ferc

It doesn’t happen very often, so we’re noting an apparentlyspontaneous comment from Dynegy Counsel Ed Ross at a FERCRoundtable last week that one of his chief competitors, Enron, “hasdone an excellent job of being competitive.” He suggested otherscould look to Enron as a “model competitor. They’ve done a verygood job of setting up a strong financial desk and a strongphysical desk and we don’t see any problem with it. I think theyhave set up their books in a way that they truly have separationbetween the regulated and unregulated aspects of their business.”

It doesn’t happen very often, so we’re noting an apparentlyspontaneous comment from Dynegy Counsel Ed Ross at a FERCRoundtable last week that one of his chief competitors, Enron, “hasdone an excellent job of being competitive.” He suggested otherscould look to Enron as a “model competitor. They’ve done a verygood job of setting up a strong financial desk and a strongphysical desk and we don’t see any problem with it. I think theyhave set up their books in a way that they truly have separationbetween the regulated and unregulated aspects of their business.”

FERC last week gave the green light to AES Corporation’sacquisition of IPALCO Enterprises, which owns Indianapolis Power& Light Co. The stock-for-stock transaction, which wasannounced last July, now only needs the approval of the Securitiesand Exchange Commission to be completed. AES is a global powercompany involved in generation, distribution and retail supplybusinesses. It sells electricity to more than 19 million end-usecustomers each year. Indianapolois, IN-based IPALCO Enterprises’sregulated subsidiary, Indianapolis Power & Light, serves about430,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in centralIndiana.

PG&E Gas Transmission Northwest (GTN) said it would filewith FERC in April to add 200 MDth/d of firm transportationcapacity to its mainline. A recent open season attracted 25 bids,totaling 2,138 MDth/d of capacity, but GTN said 200 MDth/d was themaximum it could do under the circumstances and under its existing26-cent maximum rate for FT.

Columbia Gulf Transmission got the go-ahead from FERC last weekto build a 37-mile lateral to provide natural gas service to twopower generation plants in Warren County, MS. The so-calledVicksburg lateral will transport 285 MDth/d of gas to facilities ofEntergy Mississippi Inc. (EMI) and Warren Power LLC in WarrenCounty. The lion’s share of the gas (200 MDth) will go to EMI[CP01-28].

FERC yesterday gave Columbia Gulf Transmission the go-ahead tobuild a 37-mile lateral to provide natural gas service to two powerfacilities in Warren County in Mississippi.

Chandeleur Pipe Line Co. has asked FERC for the go-ahead toincrease the capacity of its 12-inch mainline to 321 MMcf/d from280 MMcf/d. In an application filed Monday, the pipeline said itwas seeking the additional capacity to accommodate greaterproduction levels and a planned new interconnection with DestinPipeline Co. L.L.C., which is being built under the blanketconstruction certificates of both Destin and Chandeleur. Theinterconnection will serve a refinery in Pascagoula, MS, owned byChevron Products Co., an affiliate of Chandeleur’s. The pipelinenoted that it already has conducted an open season for the proposednew mainline capacity, and is in the process of completingprecedent agreements with shippers. The Chandeleur system — whichconsists of an 80-mile, 12-inch mainline; a parallel 82-mile,16-inch mainline; and an 11-mile, 12-inch lateral — extends fromoffshore Louisiana and Mississippi to onshore Mississippi. Inaddition to serving Chevron Products, Chandeleur hasinterconnections with Gulf South Pipeline and Texas EasternTransmission.

Williams last week asked FERC for the green light to reactivate and expand its liquefied natural gas (LNG) import services at its Cove Point terminal in Lusby, MD, to meet the growing demand on the East Coast.

In a decision siding with Sempra Energy, FERC Administrative LawJudge (ALJ) Herbert Grossman last week found that postage-stamprates on Kern River Gas Transmission are “unjust and unreasonable.”Instead, he ruled in favor of a distance-sensitive zonal ratedesign, which was proposed by Sempra.