Dwarfed

Although dwarfed by the news of the proposed NiSource-Columbiamarriage, LG&E Energy Corp. had some glad tidings of its ownlast week — it signed off on a definitive merger agreement forBritain’s PowerGen plc to acquire the Louisville, KY-baseddiversified energy company in a cash-and-debt transaction valued at$5.4 billion.

Although dwarfed by the news of the proposed NiSource-Columbiamarriage, LG&E Energy Corp. had some glad tidings of its ownyesterday — it signed off on a definitive merger agreement forBritain’s PowerGen plc to acquire the Louisville, KY-baseddiversified energy company in a cash-and-debt transaction valued at$5.4 billion.

Volume growth in the power marketing business dwarfed that ofgas with some marketers posting year-to-year increases of more than1,000% with gains of more than 100% not unusual. Total salesvolumes for the year for the top-20 gas marketers rose 17%, or 17Bcf/d, whereas for the power marketers volumes soared 103%, or935.81 million MWh, to 1,841.44 million MWh. Such leaps are notsurprising considering power marketing is a less mature businessthan gas and targets a much larger market.

Volume growth in the power marketing business dwarfed that ofgas with some marketers posting year-to-year increases of more than1,000% and gains of more than 100% not unusual. Total sales volumesfor the year for the top-20 gas marketers rose 17%, or 17 Bcf/d, to117 Bcf/d, whereas for the power marketers volumes soared 103%, or935.81 million MWh, to 1,841.44 million MWh. Such leaps are notsurprising considering power marketing is a less mature businessthan gas and targets a much larger market. (See table, page 4)