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SCANA’s South Carolina Pipeline Corp. (SCPC) is fundamentally changing the way it does business in an effort to better market its pipeline capacity and expand its service territory. The company announced plans yesterday to voluntarily open its pipeline system to transportation-only service. It intends to file an application for the switch with the Public Service Commission of South Carolina (SCPSC) this year.

To solve the question of where gas supplies will come from for its new generating plant in San Diego, the Otay Mesa Generating Co. LLC on Friday asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for authorization to build gas import facilities at the California-Mexico border to import up to 110 MMcf/d to fuel a 510 MWh station to be sited near San Diego (see Daily GPI, Oct. 12, 2000).

Pressured by selling in Thursday night’s Access trading session,natural gas futures broke to the bottom of its recent trading rangeFriday as sellers liquidated positions ahead of the weekend. Aftergapping lower at the open, the price action was almost entirely inbears’ favor. A brief and ultimately insignificant rally attemptshortly after noon (EST) was all bulls could muster and as a resultprices were left to finish the day on their lows. The Aprilcontract was the hardest hit, dropping 21.3 cents to close at$5.072.

While winter does not officially conclude for another threeweeks, it was laid to rest yesterday in the gas pit at Nymex as theMarch contract filtered lower in a long liquidation sell-off duringits last hour of trading. The March contract expired at $4.998,down 13.3 cents on the session and more than $1.10 less than whereit was when it became prompt month back on Jan. 29.

Taking steps to ensure Nevada does not fall prey to the”financial and operational chaos” of the California energy market,Sierra Pacific Resources introduced an emergency package ofproposed long-term contracts, tiered price increases, low incomeassistance and conservation programs to stabilize energy markets inNevada.

Taking steps to ensure Nevada does not fall prey to the”financial and operational chaos” of the California energy market,Sierra Pacific Resources introduced an emergency package ofproposed long-term contracts, tiered price increases, low incomeassistance and conservation programs to stabilize energy markets inNevada.

It is often said that it takes markets longer to rise than itdoes for them to fall and that adage was never more true thanyesterday in the natural gas pit as prices finally recouped thelast of the massive $1.411 price erosion seen a week ago. Aftergapping higher on the open, the February contract shuffled mostlysideways Monday as traders awaited fresh medium-range weatherforecasts. At the closing bell, the prompt month was 42.8 centsstronger at $9.689.

If new natural gas production does not come on-stream in Mexicoin the next two to three years, the country will have to importmore than half of its gas needs, according to a new report from thecountry’s energy regulator Comision Reguladora de Energia. Thecountry now imports about 7% of its gas, mostly from South Texas.

A popular Mark Twain quotation goes, “Everybody talks about theweather but nobody does anything about it.” Well, utilities andend-users don’t want anybody doing anything at all about theweather because it was the primary reason (again, for the umpteenthtime) for prices to return to double-digit descents Friday in mostcases.