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Dominion Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Dominion Resources, andRiver Gas Corp., a privately held company based in Northport, Al,said Friday they have jointly acquired lease rights to develop19,000 acres of coalbed methane territory in Alabama’s BlackWarrior Basin. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Thearea produces about 315 MMcf/d of coalbed methane. The jointventure acquired the assets from Pittsburgh and Midway Coal MiningCo. Dominion and River Gas expect to drill approximately 200 wellson the newly acquired acreage over the next three years. Together,the two companies currently own and operate more than 530 coalbedmethane wells in the region which produce 50 MMcf/d. River Gasbegan operation of these properties in 1987 and was one of theearliest operators in the Black Warrior Basin. The Black WarriorBasin is a 35,000-square-mile area in northwest Alabama.

El Paso Power Services Co., a subsidiary of Houston-based ElPaso Energy, agreed to buy the interests of PSEG Global and ENPEXCorp. in the Newark Bay Cogeneration Partnership in a deal worthmore than $100 million and expected to close as early as July thismonth.

Shareholders of North Carolina Natural Gas Corp. (NCNG) approvedthe company’s acquisition by Raleigh, NC-based Carolina Power &Light. The companies are awaiting approval by the North CarolinaUtilities Commission and the South Carolina Public ServiceCommission. CP&L anticipates commission approval and completionof the acquisition in July.

Allentown, PA-based electric utility PP&L said it set acompany record Monday for delivering summertime power. During hightemperatures and heavy humidity in central and easternPennsylvania, PP&L delivered 6,128,000 kWh of electricity tocustomers between 1 and 2 p.m. Monday. The company’s formersummertime record of 6,046,000 kWh was set July 15, 1997. PP&Lsaid it was able to set the delivery record without anyinterruption or curtailment of service to customers. In otherregional power news the New England Independent System Operatorcanceled a power warning that had been set through last night andsaid customers could resume normal power usage.

El Paso Energy Communications Co., a subsidiary of Houston-basedEl Paso Energy; Touch America, a subsidiary of The Montana PowerCo.; and PF.Net LLC of Vancouver, a privately held company, plan tolaunch a $150 million project to create a long-haul fiber-opticnetwork linking Los Angeles and Houston.

A proprietary storage technology developed by a Houston-basedfirm could “obviate” the need in the short term for some of thepipeline capacity additions that have been proposed to meet thepower generation-fueled growth in gas demand anticipated for theNortheast market, says a company official.

A proprietary storage technology developed by a Houston-basedfirm could “obviate” the need in the short term for some of thepipeline capacity additions that have been proposed to meet thepower generation-fueled growth in gas demand anticipated for theNortheast market, says a company official.

Southern California Gas’ so-far ill-fated attempt to sell asmall metropolitan-based underground storage field is catchingpotential flak from regulators and nearby residents fueled by a36-page report that accuses the nation’s largest natural gasutility of unethical, if not illegal, business practices. Aprehearing conference will be convened June 11 by an administrativelaw judge at the California Public Utilities Commission to begin aninvestigation into the alleged violation the regulatory body’srules.

Xcel Energy Inc. will be the name of the holding company createdby the merger of Denver-based New Century Energies and NorthernStates Power Co. of Minneapolis.