Hearing

Forcenergy Inc. of Miami said its bankruptcy reorganization planwas approved Oct. 22 by the United States Bankruptcy Court for theEastern District of Louisiana. A confirmation hearing is scheduledfor Dec. 13. On Nov. 16 the bankruptcy court extended the timeperiod for which only the company has the exclusive right to file aplan of reorganization. No other plan has been submitted or can besubmitted during the company’s exclusivity period.

Some 11th-hour life has been pumped back into a proposal forallowing gas distribution competition in an industrialized part ofthe East San Francisco Bay. Two members of the five-memberCalifornia Public Utilities Commission have proposed an alternativeto the Western Gas Resources pipeline proposal, which would servecustomers inside Pacific Gas & Electric’s franchise territory.The CPUC is scheduled to take up competing approaches when it meetsNov. 4 in San Francisco.

Commissioner Curt Hebert met no resistance yesterday at hisreconfirmation hearing before the Senate Energy and NaturalResources Committee. The panel was scheduled to meet later in theday to approve his reconfirmation to a new five-year term at theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission, and then forward it to thefull Senate for a vote.

National Fuel Gas used a hearing in the Pennsylvania senate last week to voice its opposition to the state’s gas deregulation bill. It is the only LDC to oppose the bill so far.

National Fuel Gas used a hearing in the Pennsylvania senateTuesday to voice its opposition to the state’s gas deregulationbill. It is the only LDC to oppose the bill so far.

Concerned that a threshold number of Atlanta Gas Light (AGL)customers in certain warmer regions of Georgia may not switch toalternative suppliers by the next winter heating season, theGeorgia Public Service Commission is taking action to changeGeorgia’s gas competition law, SB 216, to get AGL out of themerchant function possibly by next fall.