An equipment problem involving steam to the main turbine at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona caused a shutdown of Unit 2, APS Generation said on Friday. The 1,270 MW unit (APS share = 380 MW) performed as designed in this situation and shut down automatically. While all of the equipment operated normally during the shutdown, the details are being investigated and it is expected that the unit will return to service early next week, APS said. Units 1 and 3 continue to operate at full power. In the meantime, APS reported that it has adequate supply to meet its customer needs. “Our reserves are sufficient to meet customer demands during the outage,” said Jim Levine, executive vice president of APS Generation. “Our customers will have the energy they need to keep their homes cool and their lights on.” APS Generation, a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., operates Palo Verde on behalf of the station’s six other owners.
Caused
Articles from Caused
CA Scrambles for Summer Power Remedies
It caused a political stir, but nary a megawatt changed Tuesday when California energy-buying officials turned over to the state controller seven more power contracts that cover supplies this summer. State Controller Kathleen Connell Monday expressed concerns that the state’s much-publicized long-term contracting was going to be woefully short this summer, causing billions of more dollars to be needed for spot market purchases.
Transportation Notes
Pacific Gas & Electric finally brings an extended Stage 3 high-inventory OFO to a halt today. The OFO, which caused steep plunges at PG&E-related pricing points Friday when it was issued for Saturday, got extended through Sunday at zero tolerance for positive daily imbalances. The tolerance was loosened considerably to 15% in Monday’s OFO, but $5/Dth penalties remained in place.
Transportation Notes
Unplanned maintenance at the SOE (Sable Offshore Energy) GasPlant has caused physical supply into Maritimes & Northeast todecrease temporarily, the pipeline said. Due to this, shippers areexpected to match physical volumes to nominated receipts, it added.However, the reduced throughputs have allowed M&N to lift ITrestrictions at the Baileyville (ME) Compressor Station.
California Dives On Capacity News, Lack of OFO
What a difference a day can make in trader psychology. The newsof extra El Paso capacity and lack of a PG&E OFO causedCalifornia prices to plummet around a dollar or more in both theswing and bidweek markets Wednesday, while other quotes for thelast day of August were flat to mildly softer in the East andsurprisingly stronger in the Rockies.
Lawsuit Says El Paso Negligence Caused Blast
The first civil lawsuit was brought Tuesday against El PasoNatural Gas for the deadly explosion in southeastern New Mexico,accusing the pipeline of negligence in failing to “properlyinspect, maintain and operate” its system.
MCN Margins Fall, Customers Default
Unseasonally high natural gas prices have narrowed margins andcaused defaults by unhedged marketer customers, resulting in a$24.4 million second quarter loss for MCN Energy Group’s energymarketing division.
MCN Margins Fall, Customers Default
Unseasonally high natural gas prices have narrowed margins andcaused defaults by unhedged marketer customers, resulting in a$24.4 million second quarter loss for MCN Energy Group’s energymarketing division.
Rockies Prices Plunge, But Most of Weekend Market Flat
After beginning last week amid some excitement caused by theadvent of genuine hurricane activity in the Atlantic, the marketwent into the weekend on a generally quiet note Friday. Nearly allGulf Coast and Midcontinent/Midwest points were flat, but Northeastcitygates and California saw small declines and most Rockies pipesfell by 15 or more cents.
PaineWebber Charting Natural Gas Price Peaks
The “unbalanced state” of the natural gas market with demandexceeding supply has caused PaineWebber analyst Ronald Barone toraise his average gas price projections by 15 cents for this yearand 10 cents next year over previous predictions, and warn ofpossible severe price spikes throughout the balance of this year.
