Clash

A previous bankruptcy court ruling in an ongoing dispute between Enron and Nevada Power Co. and Sierra Pacific Power Co. over termination payments stemming from 2001 power contracts is not the final word in the squabble, a FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) ruled on Thursday, allowing related proceedings at the federal agency to continue.

Nevada’s state consumer advocate has filed a motion with the Nevada Public Utilities Commission urging regulators to reject the commission staff’s latest recommendation to almost double the rate increase requested by Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas Corp. The utility originally asked for a $16.3 million rate increase last June, but the PUC staff increased that total to $30.6 million.

Nevada’s state consumer advocate has filed a motion with the Nevada Public Utilities Commission urging regulators to reject the commission staff’s latest recommendation to almost double the rate increase requested by Las Vegas-based Southwest Gas Corp. The utility originally asked for a $16.3 million rake increase last June, but the PUC staff increased that total to $30.6 million.

Neighboring California utilities, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. and Edison International’s Southern California Edison Co., traded accusations during the opening last week of evidentiary hearings in an 18-month-old state regulatory investigation of the wholesale natural gas market during the state’s energy crisis in 2000-2001.

Neighboring California utilities, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. and Edison International’s Southern California Edison Co., traded accusations during the opening last week of evidentiary hearings in an 18-month-old state regulatory investigation of the wholesale natural gas market during the state’s energy crisis in 2000-2001. SoCalGas has had to fight off relentless accusations by Edison that the gas utility and its Sempra affiliate, San Diego Gas and Electric Co., constrained supplies from storage to push up wholesale gas prices.

Major energy providers and users alike last week attacked FERC staff’s efforts to establish a new pricing formula that would lower the purchase costs power generators could legitimately claim for natural gas used to produce electricity during the California energy crisis nearly two years ago — a move that, if successful, would raise the level of potential refunds owed by generators to state energy consumers. They urged the Commission to jettison staff’s proposed pricing alternative, arguing staff fell far short of proving that the conventional method used for computing generators’ gas costs — published price indices — had been successfully manipulated to the point where gas prices were inflated.

Ontario Energy Trading International Corp. and the Ontario independent electricity market operator (IMO) are fighting back against charges made by Consumers Energy Co. that the IMO is failing to offer participants in the province’s newly deregulated electricity market open access transmission service on a comparable, non-discriminatory basis.

Justices at the U.S. Supreme Court last Wednesday heard a divergent mix of opinions as to whether FERC has gone too far or done too little in implementing its groundbreaking Order 888 in which the Commission ordered utilities to open up their interstate transmission facilities.

Despite a positive open and stronger cash prices, natural gasfutures slumped into the weekend as traders surveyed the prospectof more bearish news this next week in a market that many feel isalready overvalued. After opening at $2.81 the prompt contract wasunable to muster much in the way of upward momentum, and that setthe tone for a choppy, range-bound trading session. April finisheddown 1.2 cents at $2.774. Estimated volume confirmed the lacklustertrading, as only 43,848 contracts changed hands.