Establishing

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services announced Tuesday it is establishing new liquidity adequacy guidelines for U.S. energy merchants, which are particularly vulnerable to large and sudden liquidity demands related to collateral calls.

The governors of Washington, Oregon and California announced Monday they are establishing a tri-state strategy to reduce global warming. They made the announcement in California at a press event staged by Gov. Gray Davis, the subject of an ongoing recall election in the state, who was joined by Washington’s Gov. Gary Locke and (via a statement) by Oregon Gov. Ted Kulongoski.

In a case that tests the limits of how far California went in establishing third-party, non-utility natural gas storage, two of the state’s energy heavyweights — Pacific Gas and Electric Co. and Calpine Corp. — are going toe-to-toe over allegations that Calpine has “colluded” with a third-party storage operator, Lodi Gas Storage. PG&E’s utility wants state regulators to come down hard on both the merchant operators.

Another public fueling station for natural gas vehicles (NGV) opened in California last Thursday with help from state and local government agencies and guidance from the local utility. The opening boosts the state’s total NGV fueling sites to 230, 110 of which are open for general public use, according to the Sacramento-based California Natural Gas Vehicle Coalition.

FERC should “take the lead” in establishing a “new system” for gathering, preparing and reporting data on natural gas trades to either a government-run or government-sanctioned price index developer, said a national group of consumer advocate agencies.

The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed establishing three bands of safety and security zones around liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and tankers in Boston Harbor to safeguard against “sabotage or other subversive acts” in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

The U.S. Coast Guard has proposed establishing three bands of safety and security zones around liquefied natural gas (LNG) facilities and tankers in Boston Harbor to safeguard against “sabotage or other subversive acts” in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Dynegy Inc. has completed its acquisition of BG Storage Ltd. and its natural gas storage facilities and related assets in the United Kingdom, establishing the cornerstone of the Houston-based company’s European physical energy convergence presence. The deal includes 30 wells with five offshore platforms, nine salt caverns, about 19 miles of pipelines and an onshore natural gas processing terminal.

Southern Company opened its new energy trading floor in Atlantayesterday, establishing the electronic nerve center of thecompany’s growing body of North American assets.