Decision

If FERC should issue an unfavorable rehearing decision on theproposed MarketLink expansion, a Williams official yesterday saidthe company will ask FERC to sever the project from the proposedSupplyLink expansion and Independence Pipeline projects.

In what one gas industry official close to the case called a”major victory,” the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appealsupheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s program for reducingnitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions for 19 eastern and midwestern statesplus the District of Columbia last week. Barring any furtherappeals, the NOx SIP Call rule will be added to the Clean Air Act,requiring the states included in it to reduce their NOx emissionsby a total of 1.2 million tons, or 28% of current levels, annually.

ONEOK said last week that its board of directors has voted toterminate its planned merger with Southwest Gas. The terminationdecision was made pursuant to a provision in the merger agreementthat permitted any party to terminate if certain conditions werenot fulfilled by December 14, 1999. ONEOK notified Southwest of thetermination late last week.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals has remanded a PanhandleEastern Pipe Line decision that it says clearly departed fromFERC’s established policy on pipeline connections without providingany justification for the action.

Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America (NGPL) contends a FERCdecision that found a recent auction to be “unreasonable and undulypreferential” would “nullify” its negotiated-rate authority and”aggravate” its decontracting problems.

With Peachtree’s 170,000 customers hanging in the balance, anAtlanta, GA, bankruptcy court deferred a ruling on the strugglingmarketer’s attempted customer sale until today. According tosources close to the situation, the delay was caused by ScanaEnergy Marketing, which asked for more time so that it could file abid for Peachtree’s customers.

California, the trend-setter in electric restructuring, isexpected to take it to the next level with a “decision-making”investigation starting this fall on distributed generation and themonster issue lurking behind it – the sacrosanct local distributionfranchises.

California, the trend-setter in electric restructuring, isexpected to take it to the next level with a “decision-making”investigation starting this fall on distributed generation and themonster issue lurking behind it — the sacrosanct localdistribution franchises.

Columbia Energy Group subsidiary Columbia Energy Services’ (CES)decision to sell its wholesale and trading operation may be aharbinger of a white knight deal to save Columbia from a hostiletakeover by NiSource. Then again, it may simply represent theacknowledgement by the Virginia-based company that its strengthlies in its regional roots.