Energy

As of last Friday, 35 days away from the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission’s August recess and counting….there wasstill no official sign of its promised plan to cure the gas marketof its ills. But rumors abounded that the alleged “gas options”paper has been circulated to pipelines and producers and isundergoing a variety of alterations. There also was one report thatthe plan might not, after all, see daylight until after the recess.

In an unusual move Thursday, the Senate Energy and NaturalResources Committee forwarded the nomination of FERC CommissionerWilliam L. Massey to the full Senate for approval immediatelyfollowing his confirmation hearing.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA) andEnergy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Dan Schaefer (F-CO) tried tojump-start interest in electricity restructuring on Capitol Hillearlier this week by issuing draft legislation that would mandatecustomer choice at the state level by Jan 1, 2001, and wouldgrandfather state retail-access programs that are in effect bythen.

Funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program(LIHEAP) is up in the air again with a Senate committeereauthorizing funding through 2004 and a House subcommittee votingto zero out 1999 fiscal year funding for the program. Rallying forLIHEAP’s continuation is the American Gas Association. “Thisunanimous [Senate] committee vote demonstrates the depth of supportthat LIHEAP has in the Senate. In fact, several senators at themarkup expressed their dismay about the House subcommittee actionto eliminate program funding,” said Steve Crout, AGA director ofgovernment relations. “We intend to fight hard to restore the ’99funding for LIHEAP, and today’s action shows that we can count onstrong support from the Senate.”

The Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will considerthe confirmation of Commissioner William Massey to a second term atFERC at a hearing this Thursday. There, he is expected to get awarm reception.

The House Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Thursdayapproved royalty-in-kind legislation (H.R. 3334) to require thefederal government to take the actual oil or natural gas product asits royalty payment instead of cash for production offshore and onfederal lands. The bill, opposed by the Interior Department’sMinerals Management Service (MMS), included an amendment whichwould allow the government to receive cash for production fromlow-volume producing wells in remote locations.

Dynegy Inc. (formerly NGC Corp.) sold its Haynesville, LA, gasprocessing and fractionation facility and related gas and gasliquids pipeline systems to Duke Energy Field Services. The sale ofthe non-strategic asset continues the rationalization of certaingas processing plants acquired from Trident and Chevron, which hasresulted in greater operating efficiencies and lower costs, Dynegysaid.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got it right, findingan access fee charged to interstate shippers by Southern CaliforniaGas was illegal-but then dropped the ball in failing to order$800,000 in refunds, the D.C. Court of Appeals said in a decisionhanded down May 22 (No. 97-1028).

FERC is scheduled to tackle two major cases today – “alternativemethods” for regulating pipeline facilities on the OuterContinental Shelf (OCS) and Granite State Gas Transmission’sapplication to build an LNG facility in the town of Wells, ME. Italso is expected to vote on the merger of Enova and PacificEnterprises.