Considerably

Prices kept falling Wednesday, but the declines wereconsiderably more moderate than the previous day’s plunges.Dollar-plus drops at the Northern California points (Malin andPG&E citygate) were the only remaining vestiges of the marketrout that had appeared to be developing Tuesday. All non-Californiapoints ranged from flat to down about a dollar.

Traders correctly assumed prices would keep dropping Thursday,but many likely were surprised by how much the overall downtrendslowed. Except for some sizeable declines in the Rockies/PacificNorthwest, most points fell by about a nickel or less, and a fewregistered flat to up a smidgen.

The decibel level of the cries to rollback California’s electricindustry deregulation was raised considerably last week withconsumer advocates, local and state elected officials, andregulators joining the growing chorus. There is the prospect forstate legislative hearings before the summer session ends inSeptember to look at possible changes in the state’s 1996electricity law.

Reliant Energy said yesterday that it expects earnings for thesecond quarter of 2000 to be considerably higher than the sameperiod last year and 15-20% higher than industry analysts’projections. In the second quarter of 1999, the company hadadjusted earnings of $123 million, or $0.43 per share. Increasedearnings from the company’s growing multi-regional generationportfolio combined with strong commercial management of theseassets and increased trading margins drove earnings beyondexpectations for the quarter. “Our strategy of building strongbusiness positions in selected regions of the U.S. allows us tocapitalize on the growth opportunities of different markets,” saidReliant CEO Steve Letbetter. The company plans to announce secondquarter earnings on July 27.

With temperatures dropping considerably out of theirtriple-digit-heat conditions on Friday, California energy officialsbegan assessing the economic and operating impact of rotatingblackouts in numerous San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods lastWednesday and the curtailment Thursday of 135 large industrialcustomers in Sacramento and Stockton totaling 300 MW.

With temperatures dropping considerably out of theirtriple-digit-heat conditions on Friday, California energy officialsbegan assessing the economic and operating impact of rotatingblackouts in numerous San Francisco Bay Area neighborhoods lastWednesday and the curtailment Thursday of 135 large industrialcustomers in Sacramento and Stockton totaling 300 MW.

Cash prices kept rising Wednesday but at a considerably slowerrate than on Monday and Tuesday. Most of the new increases werearound a nickel or less, and the Northern California points ofMalin and the PG&E citygate actually fell slightly afterPG&E elected not to extend a low-linepack OFO. Sourcesindicated some retreat is likely today, saying the cash market hadmilked just about all the upside possible out of recent forecastsfor colder weather. In addition, the screen’s decline of nearly adime Wednesday should be a negative influence, they said.

Fresh from a deal annexing its first natural gas assets, Carolina Power & Light Co. (CP&L) plans to grow considerably by acquiring Florida Progress Corp., parent of Florida Power, for $5.3 billion.

Carolina Power & Light Co. (CP&L) would bulk upconsiderably with its planned acquisition, announced yesterday, ofFlorida Progress Corp., parent of Florida Power, for $5.3 billion.The combined company would be worth about $17 billion and serve 2.7million customers, nearly 200,000 of them gas. It also would be thenation’s ninth-largest energy utility based on generating capacityof more than 18,500 megawatts.