Hair

Projecting natural gas wellhead prices, and basically anything else concerning natural gas, hasn’t been easy for the Energy Information Administration (EIA). In fact, forecasting consumption, production and prices for just about any other energy commodity has been easier.

San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp.’s “bad hair day” turned into an even worse week, and the question now is how badly the high-flying merchant power plant developer will be hurt by a growing wave of skepticism on Wall Street on the soundness of its strategy, financial ability and future earnings.

Sounding more embittered and hair-trigger-happy with each passing press conference, California’s governor Tuesday continued to draw a line in the sand at $8.9 billion for power supplier refunds at the same time standing ready to negotiate with individual suppliers or small groups for portions of that amount in cash or future price discounts or power contract renegotiations.

Despite announcing one-year commodity sales agreements withOutback Steakhouse and the Hair Cuttery in Northern Virginia thisweek, Constellation Energy Source said retail commodity sales arelosing their allure. The company, a nonregulated subsidiary ofBaltimore Gas & Electric, has closed several small retailmarketing offices and eliminated six retail commodity salespositions to make room for more engineers and energy servicesexperts.