Commission

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission voted out a final ruleyesterday that will give property owners affected by proposedpipeline construction greater participation in the certificateprocess.

El Paso Energy Corp. will sell East Tennessee Natural Gas, theSea Robin Pipeline and its interest in Destin Pipeline to gainFederal Trade Commission (FTC) approval of its merger with SonatInc. El Paso said yesterday it has signed a consent agreement withthe FTC and expects the agency to sign “shortly.” Subject to FTCand FERC regulatory approval, El Paso Energy and Sonat expect toclose the merger in early October.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has outlined thestructure of its new Office of Markets, Tariffs and Rates (OMTR),part of its FERC First reorganization. The office, headed by DanielL. Larcamp, will include three geographic divisions of rates andtariffs for gas and electric services. Michael A. Coleman, from theOffice of Electric Power Regulation will serve as director of thewest division; Robert J. Cupina, from the Office of PipelineRegulation (OPR) will serve as director of the central division andAlice Fernandez from OPR will serve as director of the Eastdivision.

Less than two months after FERC approved its Medicine BowLateral, Wyoming Interstate Co. Ltd. (WIC) last week was back atthe Commission seeking a second-phase expansion of the line to add120 MDth/d of capacity. WIC also is laying the groundwork for athird expansion to further meet its contractual commitments withproducers tapping into the prolific coal-bed methane (CBM) reservesin the Power River Basin in Wyoming.

Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge nominated Republican utilitylawyer Terrance J. Fitzpatrick to replace David W. Rolka on thePennsylvania Public Utility Commission. “He is a common-senseenvironmentalist with a rich breadth of experience in energy andutility law and policy,” Ridge said in a statement. As a lawyer,Fitzpatrick has represented GPU Energy, owner of the Three MileIsland nuclear plant

The New York State Public Service Commission approved anapplication by Empire State Pipeline to construct a newinterconnection with CNG Transmission Corp. facilities in OnondagaCounty, NY.

The Orlando [FL] Utilities Commission (OUC) approved the sale ofthe municipal utility’s 619-MW Indian River Steam Generation Plant(IRP) to Reliant Energy for $205 million.

The Orlando [FL] Utilities Commission (OUC) approved the sale ofthe municipal utility’s 619-MW Indian River Steam Generation Plant(IRP) to Reliant Energy for $205 million.

New cogeneration plants are on the move in California, but theymay not be built fast enough to keep up with growing demand.