Getting

Monday’s market was a reversal of the price trends seen Friday:now it was the East getting softer while most of the West reboundedfrom its weekend declines.

One month after getting the regulatory green light on its Lodigas storage project in Northern California, Western Hub PropertiesLLC said it is about to announce another high-deliverabilitystorage project in Bakersfield, CA, near Wheeler Ridge, and ismoving forward on a storage facility in Live Oak and KarnesCounties, TX, near San Antonio.

It looks as though Millennium Pipeline’s long wait for a FERC ruling is going to last a little longer. Instead of getting a speedy Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), the pipeline must wait until FERC can examine its proposed route change in New York, Daniel M. Adamson, director of the Office of Energy Projects, told project sponsors.

As if there weren’t enough sites to click on already, energybuyers will be getting yet another deal-making space on theInternet. Dynegy and Williams agreed to invest $25 million each fora minority equity stake in eSpeed Inc., an interactive electronicmarketplace engine for business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce.

Last week’s announcement by Montana Power that it is getting outof the energy utility business may be the start of a new push toseparate electric transmission and distribution, with an increasein merchant transmission proposals, spurred by both shareholdersand regulators of the utilities, according to one of the nation’sfirst merchant power transmission companies. U.S. electrictransmission systems collectively represent a $70 to $90 billionset of assets.

Last week’s announcement by Montana Power that it is getting outof the energy utility business may be the start of a new push toseparate electric transmission and distribution, with an increasein merchant transmission proposals, spurred by both shareholdersand regulators of the utilities, according to one of the nation’sfirst merchant power transmission companies. U.S. electrictransmission systems collectively represent a $70 to $90 billionset of assets.

The driving force sought by promoters of Arctic natural gaspipelines is gathering steam as three senior Canadian productioncompanies revisit major northern discoveries they have sat on for aquarter of a century of unfavorable markets.

The race for the vacant Republican seat at FERC is gettingawfully crowded as a third candidate from Capitol Hill has signaledhis interest in the post.

Belatedly, the California Energy Commission (CEC) is getting inits two-cents-worth in the state’s remaining gas settlement talksfocused on Southern California Gas Co. The overall thrust of theremaining talks should be to unbundle more, limit the monopolyutilities’ roles, and establish user fees so that only customerswho use certain services pay for them, the CEC has suggested,mirroring stances it has taken in electric restructuringproceedings.