Creation

House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert (R-IL) is expected to announce Thursday the creation of a House task force that would recommend ways to head off a potentially dangerous shortfall in natural gas supplies later in the year.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) plans to introduce an amendment to the broad energy bill that calls for the creation of a commission made up of consumer groups, energy executives, small businesses and Bush administration officials to look into the causes of energy price spikes and issue recommendations on ways to avert them in the future.

Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-IL) plans to introduce an amendment to the broad energy bill that calls for the creation of a commission made up of consumer groups, energy executives, small businesses and Bush administration officials to look into the causes of energy price spikes and issue recommendations on ways to avert them in the future.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday moved a step closer to the creation of a unified open access electric power market, to parallel the one for natural gas, voting on the near final version of its standard market design (SMD) proposal to “remedy undue discrimination in the use of the interstate transmission system and give the nation the benefits of a truly competitive bulk power system.”

A local utility company spin-off and creation of three new separate federally regulated electric and natural gas businesses are central elements of a reorganization plan filed Thursday by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in its Chapter 11 proceedings in federal bankruptcy court. The plan calls for all creditors to be paid in full without any added retail utility rate increases or a so-called “bailout” from state lawmakers. The utility, a major part of PG&E Corp., said the official creditors’ committee supports the plan, which the company expects to have fully implemented by the end of 2002.

A local utility company spin-off and creation of three new separate federally regulated electric and natural gas businesses are central elements of a reorganization plan filed Thursday by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in its Chapter 11 proceedings in federal bankruptcy court. The plan calls for all creditors to be paid in full without any added retail utility rate increases or a so-called “bailout” from state lawmakers. The utility, a major part of PG&E Corp., said the official creditors’ committee supports the plan, which the company expects to have fully implemented by the end of 2002.

The advisory committee of the Gas Industry Standards Board (GISB) said that it recently reviewed a report to discuss the creation of an energy industry standards board (EISB), which would be responsible for electronic communications standards for wholesale and retail electric and natural gas transactions.

The Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth (AEEG) last week pushed for the creation of a national energy policy that will strike a balance between meeting long-term consumer demand for reliable energy at reasonable prices and protecting the environment.

The Alliance for Energy and Economic Growth (AEEG) Wednesday pushed for the creation of a national energy policy that will strike a balance between meeting long-term consumer demand for reliable energy at reasonable prices and protecting the environment.