Decade

Mexico’s natural gas market will grow at an annual rate of 9%over the next decade, and electricity demand will grow about 6% ayear – nearly triple the U.S. demand in many areas. But the countryis far from ready to meet its soaring energy needs, and while ithas to improve its basic service, it also wants more privateinvestment.

Mexico’s natural gas market will grow at an annual rate of 9%over the next decade, and electricity demand will grow about 6% ayear — nearly triple the U.S. demand in many areas. But thecountry is far from ready to meet its soaring energy needs, andwhile it has to improve its basic service, it also wants moreprivate investment.

Constellation Power Source announced it will build one ofCalifornia’s first major power plants in more than a decade. TheHigh Desert Power Project, a $350 million, 750 MW power plant willbe built at the Southern California Logistics Airport in SouthernCalifornia’s Victor Valley. “The High Desert Power Projectrepresents an important step in meeting California’s criticalenergy needs,” said Constellation Power Source President Charles W.Shivery. “Leading up to this summer there was a growing gap betweenelectric generation supply and consumer demand in California whereconsumption of electricity has increased more than 22% in the pasteight years, and in-state power generation has remained nearly flatat under 4%.” Groundbreaking is expected to begin early next year,and the plant is scheduled to begin commercial operation in timefor the high electric demand season in the summer of 2003. HighDesert is the fifth merchant power plant announced this year byConstellation.

Florida Power & Light Co. says it will meet future customergrowth in this decade by increasing the electricity generatingcapability of its system by 24% using environmentally friendlynatural-gas technology.

U.S. dependence on Canadian gas has quadrupled since the 1970sand is expected to grow even further over the next decade, butthere’s no danger the country will be to the domestic gas marketwhat the Middle East has come to mean to the U.S. crude oil market,a Canadian pipeline executive said.

Energy restructuring and other market forces have become driversfor the federal government’s almost decade-old effort to greatlyreduce Uncle Sam’s overall $4 billion utility bill, the director ofthe Federal Energy Management Program (FEMP) told an industryaudience gathered last week in a Los Angeles suburb. As a result,the feds this year should meet their goal set in 1993 to reduceoverall federal facility energy use by 20%, said FEMP Director BethShearer.

A very divided FERC last week broke with a decade-old procedureby leapfrogging the preliminary determination (PD) step in fourcontroversial pipeline projects intended to carry Canadian gas fromthe U.S. Midwest to the Northeast gas market. Instead, it deferredaction on the fate of the projects until all of the environmentalreviews are completed – “hopefully” by early next fall. Projectsponsors had mixed reactions: they were disappointed by the breakwith PD procedure, but they also were encouraged by FERC’sassurance of a final vote by fall. And all said – at least publicly- they still planned to move forward with their separate projects,but sources said privately sponsors were re-evaluating whether itwas “worthwhile to go ahead.”

A very divided FERC yesterday broke with a decade-old procedureby leapfrogging the preliminary determination (PD) step in fourcontroversial pipeline projects intended to serve the Northeast gasmarket. Instead, it deferred action on the fate of the projectsuntil all the environmental reviews are completed – “hopefully” byearly next fall.

The majority of existing large electric-related companies willnot be intact a decade from now, says Roger Gale of WashingtonInternational Energy Group. In fact, he anticipates more than halfof the companies will disappear completely.