Each

Transco’s Sundance expansion project received two major boostslast week as Carolina Power and Light (CP&L) and Southern Co.each said they have purchased major capacity deals on the yet-to-beconstructed line. The contracts will go into effect when Sundancebecomes operational in the Spring of 2002, barring rejection fromFERC.

El Paso Energy Corp. completed its acquisition of Crystal GasStorage Inc. of Shreveport, LA. Each holder of Crystal Gas Storagecommon stock received $57 per share in cash in a deal worth $224.6million. “The Crystal assets provide the flexibility, highdeliverability, and multiple pipeline interconnects necessary tomeet the gas supply demands of new plants in the competitive powermarket,” said El Paso CEO William A. Wise.

El Paso Energy Corp. completed its acquisition of Crystal GasStorage Inc. of Shreveport, LA. Each holder of Crystal Gas Storagecommon stock received $57 per share in cash. The deal is worth$224.6 million.

BP Amoco announced the start-up of the second of two gasprocessing trains at the Pascagoula (MS) Gas Processing Plant. Theplant now has the capacity to process 1 Bcf/d, 500 MMcf/d in eachof its two trains. BP Amoco operates the plant and holds a 60%interest. Enterprise Products Partners LP of Houston holds theremaining 40%.

GPU Advanced Resources of Reading, PA, and NUI Energy, ofBedminster, NJ, formed a retail marketing alliance that will giveeach company access to the other’s unregulated retail gas andelectric customers. GPU Advanced Resources currently serves about17,000 electric customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while NUIis active in retail gas customer choice programs in New Jersey,Pennsylvania and Maryland. The alliance is effective immediately.

GPU Advanced Resources of Reading, PA, and NUI Energy, ofBedminster, NJ, formed a retail marketing alliance that will giveeach company access to the other’s unregulated retail gas andelectric customers. GPU Advanced Resources currently serves about17,000 electric customers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania, while NUIis active in retail gas customer choice programs in New Jersey,Pennsylvania and Maryland. The alliance is effective immediately.

Dynegy’s takeover of Illinova took a big step toward completionas shareholders for each company voted in favor of the transactionyesterday. Illinova’s vote of approval was announced during aspecial meeting at company headquarters in Decatur, IL, whileDynegy’s was held during a special shareholder meeting in Houston.

The groundwork for an even more concentrated U.S. energyindustry was laid Monday as Wisconsin Energy Corp., a Milwaukee,WI-based electric and gas utility, announced plans to acquireneighboring gas distributor WICOR Inc. for about $1.51 billion incash, stock and debt, creating a major Midwest energy concern andthe 13th largest utility in the nation.

In a major clarification of policy, FERC decided it wasn’tnecessary to address the merits of each objection before approvingcontested pipeline rate settlements. Instead, it said settlementscould be ratified based on the reasonableness of the overallpackage. The policy adjustment was reflected in a rehearing orderthat approved a rate settlement between Trailblazer Pipeline andits customers as being “reasonable as a package” for consentingparties, yet at the same time severed contesting parties, AmocoProduction and Amoco Energy. The action cleared the way forconsenting parties to maintain the benefits of their settlementbargain while giving the Amoco affiliates a chance to litigate the”complex factual issues” that they raised [RP97-408-006].