California

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on energy and air quality last Thursday voted 17-13 to forward a Republican stopgap bill to aid California to the full panel. The vote on the measure, sponsored by Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), was strictly along party lines.

The House Energy and Commerce subcommittee on energy and air quality yesterday voted 17-13 to forward a Republican stopgap bill to aid California to the full panel. The vote on the measure, sponsored by Subcommittee Chairman Joe Barton (R-TX), was strictly along party lines.

Results of the latest fracing in a relatively shallow (2,000-foot-deep) exploration well near Delano in California’s southern central valley indicate a horizontal drilling program is going to be needed to prove the potential of what Tri-Valley Oil and Gas Corp. is calling the far West’s largest natural gas field ever.

Rep. Joe Barton (R-TX) plans to release to the public today his emergency legislation that seeks to provide relief to the troubled California wholesale energy markets in the short term.

The California Independent System Operator’s (Cal-ISO) claim that market power has inflated wholesale energy costs in the state by more than $6.2 billion since last May (see NGI, March 26) should be rejected because the figure came from a report that was approved by the organization’s illegally formed governing board, contends Williams Energy Marketing and Trading.

The California Independent System Operator’s (Cal-ISO) claim that market power has inflated wholesale energy costs in the state by more than $6.2 billion since last May (see Daily GPI, March 23) should be rejected because the organization is run by an illegally formed governing board, contends Williams Energy Marketing and Trading.

Amid concerns over another day of rolling blackouts inCalifornia and buoyed by speculative short covering, natural gasfutures erupted higher Tuesday as traders factored in the chancethat the market has found at least a temporary bottom. The Aprilcontract finished 22.4 cents stronger at $5.287, but even moreimpressive was the buying interest in the out-months, which enabledthe 12-month strip to advance 23.6 cents to close at $5.421.

The governors of California, Oregon and Washington Monday sent aletter to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission renewing earlierrequests for a temporary western wholesale price cap onelectricity, but allowing a $25/MWh profit over the cost of thepower. A similar proposal, they said, has been offered by FERCCommissioner William Massey.

Hoping to make some political points and address a somewhatforgotten side of California’s energy woes, the minority RepublicanParty leaders in the state legislature Monday asked Gov. Gray Davisto call a second, concurrent special session of the state lawmakersto address natural gas supply and price issues that are related tothe electricity crisis.