Competition

Noting that FERC’s proposed rule to bar manipulation of wholesale electric markets “may chill pro-competitive behavior,” the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has called on the federal energy agency to focus its sights on creating “structurally competitive markets” instead.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) stepped up the competition with IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), the energy industry’s most widely used electronic over-the-counter (OTC) energy trading platform, by announcing plans to introduce its own trading platform designed for the OTC energy market. The system begins beta testing this week and will be launched in January.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) stepped up the competition with IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), the energy industry’s most widely used electronic over-the-counter (OTC) energy trading platform, by announcing plans to introduce its own trading platform designed for the OTC energy market. The system begins beta testing next week and will be launched in January.

BC Gas Inc. announced it has received approval in the form of an Advance Ruling Certificate from the Canadian Competition Bureau for its previously announced acquisition of Centra Gas British Columbia Inc. and Centra Gas Whistler Inc. from Westcoast Energy Inc.

The sale of natural gas in Nova Scotia will remain open to competition. However, now the distributor will be allowed to sell natural gas directly during a seven-year development period — and others may market natural gas as well. Also, large industrial users will be able to connect directly with an offshore supply of gas before it goes into the Maritimes and Northeast pipeline.

PanCanadian Energy Corp. and Alberta Energy Co. reported that their merger has received a green light from the Competition Bureau of Canada. The receipt of a “no action” letter satisfies one of the key approvals required to complete the proposed merger to form EnCana Corp. “Momentum continues to build towards the shareholder meetings on April 4,” said AEC President Gwyn Morgan. The proposed merger is still subject to approvals by shareholders, the Court of Queen’s Bench of Alberta and the expiry of the waiting period under the Hart Scott Rodino Act in the United States.

Altra has finally thrown in the towel in the electronic natural gas trading arena. Overwhelming competition over the past few years from a number of different systems, some of which also have been forced out of the business, pressured Altra to announce it will shut down the Altrade system on March 31. All natural gas trades and transactions in the system will continue as scheduled until that date, the company told customers in a letter last week.

In an effort to step up the competition with brokers and EnronOnline, which some observers expect to suffer from Enron’s financial woes, the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) started offering exchange of futures for swap (EFS) transactions last week as a first step in its plans to offer clearing services to the over-the-counter (OTC) natural gas market. In the first full day of EFS demand, 11,100 contracts changed hands and the exchange promptly lowered its fee for the deals to $2.50 per side from $10.

The struggle experienced by some electronic trading systems in the face of stiff competition from IntercontinentalExchange, EnronOnline, TradeSpark and other systems isn’t stopping E-lecTrade from launching its own power trading system this summer. The system is unique, however, in its effort to provide multiple structured power transaction types and risk management services real time and on an anonymous basis.