Combo

Less than one day after the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio(PUCO) threw its support behind the NiSource/Columbia Energy Groupmerger, three groups of Ohio schools urged the commission to make afull review of the proposal. On Tuesday, PUCO authorized a letterto the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that statedthe proposed merger would have no impact on its ability to protectthe interests of Columbia Gas of Ohio ratepayers. However, theschools are not as confident.

CTG Resources Inc., parent of Connecticut Natural Gas, announcedit has retained Paine Webber Inc. to advise it on strategicalternatives to maximize shareholder value, including the potentialsale of the company and acquisitions of nonregulated enterprises toexpand the company’s district heating and cooling activities.

Questar Pipeline has called on FERC to jettison the proposedmerger of powerhouses Sempra Energy and KN Energy, insisting thedeal would “undermine” competition in the natural gas and electricmarkets in southern California.

In an effort to capture the rewards and pass along savings madepossible by performance-based rates, NIPSCO Industries and its newaffiliate, Bay State Gas, are combining gas supply operations. Thetwo LDCs, which became sister companies when NIPSCO parent NIbought Bay State in February, expect to save as much as $1million/year through combined portfolio management, according toone source.

A combination of Dominion Resources and CNG would form thenation’s fourth largest electric and gas utility, serving nearly 4million retail customers in five states. Market capitalization ofthe combined entity will exceed $25 billion-consisting of about$14.5 billion in equity, $9.5 billion in debt and minorityinterests, and $1.1 billion in preferred stock.