Buys

Lured by the chance to be a main supplier for the wealth ofgas-fired power plants planned for Texas, Aquila Energy bought theKaty Hub from Western Gas Resources last week. The $100 milliondeal is expected to close by April 30, although it still needs toclear the Federal Trade Commission’s Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

Less than a week after buying the gas marketing operations ofSemco Energy, MCN Energy subsidiary CoEnergy Trading announced thepurchase of Michigan-based Howard Energy Marketing’s retail gasmarketing assets for an undisclosed amount. The purchases aredesigned to bolster MCN’s unregulated marketing operations and itsinterest in the proposed Vector and Millennium Pipeline projects,which will add 1 Bcf/d of new gas transportation capacity throughthe region starting in November 2000, the company said.

Less than a week after buying the gas marketing operations ofSemco Energy, MCN Energy subsidiary CoEnergy Trading announced itis buying Michigan-based Howard Energy Marketing’s retail gasmarketing assets for an undisclosed amount. The purchases aredesigned to bolster MCN’s unregulated marketing operations and itsinterest in the proposed Vector and Millennium Pipeline projects,which will add 1 Bcf/d of new gas transportation capacity throughthe region starting in November 2000, the company said.

Lured by the chance to be a main supplier for the wealth ofgas-fired power plants planned for Texas, Aquila Energy bought theKaty Hub from Western Gas Resources Monday. The $100 million dealis expected to close by April 30, although it still needs to clearthe Federal Trade Commission’s Hart-Scott-Rodino Act.

Unitil Corp. of Hampton, NH, acquired a minority interest inNorth American Power Brokers Inc. for $3 million in cash, and haslicensed and will deploy North American Power’s Internet-basedtechnology for electricity and gas sales to retail consumers.

Unitil Corp. of Hampton, NH, acquired a minority interest inNorth American Power Brokers Inc. for $3 M in cash, and haslicensed and will deploy North American Power’s Internet-basedtechnology for electricity and gas energy sales to retailconsumers.

UtiliCorp joined the merger-mania Friday as it announced plans to acquire St. Joseph Light &Power in Missouri for $190.6 million. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors for both companies but still needs approval from Light &Power shareholders and state and regulatory officials. Both companies expect the deal to close in 2000.

Reliant Energy, formerly Houston Industries, has purchased theretail gas marketing assets of Commonwealth Energy Systemsubsidiary COM/Energy Marketing for an undisclosed sum. The assetsprimarily are made up of contracts with more than 2,000 energycustomers in Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Connecticut, twooffices in Massachusetts and a 10-person marketing team.

Taking its initial plunge into the Canadian Midstream market, Duke Energy announced Wednesday its subsidiary, Duke Energy Services Canada Ltd., acquired gas gathering and processing assets from Calgary-based Cometra Energy. Financial terms were not disclosed.