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Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) and Williams signed one of the largesttolling agreements to date, a deal covering 3,300 MW of combinedcycle peaking capacity Kinder Morgan is building in theMidcontinent and the Southeast regions of the U.S. Williams willprovide the fuel to the six gas-fired plants and market the entirecapacity under a 16-year agreement. Financial terms of the tollingagreement were not disclosed.

In response to a FERC directive, the California Power Exchange(Cal-PX) board last week decided to shut down day-ahead and day-ofwholesale electricity markets Jan. 31, bringing toÿa close one partof the state’s initial 1996 electric industry restructuring lawthat created the state-chartered, nonprofit public benefitscorporation to provide a wholesale spot market through whichCalifornia’s three major investor-owned utilities were required tobuy and sell all of their wholesale power. They are no longerrequired to do so.

Despite being re-ordered by the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission to comply with a Dec. 15 decision, California’s lameduck wholesale spot power market, the California Power Exchange(Cal-PX), continued Monday to resist recalculating its daily priceauctions since Jan. 1, pointing instead toward a Feb. 7 courthearing in a case it has brought against the FERC imposition of a$150/MWh price cap in the federal DC Court of Appeals.

Northwest said it lifted a Declared Entitlement Period forovertakes Friday “at the earliest date possible to minimize theimpacts to its customers.” The entitlement had been in effect sinceearly October (see Daily GPI, Oct. 9,2000) and was modified at times since then. The pipeline addedthat “while the operational threat is currently under control,Northwest will continue to monitor the system for unfavorableconditions and will immediately entitle the system, includingweekends, if necessary.” Realignment and must-flow OFOs were canceledby Northwest earlier last week (see Daily GPI, Jan. 4).

Alliance Pipeline conceded last week that its commercialin-service date will have to be delayed for the third time, thistime until the end of November, because of continued problems withdebris in the pipe and trouble getting the enormously complexcomponents of the system working in sync (see NGI, Sept. 11; Oct.23). The 1,900-mile project originally was supposed to be inservice Oct. 1.

Georgia’s leading natural gas marketer, Georgia Natural Gas Co.,has been back-billing “several thousand” customers for charges thatdate back as far as a year, according to officials with the GeorgiaPublic Service Commission. That news comes as the PSC deferredconsideration until Nov. 20 of proposed new rules which wouldrequire marketers to provide efficient billing to customers.

Alliance Pipeline conceded yesterday that its commercial in-servicedate will have to be delayed for the third time, this time until theend of November, because of continued problems with debris in the pipeand trouble getting the enormously complex components of the systemworking in sync (see Daily GPI,Sept. 11; Oct. 23). The 1,900-mileproject originally was supposed to be in service Oct. 1.

Georgia’s leading natural gas marketer, Georgia Natural Gas Co.,has been back-billing “several thousand” customers for charges thatdate back as far as a year, according to officials with the GeorgiaPublic Service Commission. That news comes as the PSC deferredconsideration of proposed new rules over billing by marketers untilNov. 20, which would require marketers to provide efficient billingto customers.

Almost four months after its scheduled date, Maine Natural Gas(MNG), a joint venture between the CMP Group and Energy East, begandelivery of natural gas yesterday to Calpine Corp.’s new 540 MWelectric generating facility located in Westbrook, ME. The companyalso began supplying the University of Southern Maine (USM) andparts of Gorham, ME.