In a case that tests the limits of how far California went in establishing third-party, non-utility natural gas storage, two of the state’s energy heavyweights — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Calpine Corp. — are going toe-to-toe over allegations that Calpine has “colluded” with a third-party storage operator, Lodi Gas Storage. PG&E’s utility wants state regulators to come down hard on both the merchant operators.
Complains
Articles from Complains
PG&E Utility Complains Calpine, Lodi Storage Break CPUC Rules
Normally friendly and past partners in various deals, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Calpine Corp. are at odds over what the utility alleges is the merchant power plant developer/operator’s conspiring with merchant natural gas storage operators at Lodi in Northern California to bypass the PG&E utility backbone pipeline transmission system. As a result, PG&E’s utility alleges that natural gas retail customers could pay an extra $20 million.
August 8, 2003
El Paso Complains to Congress, Takes Out Full-Page Ads Blasting ALJ Ruling
El Paso Corp. bought full-page ads in the Washington Post and The New York Times Tuesday to blast last week’s decision by FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner that El Paso Natural Gas pipeline exercised market power to drive up gas prices in California from November 2000 to March 2001. The ads include a letter to Congress by CEO Williams Wise, who says the ALJ ruling, particularly his conclusion that the El Paso pipeline should have operated at or near maximum allowable operating pressure (MAOP) during the relevant period, will negatively impact pipeline safety and supply reliability across the nation.
October 2, 2002
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