Evaluate

Marketers considering whether to enter soon-to-be deregulatedelectricity and gas markets should re-evaluate strategies in lightof the experience of gas marketers in Georgia. Late entrystrategies may be very risky, according to an analysis of Georgia’sgas deregulation process by Atlanta-based Energy Market Solutions.

TransCanada yesterday was continuing to evaluate an electronicfailure on its 36-inch Western Alberta System. A tool used duringan in-line inspection run failed. Arrival of a de-watering pig atthe Knight compressor station has been delayed until about noonmountain time today. Work on the system between the Miekle Riverand Knight compressor station in northwestern Alberta began May 31,impacting receipt capacity by about 1 Bcf/d. The system should beup to regular flows again some time by Saturday, a spokesman said.The outage had been scheduled to end June 9.

Old Dominion Electric Cooperative and Reliant Energy signed afive-year business alliance to evaluate the development of up to2,400 MW of new power generation, while partnering on retailmarketing operations in the Mid-Atlantic states.

Packaged Ice Inc. plans to outsource energy management of 60U.S. ice manufacturing facilities to Enron Energy Services (EES).Enron will evaluate and implement capital projects related toPackaged Ice’s “private utility” to increase productivity andefficiency of the plants. Enron also will provide electricity ormanage energy procurement at the facilities.

Distributed generation is poised to get a boost from the GasResearch Institute (GRI) and Architectural Energy Corp., which havedeveloped new software to evaluate the economic viability ofon-site distributed generation projects for utility customers.

PG&E Corp. has hired Credit Suisse First Boston (CS FirstBoston) of Melbourne, Australia, to evaluate various options forall of PG&E’s Australian assets, including a possible sale. Thecompany has made an about-face from aggressive investment inAustralia to continued expansion of its North American assets,particularly power generation in New England and pipeline andtrading operations in Texas. Over the past two years, PG&E haspurchased the 390-mile Queensland Gas Pipeline, running fromWalumbilla (near Roma) to Gladstone and Rockhampton, for US$138million, and planned huge expansion projects, including a proposedAU$30 million extension of the Queensland Pipeline and a AU$1billion, 994-mile gas pipeline project from the North West Shelf tothe South-West of the State. It also has built an activeQueensland-based energy trading business.