Continues

UtiliCorp joined the merger-mania Friday as it announced plans to acquire St. Joseph Light &Power in Missouri for $190.6 million. The agreement has been approved by the boards of directors for both companies but still needs approval from Light &Power shareholders and state and regulatory officials. Both companies expect the deal to close in 2000.

While Congress continues its unending debate over repeal of thePublic Utility Holding Company Act (PUHCA), the Securities andExchange Commission (SEC) just about did the deed last week with anorder allowing a subsidiary of the California-based Sempra Energyto have controlling interest in a North Carolina partnership thatwill construct, own and operate a gas utility distribution systemin North Carolina. (Rel. 35-26971)

While most of the Vector Pipeline project remains dormant,Vector Pipeline L.P. recently announced an open season forshort-term firm transportation service from its proposedinterconnect with Michigan Consolidated Gas at Belle River, MI, tothe Union Gas Ltd. system at Dawn, ON. The company also said itexpects final regulatory approval for the entire Chicago-to-Dawnproject from both the Canadian National Energy Board (NEB) and theU.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) by early April.

Not forecasts calling for cooling temperatures, nor record lowsset in the nearby heating oil contract could entice the natural gasfutures market to break out of its month long trading rangeTuesday, as many traders decided instead to play it safe and waitfor a more clearly defined price signal. The March contract drifted1.2 cents lower to settle at $1.795 after being limited to a narrow5-cent trading range.

Cash prices again showed little movement Thursday. The maindifference from the previous day was that small drops dominatedinstead of small increases. Thursday’s biggest fall of nearly adime came in Transco Zone 6-New York City.

Midcoast Energy Resources last week piled more assets onto its growing Texas-Louisiana pipeline empire with two separate deals worth a combined $4.55 million.

PG&ampE Gas Transmission Texas (PG&ampE GT-T), a subsidiary of PG&ampE Corp., and Southern Union Gas Co. said last week they will continue to fight a judgement awarding franchise fees from marketer sales to the City of Edinburg, TX (Pop. 29,885). They said they will appeal a judgment handed down in the 92nd district court in Hidalgo County, TX, even though the judge reduced the award under an August 1998 jury verdict.

The U.S. was getting colder Thursday, but that fact gave nosupport to cash prices, which mostly fell between a nickel and 15cents. A futures drop of less than a penny was too small to matter,sources said, but the second straight report of storage injections,combined with forecasts of warmer weather next week and a drop inJanuary crude oil futures to less than $11/barrel, was too much fortraders to ignore.

Cash prices kept climbing higher Tuesday, though not at thedazzling rate of Monday’s run-up. New gains of 20-40 cents at manypoints were still pretty impressive, though.