Detailed

Detailed and recorded trader tapes show that a handful of Texas utility companies, led by TXU Corp., are gaming the state’s electricity market, using the same types of schemes exposed in the California and Enron crises to reap windfall profits at the expense of Texas consumers and smaller competitors, bankrupt Texas Commercial Energy (TCE) alleged last week.

FERC’s chief accountant last week sent letters to five pipelines, Florida Gas, Transwestern Pipeline, Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line, Gulf South Pipeline and El Paso Natural Gas, informing them that they need to have updated written cash management agreements with their parent companies to identify the rules governing how corporate money pools are utilized. El Paso has an existing but outdated written agreement with its parent, FERC Chief Accountant John Delaware said.

Energen Resources, the production unit of Energen Corp., detailed its extensive supply arrangements with Williams and Dynegy in response to downgrades by credit rating agencies of the two energy marketers last week. Energen said both companies are current in their monthly payments for a total of about 1.6 Bcf per month on gas and gas liquids production. Williams affiliates are under contract to purchase 0.8 Bcf per month of Energen Resources’ net natural gas production through October 2002 and an estimated 0.4 Bcfe of Energen’s gas liquids production through May 2004. Dynegy affiliates are under contract to purchase 0.4 Bcf per month of Energen’s gas production through March 2003. Outstanding invoices for June production, which are due and payable later this month, total $4 million for Williams and $1.5 million for Dynegy. Energen said it has had a long-standing relationship with Williams in the San Juan Basin and with Dynegy in the Black Warrior Basin and is currently delivering to both parties under existing sales contracts. Birmingham, AL-based Energen Corp. is a diversified energy holding company with natural gas distribution in central and north Alabama and oil and gas production onshore in North America.

Energen Resources, the production unit of Energen Corp., detailed its extensive supply arrangements with Williams and Dynegy on Wednesday in response to downgrades by credit rating agencies of the two energy marketers. Energen said both companies are current in their monthly payments for a total of about 1.6 Bcf per month on gas and gas liquids production..

Energen Resources, the production unit of Energen Corp., detailed its extensive supply arrangements with Williams and Dynegy on Wednesday in response to downgrades by credit rating agencies of the two energy marketers. Energen said both companies are current in their monthly payments for a total of about 1.6 Bcf per month on gas and gas liquids production..

FERC yesterday voted out a final rule that lays out “detailed”requirements for electric utilities to meet when submitting mergerapplications. The new rule is intended to help merger partners file”more complete” applications upfront, which then would improve theodds for speedier processing by the Commission, said CommissionerWilliam Massey, who has led the drive for a streamlined mergerprocess at FERC.

Surprise! FirstEnergy of Akron, OH and Morristown, NJ-based GPUInc. formally announced that Monday’s widely circulated and detailedrumors of a merger were indeed true (see Daily GPI, Aug. 8). In meetings yesterday, bothcompanies’ boards of directors unanimously approved the merger underwhich FirstEnergy would acquire all of GPU’s outstanding shares ofcommon stock for about $4.5 billion in cash and common stock.

Northern Natural’s innovative volumetric rate proposal, whichcould provide customers with a method of better managing weatherrisk, is headed to a technical conference and further FERC andindustry scrutiny.

El Paso sent out a request this week for potential shippers onits proposed Yuma Lateral to get their plans in order. The project,which will serve new gas-fired power generation in Sonora and BajaCalifornia, Mexico, includes a broad range of possibilities interms of size and location.