Grabbed

Duke Energy Field Services (DEFS) grabbed itself a much larger piece of the natural gas midstream segment in the Gulf of Mexico this week as the company announced that it has purchased the former MCN Investment Corp.’s ownership interest in Dauphin Island Gathering Partners (DIGP), Mobile Bay Processing Partners (MBPP) and Gulf Coast NGL Pipeline, LLC (Gulf Coast). Terms of the transaction, which closed on July 11, were not disclosed.

While Pennsylvania’s gas deregulation bill for residential andsmall commercial customers has grabbed most of the focus on thestate’s gas industry, the fate of Philadelphia’s embattledmunicipal gas utility, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), also will bedecided during the current legislative session. A movement hasarisen in both the state Senate and the House of Representatives toattach an amendment onto the deregulation bill, which would shiftPGW control from the city government-selected Gas Commission to thePennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

While Pennsylvania’s gas deregulation bill for residential andsmall commercial customers has grabbed most of the focus from thestate’s gas industry, the fate of Philadelphia’s embattledmunicipal gas utility, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), will also bedecided during the current legislative session. A movement hasarisen in both the state Senate and the House of Representatives toattach an amendment onto the deregulation bill which will shift PGWcontrol from the city government-selected Gas Commission to thePennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

Illinova Energy Partners, one of the top-30 largest powermarketing operations in the nation, grabbed a foothold in theMichigan retail gas and power market with the purchase of EMC GasTransmission Co. Terms of the merger were not disclosed.