Decide

The Oregon Energy Facility Siting Council is scheduled to decide Monday, March 10 on a final route for a proposed $94 million Northwest Natural Gas Co. pipeline in Oregon that has fallen under fierce opposition from not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) supporters.

Faced with cheaper spot prices for power and a state that has healthy reserve margins, other generators in Texas may follow the lead of American Electric Power (AEP) and move to mothball some of their older, gas-fired power plants, Rebecca Klein, chairman of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC), said last Thursday.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered El Paso Natural Gas Tuesday to extend until Aug. 9 the deadline for full-requirements (FR) shippers to commit to transportation capacity that has been turned back on the pipeline’s system. The FR shippers originally had been instructed to make the decision by today (July 31), as part of FERC’s plan to convert the entire El Paso pipeline to system-wide contract demand (CD) service by later this year.

The bankruptcy judge overseeing Enron Corp.’s case may decide today whether to move the venue to Houston. Judge Arthur Gonzalez deferred the decision last week on whether to move the case in a lawsuit filed by former merger partner and rival Dynegy Inc., which is involved in several lawsuits with Enron (see related story). Meanwhile, despite claims to the contrary, internal Enron documents seem to indicate that former CEO Jeffrey Skilling may have known more about the dubious off-balance sheet transactions, which precipitated the energy trader’s collapse last year.

Short-covering was once again the name of the game at Nymex Tuesday as local and commercial traders lifted natural gas futures prices off early session lows and propelled the January contract to its fourth-straight positive close. Traders agreed yesterday’s advance was set in motion by new forecasts that suggest the record-setting warm temperatures across much of the country will soon be coming to an end. By virtue of its 5.6-cent gain and $2.803 settlement, the prompt contract has rallied more than 30 cents off last Wednesday’s $2.491 close.

With the distraction of the Democratic Convention in town thisweek, Los Angeles elected officials face a critical vote today onthe city’s future strategy for remaining relatively energyindependent through its operation of the nation’s largest municipalelectric utility.

The speed at which energy companies embrace the Internet isexpected to accelerate for at least two more years, after whichcompanies that have aggressively invested in eBusiness will moveahead of competitors because of expanded revenue growthopportunities and reduced cost structures. At least that’s what anindustry survey by energy adviser Cap Gemini Ernst & Young U.S.LLC suggests.

Parties will meet in an Atlanta courtroom today to decide whichcompany will win the right to supply the 50,000 customers of gasmarketer Titan Energy of Georgia, which filed for Chapter 11 overthe Fourth of July weekend. Titan became the second marketer toseek bankruptcy protection in Georgia in less than a year.

Parties will meet in an Atlanta courtroom today to decide whichcompany will win the right to supply the 50,000 customers of gasmarketerTitan Energy of Georgia, which filed for Chapter 11 overthe Fourth of July weekend. Titan became the second marketer toseek bankruptcy protection in Georgia in less than a year.