Complaints

After endless complaints about the capacity problems on El Paso Natural Gas, FERC on Wednesday approved an uncontested settlement of the Order 637 issues on the pipeline, putting an end to the “very significant reliability concerns” and contract issues that wracked the system a few years ago.

The City of Burbank, CA, on Thursday told FERC that it is withdrawing complaints the city filed against Calpine Energy Services LP and El Paso Merchant Energy L.P. last summer challenging several long-term, forward bilateral contracts it had entered into with the power suppliers.

California consumers, regulators and utilities have expanded their complaints against sky-high power prices to include natural gas prices, leveling accusations against El Paso Natural Gas and demanding federal intervention in the 15-year old competitive natural gas market.

Gas buyers certainly had no complaints about “storm hype”keeping prices artificially high Tuesday. Even with one of the mostdangerous hurricanes of the century pounding the Bahamas andbearing down on the southeastern U.S., its relative lack of threatto Gulf of Mexico production did nothing to avert cash price dropsof a dime or more-sometimes much more-in nearly every market. Onlythe Northern California points (Malin and PG&E citygate)managed to keep their declines in single digits, and even they fellalmost a dime.

A proposal by Reliant Energy Gas Transmission (NorAm) for a newhourly firm transportation service and rate schedule to meetpeaking needs of the power industry drew few objections in atechnical conference at FERC Thursday.