Higher

Regional Reliability Councils and their members are about 90%compliant, but work still needs to be done to bring standards upand encourage non-members to join, according to the latest reportfrom the North American Electricity Reliability Council. NERC haspublished its findings for the second of four phases of its Year2000 Compliance Program, created to ensure adherence to NERC andregional standards.

In almost a carbon copy of Monday’s session, natural gas priceserupted higherTuesday morning only to spend much of the remainderof the session checking lower as traders took profits amidintra-day technical weakness and storage uncertainty. Ending athree-day, $1.25 dollar price rally, the January contract slipped4.9 cents to close at $7.384. Meanwhile, the 12-month strip tumbledconvincingly, down 13.6 cents to $5.555.

Market observers watched in disbelief yesterday as prices atsome locations rocketed up more than $1 from Wednesday’s levels.Most cash points made daily gains of between 40 and 50 cents, anddaily price ranges were enormous.

With natural gas costs expected to be higher in the next fewmonths, Naperville, IL-based Nicor Gas has announced a new CustomerPayment Support Plan, which will enable its 1.9 million customerswho fall behind in their bills to spread monthly payments intosmaller amounts through the summer. If a customer receives a billin January or February and cannot make the total payment, thecustomer contacts Nicor, which will then estimate costs in futuremonths and arrange a payment plan to spread the amount in regularincrements over warmer months. Fixed monthly payments wouldcontinue until Sept. 2001. The plan joins two other programs,including the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Programadministered by the Illinois Department of Commerce and CommunityAffairs, and Sharing, an assistance program administered by theSalvation Army and funded by Nicor. For information about theprograms, call (888) 642-6748.

High natural gas prices, performance issues and higher thanexpected maintenance costs, a general economic slowdown and severalother key factors will combine to create a “near-term meltdown inthe gas turbine market,” according to a report by WEFA, Inc.

High natural gas prices, performance issues and higher thanexpected maintenance costs, a general economic slowdown and severalother key factors will combine to create a “near-term meltdown inthe gas turbine market,” according to a report by WEFA, Inc.

No news was good news for bulls in the natural gas pit yesterdayas prices bubbled higher late in the session in accordance with thelong-term bull trend. Very little in the way of fresh fundamentalnews was seen to bully prices in either direction and as a resultthe market spent most of the session inside the 10-cent tradingrange etched during the first half hour of trading.

Siding with New Jersey Ratepayer Advocate Blossom Peretz’spleadings for moderation, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities(BPU) at a special meeting yesterday granted provisional approvalto three utilities for the minimum requested rate increase to passon the rising commodity cost of natural gas. New Jersey NaturalGas (NJNG) received the 16% it petitioned for, but ElizabethtownGas (ETG) and Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G)received far less than requested.

After gapping higher on the open and racing to new highs,natural gas futures were hit with a powerful wave of selling latein the session that trimmed most of yesterday’s gains and lefttraders wondering if more selling is in store for the market on itsexpiration day today.