Factor

President George W. Bush on Monday targeted additional funding for energy infrastructure and oversight activities in his $199.4 million budget request for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for fiscal 2004.

The parent of bankruptcy-saddled Pacific Gas and Electric Co. utility, PG&E Corp., San Francisco, Tuesday reported a 19% increase in earnings from operations last year, compared to 2000, including a 19% increase for the utility over 2000 results ($2.51/share, or $914 million). PG&E’s National Energy Group (NEG), its nonutility operations, increased its contribution to earnings from operations by 27% (57 cents/share, or $209 million), compared to the previous year, but that is not expected to continue this year due to currently depressed energy prices..

Non-performance of Enron-related gas did not appear to be a major factor in Monday’s price rebounds that were especially strong in the West. Replacement of purchases from Enron did play a part, sources said, but it was more a big Tuesday-only production outage in the Rockies and covering of short positions that sent post-weekend prices soaring by about 20 cents or more across the board. Opal quotes saw the biggest gain by far of more than 80 cents, according to one source.

Industrial demand for natural gas is off about 6% from this time last year, a contributing factor to the continuing decline in gas prices, according to Energy and Environmental Analysis (EEA), an Arlington, VA-based consulting firm.

The swing market had a lot going for it Monday, and it showed in sharply higher prices at all points. The biggest factor, of course, was more summer-like hot weather returning in several market areas, particularly through the midsection of the United States. In addition, a tropical wave in the Caribbean drew some attention, the screen went up nearly 16 cents, and there was the normal rebound in industrial/commercial load following a weekend.

Market power “is unlikely to be the dominant factor and may not even be significant” in the run-up of power prices in the California market, according to a study prepared by Harvard Professor William Hogan and Scott Harvey, with LECG, LLC, an economic and management consulting company based in Cambridge, MA.

Market power “is unlikely to be the dominant factor and may not even be significant” in the run-up of power prices in the California market, according to a study prepared by Harvard Professor William Hogan and Scott Harvey of LECG LLC, an economic and management consulting company based in Cambridge, MA.

Although price probably will be the most important factorinfluencing energy decisions after this winter, it is the otherthings, such as reliability and customer service, that so far havedetermined the winners and losers in the gas sales business,according to a new survey by RKS Research & Consulting.

Although price probably will be the most important factorinfluencing energy decisions after this winter, it is the otherthings, such as reliability and customer service, that so far havedetermined the winners and losers in the gas sales business,according to a new survey by RKS Research & Consulting.