plants to AES NY Inc. and Mission EnergyWestside Inc. The $1.85 billion sale furthers the commission goalof encouraging utility divestiture of generation facilities as onestep in the process of introducing competition to New York’selectric industry. NYSEG is the first utility in the state toreceive commission approval for the sale of generation facilities.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday remanded a case inwhich industrial and LDC customers challenged a FERC-approvedmethod for compensating customers that are curtailed beyond theirpro rata share on Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco). “This was avery good result for us,” said an attorney for one of thepetitioners.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday remanded a case inwhich industrial and LDC customers challenged a FERC-approvedmethod for compensating customers that are curtailed beyond theirpro rata share on Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco). “This was avery good result for us,” said an attorney for one of thepetitioners.