Change

Tax reform is taking front seat to electricity reform in Mexico, and officials say that hope is fading to change the country’s state-run power sector until the next session of congress convenes in September. The current congress adjourns April 30.

Tax reform is taking front seat to electricity reform in Mexico, and officials say that hope is fading to change the country’s state-run power sector until the next session of congress convenes in September. The current congress adjourns April 30.

Substantial rebounds in cash prices Tuesday surprised many traders, especially because there were no significant changes in overall market fundamentals, and screen support remained minuscule. Triple-digit California gains led a cash market advance that saw most points gaining at least a dime or more, with “or more” being the key operative words. Increases tended to be smallest in the Northeast (Algonquin citygates were flat) and largest in the Rockies/San Juan market.

For the first time all week, all markets were united on the samerising price page Friday. The Rockies and scattered other pointswere among the few failing to gain about 20 cents or more. NorthernCalifornia led the surge with PG&E citygate upticks of nearly$2.

A quiet market week showed no inclination for change going intothe weekend. Most points ranged from flat to up a dime, but only afew rose more than a nickel or so. Major departures from theoverall market trend were (where else?) in California, where Malinpushed nearly a dollar higher while the border and PG&Ecitygate slipped about 35-40 cents each.

The Georgia House and Senate passed bills this week that changethe the states deregulation program for the first time since itsinception in 1998. The changes, however, are a far shot from there-regulation that some legislators including Georgia Sen. ReginaThomas (D-Savannah) had sought (see Daily GPI, March 5).

Acknowledging there was no way for the Texas Railroad Commissionto change high natural gas prices, the three-man board instead hasunanimously recommended that the Texas Legislature act to lessenthe impact of high prices by, among other things, offering industrytax breaks to encourage exploration and production. TRC alsorecommended it be given oversight over statewide customer servicestandards for public gas utility companies.

For a change Pacific Gas & Electric had more gas in itssystem than it wanted. The dual utility had a systemwide Stage 3high-inventory OFO with zero tolerance for positive dailyimbalances in effect Monday but did not extend the order intotoday.

High power costs in the Pacific Northwest prompted Moody’sInvestors Service yesterday to change its outlook on securitiesissued by PacifiCorp (senior secured debt at A2) to negative fromstable.