LG&E Energy has reached a settlement with the Springfield,IL, City Water, Light, and Power Co. (CWLP) over a dispute stemmingfrom the city’s default on a 1998 electricity options contract. TheSpringfield City Council approved the $16.6 million settlementduring a special meeting Saturday following an agreement lastTuesday with representatives from Springfield, just days before thecase was scheduled to go to trial before U.S. District Judge JohnG. Heyburn in Louisville, KY. “We are pleased to settle this matterin a very favorable manner for our company. It clearly sends amessage that we will aggressively pursue parties who do not honortheir contractual obligations to us,” said Paul W. Thompson,LG&E Energy’s senior vice president of energy services. Pricesfor power spiked in the summer of 1998 as demand for powerincreased in the Midwest due to intense heat. CWLP did not honorits commitments with LG&E Energy Marketing (LEM) and laterattempted to argue that the contracts were void because the utilitydid not have the proper authority under Illinois law to enter intothem. Those defenses were argued before Judge Heyburn last Novemberand he ruled in LG&E Energy’s favor in certain summaryjudgement proceedings.
Dispute
Articles from Dispute
Granite State Settles Dispute Over Aborted Wells LNG Project
The last chapter in the saga of the aborted 2 Bcf Wells, ME, LNGproject has been filed at FERC. A settlement agreement submittedrecently allows LNG project developer Granite State GasTransmission to recover $8.3 million in predevelopment coststhrough Northern Utilities’ ratepayers over a seven-year period.
Maritimes Hopes Indian Dispute Won’t Delay Service
A Nov. 1 target went by without a start on deliveries to thenortheastern United States by the new Maritimes & NortheastPipeline (M&NP), but it says there is no real delay and thetiming has nothing to do with a last-minute tangle with Indiansbefore the National Energy Board.
Williams Wins Right to Challenge El Paso Settlement
No sooner has El Paso Natural Gas resolved its dispute withSouthern California Edison over the 1996 capacity-turnbacksettlement than another potential threat has cropped up. Last weekthe D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals gave Williams Field ServicesGroup Inc. another bite at the apple to challenge the rates in thecontroversial settlement.
Williams Wins Right to Challenge El Paso Settlement
No sooner has El Paso Natural Gas resolved its dispute withSouthern California Edison over the 1996 capacity-turnbacksettlement than another potential threat has cropped up. Last weekthe D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals gave Williams Field ServicesGroup Inc. another bite at the apple to challenge the rates in thecontroversial settlement.
Jurisdictional Dispute on TriState Resolved
The U.S. portion of TriState Pipeline got some much-needed goodnews last week when FERC issued a preliminary determination on thenon-environmental aspects of the project after resolving a stickyjurisdictional issue. But whether it will be enough to kick-startthe troubled project, which is lagging far behind the competingVector Pipeline, seemed doubtful.
‘Buy Early, Sell Late’ is a Winning Strategy as Prices Rise
Few traders would dispute that Wednesday was a classic day forwanting to buy early and sell late. Sources reported prices risingsteadily during trading at virtually every point, with the highends of ranges occurring late in the morning. Increases of a dimeor more dominated the market, and Northeast citygates were seeingthe high side of $3 again in some deals.
Senate Bill Could Settle Royalty Valuation Dispute
Sens. Mary Landrieu (D-LA) and Don Nickles (R-OK) introducedlegislation last week designed to prevent the Department of theInterior’s Minerals Management Service from altering its oil andgas royalty valuations methodology in a way that could costproducers millions more in royalty payments. The proposedlegislation, titled the “Federal Royalty Certainty Act” (SB 924),is designed to give producers what they have been seeking for sometime: certainty about what they owe the government.
El Paso, Edison Dispute Decision on Turnback Accord
El Paso Natural Gas has asked FERC to overturn a July ALJinitial decision that found it failed to “seriously confront thepotential impact of…turned-back capacity on the remainingcustomers on its system and take adequate steps to remarket thecapacity” when it first learned that Southern California Gas (SoCalGas) planned to step down its capacity commitment effective January1996. If upheld by the Commission, El Paso would be required toshoulder the costs for half of the 300 MMcf/d of capacity that theLDC turned back.
