electric

New York State Electric &amp Gas (NYSEG) has asked FERC and theNew York State Public Service Commission (PSC) to hold a jointtechnical conference on utility power purchase agreements withnonutility generators (NUGs) as soon as possible. Eight statelawmakers sent a letter to FERC Chairman James Hoecker on thematter last fall, but action was never taken, a NYSEG spokesmannoted.

Mexico’s Energy Regulatory Commission (CRE) issued the Queretarogas distribution permit to Belgian electric utility Tractebel.Tractebel was awarded the permit as a result of the bid processundertaken by the CRE for the geographic zone, which comprises themetropolitan area of Queretaro, as well as the city of San Juan delRio.

San Diego Gas &amp Electric (SDG&ampE) completed divestiture ofall its fossil-fueled generation with the selection of Dynegy Inc.and NRG Energy Inc. as the joint winning bidder for its 951 MWEncina Power Plant in Carlsbad, CA.

Gregory Power Partners (GPP), a joint venture between LG&ampEPower and Columbia Energy’s Columbia Electric Corp., securedfinancing last week for a new gas-fired co-generation project nearGregory, TX, allowing the partnership to proceed with powercontract obligations with Reynolds Metal Co., the second largestU.S. aluminum producer. Terms of the financing were not disclosed.

AEP Resources Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of AmericanElectric Power, completed the purchase of the midstream gasoperations of Equitable Resources Inc.

The latest battle in utility deregulation was waged last weekwhen the Electric Power Supply Association (EPSA) published aletter urging Florida’s Public Service Commission (FPSC) to rejectFlorida Power Corp.’s petition to forgo competitive bidding forconstruction of Hines 2, a second gas-fired generation plant at itsHines Energy Complex in Polk County, FL.

Despite the advent of retail gas and electric competition instates such as California, Georgia, Ohio and Pennsylvania,UtiliCorp United officials do not regret their decision earlierthis year to shelve retail commodity marketing and disband theEnergyOne partnership with PECO Energy. The outlook for retailcompetition is still quite bleak, UtiliCorp Chairman Richard C.Green, Jr. said last week at a press briefing in Washington, D.C.The status of the retail market has not changed, and regulators andlegislators still appear headed in the wrong direction.

Despite the advent of retail gas and electric competition instates such as California, Georgia, Ohio and Pennsylvania,UtiliCorp United officials do not regret their decision earlierthis year to shelve retail commodity marketing and disband theEnergyOne partnership with PECO Energy. The outlook for retailcompetition is still quite bleak, UtiliCorp Chairman Richard C.Green, Jr. said at a press briefing in Washington, D.C. yesterday.The status of the retail market has not changed, and regulators andlegislators still appear headed in the wrong direction.

In an attempt to deter other utilities in the state, Californiaregulators Nov. 5 slapped a $1.68 million fine on Pacific Gas andElectric Co. for allowing an unregulated energy services affiliateto violate newly created state rules earlier this year governingthe use of the parent company name and logo. The PG&ampE utilitycompany expressed disappointment and vowed to appeal the decision,which requires the penalty be paid out of shareholder funds.