Distributors

After swallowing two energy distributors in two months most observers expected Energy East to enter a digestion phase, but the company came back for a third helping last week. The parent company of New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) said it is adding CTG Resources, Inc., parent of Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG), to its plate, which already is loaded with CMP Energy and Connecticut Energy.

After swallowing two energy distributors in two months mostobservers expected Energy East to enter a digestion phase, but thecompany came back for a third helping yesterday. The parent companyof New York State Electric and Gas said it is adding CTG Resources,Inc., parent of Connecticut Natural Gas (CNG), to its plate, whichalready is loaded with CMP Energy and Connecticut Energy.

Producers and distributors last week indicated they generallybacked the thrust of FERC’s proposed rule to expand the blanketconstruction and abandonment certificate authority for pipelinesunder the Commission’s Part 157 regulations, but they – like thepipelines – saw some major problem areas with it.

The electric industry will swallow up the majority of thenatural gas distributors over the next 10 years, predicted amarketing executive last week, adding that the doubters of thisscenario are forgetting or just don’t know how “extremely big”electricity is.

The current financial stars in the pipeline firmament areColumbia Energy, El Paso Energy and Enron Corp., while distributorsto watch are AGL Resources, MarketSpan, Peoples Energy and UGICorp., according to Curt Launer, vice president of Donaldson,Lufkin & Jenrette.Prospects are good for the companiesnamed, although a biannual report by the New York investment houseshows the overall interstate gas pipeline group “has not been doingvery well” so far in 1998, with stock prices significantlyunderperforming the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index.

At a time when the gas distributors and marketers are spendingbig bucks importing celebreties to popularize their brand names inthe retail market, Yankee Gas in Meriden, CT has engineered a swapwith one – none other than the ultimate TV homemaker, MarthaStewart – in its own back yard.

The current financial stars in the pipeline firmament areColumbia Energy, El Paso Energy and Enron Corp., while distributorsto watch are AGL Resources, MarketSpan, Peoples Energy and UGICorp., according to Curt Launer, vice president of Donaldson,Lufkin &amp Jenrette. Prospects are good for the companies named,although a biannual report by the New York investment house showsthe overall interstate gas pipeline group “has not been doing verywell” so far in 1998, with stock prices significantlyunderperforming the Standard &amp Poor’s 500 Index.

At a time when the gas distributors and marketers are spendingbig bucks importing celebreties to popularize their brand names inthe retail market, Yankee Gas in Meriden, CT, has engineered a swapwith one – none other than the ultimate TV homemaker, MarthaStewart – in its own backyard.

Southern California Gas and TransEnergy Management have formed apartnership to market an integrated software product to unbundlinglocal distributors who are struggling with exponentially greaternumbers of transportation contracts.