electric

With funding from an offshoot of Pacific Gas and Electric Co.’s historic Chapter 11 bankruptcy settlement, the nation’s first university-based technology center devoted to energy efficiency was dedicated by state, energy and environmental officials Wednseday at the University of California, Davis, a few miles west of the state Capitol.

Dallas-based Atmos Energy Corp. has joined 52 other gas/electric utilities on the Fortune 500 ranking of the largest companies. Atmos enters the list at No. 430 based on revenues of $4.9 billion.

Late last Friday an Oregon county circuit court gave preliminary approval to a $10 million settlement among Portland General Electric (PGE) and class action plaintiffs over past disputed rate collections for a county tax. The judge’s approval followed by just two days another Multnomah County (OR) Circuit Court judge’s decision in a similar case to reject PacifiCorp’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit seeking to recover millions of dollars that PacifiCorp’s Oregon utility allegedly collected for tax payments but never paid.

Plaintiff attorneys were anticipating a judge’s preliminary approval late last Friday of a $10 million settlement with Portland General Electric (PGE) over past rate collections for a county tax. The pending decision followed by just two days another Multnomah County (OR) Circuit Court judge’s decision in a similar case to reject PacifiCorp’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit seeking to recover millions of dollars that PacifiCorp’s Oregon utility allegedly collected for tax payments but never paid.

Plaintiff attorneys were anticipating a judge’s preliminary approval Friday of a $10 million settlement with Portland General Electric (PGE) over past rate collections for a county tax. The decision would follow by just two days a Multnomah County (OR) Circuit Court judge’s decision in a similar case to reject PacifiCorp’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit seeking to recover millions of dollars that PacifiCorp’s Oregon utility allegedly collected for tax payments but never paid.

With statistics compiled for the first two full months of the year, more than half of Pacific Gas and Electric Co. natural gas utility residential and small business customers have dropped their monthly use cumulatively more than 10% in January and February. Customers who maintain usage at least 10% below their cumulative use for the same three months last year will earn a 20% rebate on their gas bills for those three months.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) last Tuesday used a complaint filed with FERC to allege violations of the Commission’s market behavior rules by two generator affiliates of bankrupt Calpine Corp. — Delta Energy Center LLC and Los Esteros Critical Energy Facility LLC.

Pacific Gas & Electric did not extend a customer-specific low-inventory OFO beyond Thursday.

Mirroring a similar decrease a month earlier, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. Wednesday again said it expected another big decrease in natural gas utility bills this month, compared to last month, with bills expected to be down 36.8% for residential customers. PG&E’s utility said the average residential bill for March is expected to be $68.05, compared with $107.60 last month, although the cost of natural gas remains 24% higher than it was in March 2005.