Chosen

Dominion East Ohio said on Wednesday that almost half of its customers have chosen other suppliers. Company officials said 583,997 (49%) of its 1.2 million customers have opted to purchase natural gas from alternative suppliers, realizing $86 million in savings in the first year of the system-wide Energy Choice program expansion.

Charles River Associates Inc. (CRA) has been chosen by the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) and the New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) to analyze the interactions between natural gas and electricity systems within the state. Among other things, CRA will examine whether existing pipelines will be able to handle the increased flow of gas required by proposed power plants in the state.

Continuing along its chosen path of focusing on its wholesale and energy risk management businesses, Kansas City, MO-based Aquila Inc. said on Monday that it has sold the retail energy manager services business of UtiliCorp Energy Solutions to Energy Management Resources Inc., a nationwide provider of energy supply management services to commercial and industrial customers throughout the United States.

Two key divisions of California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR) have chosen Altra Energy Technologies Inc.’s energy transaction software, Altra Power, to assist in the scheduling and settlement processes associated with CDWR’s statewide power purchases.

Two key divisions of the California Department of Water Resources (CDWR) have chosen Altra Energy Technologies Inc.’s energy transaction software, Altra Power, to assist in the scheduling and settlement processes associated with CDWR’s statewide power purchases.

NiSource Inc. has chosen James K. Abcouwer as president and CEOof its newly-merged Columbia Natural Resources subsidiary. Abcouwerhad been NiSource’s senior vice president of Merchant Energy andpresident of its unregulated supply management company, TPC Corp.He will report to Patrick J. Mulchay, president of Merchant Energy.He succeeds W. Henry Harmon, who resigned Dec. 1. Abcouwer joinedNiSource in 1994 as vice president of Gas Supply for its NorthernIndiana Public Service Co. Prior to joining NIPSCO, Abcouwer hadalso been a director of Marketing and Gas Supply for Tenneco Gas.NiSource closed the acquisition of Columbia last November.

IntercontinentalExchange, founded earlier this year by leadingU.S. and European financial institutions and energy and naturalresource firms, has chosen IXnet, a Global Crossing, Ltd. company,to fully manage its global transaction network. IXnet is thedeveloper of an intelligent, high-performance global Extranetdesigned principally for the financial services community.IntercontinentalExchange is scheduled to begin trading preciousmetals in August, with OTC energy products, including natural gas,slated for Q4. The exchange’s partners include American ElectricPower, Aquila Energy, BP Amoco, Deutsche Bank AG, Duke Energy, ElPaso Energy, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, ReliantEnergy, Royal Dutch/Shell Group, SG Investment Banking, SouthernCompany Energy Marketing, Totalfina Elf, and Continental PowerExchange

Christine Hansen, Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission(IOGCC) executive director since 1993, was named to the newCommittee on Natural Gas for the National Petroleum Council (NPC).The committee, formed at the request of U.S. Secretary of EnergyBill Richardson, has been charged with a reassessment of its 1992study “Potential of Natural Gas in the United States,” and willreport back to Richardson by mid-1999.The study will focus on thecapability of the industry to meet growing gas demands and alsowill compare the 1992-98 actual supply-demand with projections madein the 1992 study.