Final

Just a week after receiving its final Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission certificate to proceed (see Daily GPI, Feb. 22),Gulfstream Natural Gas System LLC has an agreement with FloridaPower Corp. to provide firm natural gas transportation service tosome of its electric generating plants, including the Hines EnergyComplex in Polk County.

Duke Energy and Williams got a final certificate from FERCyesterday to proceed with their newly acquired Gulfstream NaturalGas System project, a proposed 744-mile pipeline that would supplygas to the ever-expanding power generation market in Florida.

After watching prices gyrate wildly for the last several months,traders were looking forward to a nice, quiet, last trading sessionof the year Friday at Nymex. After all, who would want to propelprices dramatically higher or lower in an abbreviated tradingsession just before the holidays? As a result, prices wouldprobably just chop lazily sideways, allowing traders the time tocatch up on paperwork, right?

The Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued a final ruleaimed at toughening the safety standards for large pipelinestransporting hazardous liquids through heavily populated andenvironmentally sensitive areas of the nation. The agency furtherindicated that a comparable rule for natural gas pipelines is onthe horizon.

FERC last week voted out a final rule that lays out the”detailed” requirements electric utilities must meet whensubmitting merger applications. The new rule is intended to helpmerger partners file “more complete” applications upfront, whichthen would improve the odds for speedier processing by theCommission, said Commissioner William Massey, who has led the drivefor a streamlined merger process at FERC.

FERC yesterday voted out a final rule that lays out “detailed”requirements for electric utilities to meet when submitting mergerapplications. The new rule is intended to help merger partners file”more complete” applications upfront, which then would improve theodds for speedier processing by the Commission, said CommissionerWilliam Massey, who has led the drive for a streamlined mergerprocess at FERC.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) Friday issued a finalrule aimed at toughening safety standards for pipelinestransporting hazardous liquids through heavily populated andenvironmentally sensitive areas of the nation. The agency furtherindicated that a comparable rule for natural gas pipelines is onthe horizon.

After the approval of the fifth and final utility’s electric choiceplan early last month, the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO)vowed that the next crucial step would be marketer certification. Thatstep was taken last week as FirstEnergy Services, a subsidiary ofFirstEnergy, became one of the first to gain certification to offercustomers electricity in Ohio (see Daily GPI, Oct. 2).

The National Energy Marketers Association’s (NEM) executivecommittee will vote on a final draft of a National EnergyTechnology Policy at the group’s Industry Leadership Roundtable onOct. 30 and 31 in The Woodlands, TX in an attempt to implementuniform internet standards and tax incentives to upgrade the U.S.energy infrastructure.