City

Kansas City, MO’s Utilicorp United Inc. is shopping around, andhas already begun to narrow its options on which “high quality,low-cost fleet of generators” to pair with its wholesale merchantmoneymaker Aquila Energy, management announced last week. Apartnership deal is expected to be unveiled within a few months.

Kansas City, MO’s Utilicorp United Inc. is shopping around, andhas already begun to narrow its options on which “high quality,low-cost fleet of generators” to pair with its wholesale merchantmoneymaker Aquila Energy, management announced yesterday. Apartnership deal is expected to be unveiled within a few months.

The natural gas futures market had one of its more volatileweeks last week as daily price fluctuations averaged more than 20cents and price ranges averaged a substantial 28 cents. As ofFriday afternoon, the July contract stood at a lofty perch of$4.160/MMBtu, 11.7 cents higher than the previous Friday and 94.3cents above where the near-month contract stood one month earlier.

ONEOK broke ground Friday just north of Oklahoma City on a newnatural gas-run advanced electricity generating plant.The 300 MWplant, which will be owned and operated by ONEOK Power Marketing,will use the latest gas turbine technology to provide electricityfor utilities as well as other purchasers. This marks ONEOK’sfirst venture into the growing natural gas-powered electricitygeneration market. Intended as a “peaking plant,” the facilitywill provide electricity during the summer periods of peak demand.The Oklahoma Municipal Power Authority has already signed acontract to purchase 25% of the plant’s total capacity. ONEOKPresident and Chief Operating Officer David Kyle had this to sayabout ONEOK’s new project, “The natural gas-fueled plant that willbe built here is symbolic of not only a new direction for us, butfor the state as well.” The plant’s site is strategicallypositioned near Oklahoma Gas & Electric’s electric transmissionlines and one of ONEOK’s own natural gas storage facilities. Thegas-burning turbines will be provided by General Electric at anestimated cost of $70 million and will be in operation by thesummer of 2001.

TXU of Dallas agreed to sell its majority interest in a MexicoCity gas distribution system to Gas Natural and Hidroelectrica delCantabrico for $68 million. Gas Natural will become operator whenthe deal closes, which is expected later this year.

The nation’s biggest municipal utility, the City of Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power, has signed 27 of its largestcustomers to discount contracts valued collectively at $1.2 billionover their seven- and 10-year lives. The deals represent about 8%of the departments electricity sales which are projected to be 25GWh this year, according to Randy Howard, LADWP’s manager of thelong-term contracts.

Conectiv is selling 1,875 MW of fossil-fired generation andrelated assets that are owned by its subsidiaries, Atlantic CityElectric Co. and Delmarva Power & Light, to NRG Energy ofMinneapolis, a subsidiary of Northern States Power, for $800million. The deal includes a power sales contract at closing, inwhich Delmarva will buy 500 MW from NRG.

Conectiv is selling 1,875 MW of fossil-fired generation andrelated assets that are owned by its subsidiaries, Atlantic CityElectric Co. and Delmarva Power & Light, to NRG Energy ofMinneapolis, a subsidiary of Northern States Power, for $800million. The deal includes a power sales contract at closing, inwhich Delmarva will buy 500 MW from NRG.

Kansas City Power & Light Co. (KCPL) threw down its bouquetlast week, canceling its proposed merger with the financiallytroubled Western Resources citing doubts about Western’s growth andincreasing shareholder opposition to the transaction. KCPL canceledthe merger using a stipulation in the original agreement requiringthe merger to have all regulatory approvals completed by Dec. 31,1999. The merger suffered from regulatory delays and never receiveda final okay from FERC.