Begun

Dallas-based TXU has begun soliciting bids to sell about 250miles of a remote intrastate pipeline and distribution system inTexas in an effort to prune down some of its less critical assets.The system, inherited by TXU when then-Texas Utilities merged withLone Star Gas parent Enserch in 1997, runs through the West TexasPanhandle area, through an unincorporated region covering eightcounties. TXU’s Carol Peters said the company already has gotteninquiries about the short pipeline. “The sale is part of a trimmingdown process,” Peters said. “The company found that the pipelinewas not strategic to its critical assets in TXU’s long-term plan toremain competitive in the energy industry.” Peters said she did notknow if any other pipelines in the state would be sold, but saidreviews were an “ongoing process,” with TXU constantly reviewingall of its assets to ensure they contribute to earnings. “We alwayswant to make sure that all of our assets fit with where we’re goingas a company.” Most of the pipeline system consists of 12- and10-inch mainlines and smaller distribution lines through Coke,Coleman, Concho, Edwards, Runnels, Schleicher, Sutton and Tom Greencounties in the San Angelo area. TXU operates two natural gaspipeline systems across the state, consisting of TXU Lone StarPipeline, TXU Fuel Co. and TXU Processing Co. TXU Lone Star is theTexas intrastate pipeline that connects three major Texas marketcenters at Waha, Carthage and Katy. The pipeline system expected togo up for sale does not overlap with any of TXU’s electric serviceterritory in Texas.

Deep-water natural gas from ExxonMobil’s Hoover Diana discoveryin East Breaks Blocks 945 and 989 has begun flowing through thenewly constructed East Breaks Gathering System, an 85-mile, 20-inchdiameter pipeline running from water depths of 440 feet to 4,700feet in the Gulf of Mexico.

Repeating what has become a familiar pattern in recent years,California’s legislature has begun the process of turning back thedecision made last week by state energy regulators to allow thestate’s major investor-owned utilities to purchase electricitythrough exchanges other than the state-chartered nonprofitCalifornia Power Exchange (Cal-PX). Legislative action could comeas early as today as part of California’s annual budget bill.

Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Gas extendedhigh-linepack OFOs that had begun Saturday (see Daily GPI, June 5)through Sunday, but neither order was in effect Monday.

Whitecap Energy System, a venture by Coastal Corp. and PeoplesEnergy, has begun an open season to determine customer interest inan underwater line along the western shore of Lake Michigan, fromIndiana and Illinois into southeastern Wisconsin.

The softening that had begun in late trading Monday carried overto Tuesday’s activity, but the path back down wasn’t as steep asthe climb up.

Responding to regulatory and industry warnings of potentialpower outages this summer, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., SanFrancisco, has begun offering its largest customers payments forvoluntarily curtailing at least 20% of their loads during peaksummer days. The large combination utility covering the northernhalf of California is targeting its 450 largest customers and arelatively few small businesses to obtain up to 500 MW of savingsin a given peak hour.

Having sold unprofitable Texas natural gas businesses and begunto dispose of its unprofitable energy services business, PG&ECorp. reported an 80% increase in first quarter results, comparedto the year-earlier period, earning $284 million, or 79cents-per-share. Its slimmed-down national energy group now focusedon merchant power generation and trading contributed 16cents-per-share to those results, said CEO Robert Glynn, Jr.

Having sold unprofitable Texas natural gas businesses and begunto dispose of its unprofitable energy services business, PG&ECorp. reported an 80% increase in first quarter results, comparedto the year-earlier period, earning $284 million, or 79cents-per-share. Its slimmed-down national energy group now focusedon merchant power generation and trading contributed 16cents-per-share to those results, said CEO Robert Glynn, Jr.