Create

FERC last Tuesday gave the environmental go-ahead for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s proposed $73 million expansion that would create 165 MMcf/d of new firm transportation capacity to serve markets in the greater Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD, metropolitan areas. The Potomac Expansion, which is designed to alleviate capacity constraints in the Mid-Atlantic region, is targeted for service in November.

FERC Tuesday gave the environmental go-ahead for Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s proposed $73 million expansion that would create 165 MMcf/d of new firm transportation capacity to serve markets in the greater Washington, DC, and Baltimore, MD, metropolitan areas. The Potomac Expansion, which is designed to alleviate capacity constraints in the Mid-Atlantic region, is targeted for service in November 2007.

Forecasts of moderating weekend weather in much of the western two-thirds of the U.S. and a prior-day screen drop of nearly 20 cents combined to create double-digit price declines at all points Friday that generally were almost as large as Thursday’s run-ups. The slump of industrial load that accompanies a weekend was another bearish influence.

A tie-up of Green Bay, WI-based WPS Resources Corp. and Chicago-based Peoples Energy would create a diversified gas and power company with an enterprise value of nearly $6 billion with more than $700 million in earnings.

Penn West Energy Trust has agreed to buy rival Petrofund Energy Trust in a friendly deal worth C$2.99 billion (US$2.61 billion), which will create Canada’s largest energy trust by sales. The combined trust will have a value of about C$11 billion.

BP last week said that it plans to double its investment in alternative and renewable energies to create a new low-carbon power business with the growth potential to deliver revenues of around $6 billion a year within the next decade.

The Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC) decided Tuesday to establish emergency billing practices to create some relief for customers from high natural gas and power costs this winter.

Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius last Monday signed into law a measure (HB 2263) that will create an electric transmission authority for the Midwest state. The move follows similar efforts to set up such authorities in a number of other states, including the Dakotas, and could spur further wind power development in Kansas.

Sempra Energy’s Stamford, CT-based trading arm, Sempra Commodities, Monday announced an agreement with a renewable energy partnership, Pennsylvania-based New Hope Partners, to create a joint venture specializing in ethanol production in the United States. The partners expect to begin operations in the second quarter this year, Sempra said in its announcement, which did not include terms or conditions for the joint venture.