Argued

Despite widespread mild weather that argued for continued softness, most of the cash market managed to pull out of this week’s downhill slide Thursday and post remarkably consistent flat numbers. Only the Rockies, and to a lesser degree Northeast citygates and Columbia-Appalachia, recorded declines of more than a couple of pennies.

It could be argued everyone is a stakeholder in electricrestructuring, and yesterday it seems just about everyone gottogether and weighed in at Congress with the issue. A broad-basedgroup of organizations has developed a list of 23 principles itbelieves should be considered in any federal restructuringlegislation.

Storm hype or not? It was inevitable that debate on the subjectwould break out again Wednesday after Tropical Storm Irene formedin the northwest Caribbean Sea and cash prices saw this week’suphill climb get even steeper. Virtually all points were rising by15 cents or more, led by New England citygate (Tennessee Zone 6 andAlgonquin) upticks of around a quarter.

It has been argued the emergence of storage facilities in thenatural gas industry has robbed cash prices of some of theirvolatility during summers and winters and replaced it duringshoulder months. Perhaps a similar affect has happened this pastyear because of mother nature. The El Ni¤o winter, which helpedkeep volatility in check this weekend, may very well be behind theextremely high volatility seen at the New York Mercantile Exchangethis past week.