Faced

Faced with weather-related construction delays, the $600 million, 302-mile interstate Bison natural gas pipeline’s start has been delayed until some time in January, TransCanada Corp. said. The 30-inch diameter pipeline bids to bring Powder River Basin supplies to the Midwest.

Faced with doubts raised by consumers and some state elected officials late last year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Tuesday named a Houston-based energy/utility consulting company to assess the veracity of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. advanced metering implementation program. The CPUC committed to getting an outside assessment in December (see Power Market Today, Jan. 8).

Faced with doubts raised by consumers and some state elected officials late last year, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) on Tuesday named a Houston-based energy/utility consulting company to assess the veracity of the Pacific Gas and Electric Co. advanced metering implementation program. The CPUC committed to getting an outside assessment in December (see Power Market Today, Jan. 8).

Enduring the tough economic climate that all utilities have faced over the last year, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) was a bright spot on Thursday as the Newark, NJ-based electricity and natural gas distributor and electricity generator reported income from continuing operations for 4Q2009 of $349 million (69 cents/share), up 47% from the $237 million (46 cents/share) that the company posted in 4Q2008.

Enduring the tough economic climate that all utilities have faced over the last year, Public Service Enterprise Group (PSEG) was a bright spot on Thursday as the Newark, NJ-based electricity and natural gas distributor and electricity generator reported income from continuing operations for 4Q2009 of $349 million (69 cents/share), up 47% from the $237 million (46 cents/share) that the company posted in 4Q2008.

Faced with a significant national warm-up following three weeks of arctic chill, natural gas futures traders put pressure on prices to the downside Tuesday as forecasts on the duration of the warm-up seemed to fluctuate a bit.

Faced with a widening budget deficit that some analysts place above $20 billion in the new year, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger indicated that he is revisiting a proposal to expand offshore drilling in order to generate more than $200 million of revenues. A proposal to open drilling offshore Santa Barbara County early in 2009 was rejected by the State Lands Commission.

Faced with a widening budget deficit that some analysts place above $20 billion, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger is revisiting a proposal to expand offshore drilling in order to generate more than $200 million of revenues. A proposal to open drilling offshore Santa Barbara County earlier this year was rejected by the State Lands Commission (see Daily GPI, Feb. 2).

Keeping the week’s streak of lower closes intact, August natural gas futures — still faced with abysmal fundamentals — pushed lower on Wednesday to close at $3.795, down 4 cents on the day and 31 cents on the week.