Combined

UtiliCorp subsidiary Aquila Energy contracted for the option toprovide gas in exchange for power at one of three combined cyclepower units being built in Batesville, MS, by LSP Energy LimitedPartnership. The unit is expected to go on line by summer of 2000.Under the initial 15-year agreement, Aquila will provide gas to runthe unit, and in exchange LSP will provide Aquila the power andelectrical capacity.

Trigen Energy began construction of a $13.5 million, 15 MWcombined heat and power plant to provide 95% of the steam needs ofTrigen’s 135 St. Louis steam system customers. The plant consistsof two 5.2 MW solar turbines and 4.6 MW of back pressure steamturbines from Trigen Ewing.

Even though construction of the intrastate Front Range Pipelinealready is in progress and work on the Front Runner Pipeline isexpected to start “fairly soon,” the sponsors have disclosed thatthey are continuing discussions to possibly combine the two rivalprojects into a single pipeline to serve the growing Colorado gasmarket.

What was widely considered a bearish storage report combinedwith falling Nymex futures prices to deal the cash market a losinghand Thursday as most delivery points lost about eight cents onaverage.

KeySpan Energy Corp. combined last week with Long IslandLighting Co. (LILCO) to form MarketSpan Corp., a new holdingcompany dedicated to market growth in the Northeast as well asinvestments in energy in North America and abroad.

KN Energy will be reducing its new combined work force by a total of 750 positions or 18% as the result of the integration of its operations with that of newly-acquired MidCon Corp., the company acknowledged Wednesday.