Holding

Williams’ Kern River pipeline, with expansion plans targetingLong Beach, CA, is holding an open season offering termdifferentiated rates (TDR) for firm service representing a discountfrom existing rates of up to 25 cents/Dth. The 15-day open seasonbegan Oct. 23.

Western Hub Properties, LLC (WHP) said subsidiary Lodi GasStorage is holding an open season Nov. 2-20 for 4 Bcf of workinggas capacity with an average of six cycles per year at its proposedgas storage facility in a depleted producing field near Lodi, CA,20 miles south of Sacramento. The facility would provide servicedirectly to Pacific Gas & Electric’s (PG&E) Line 401 nearthe Antioch Terminal in the heart of PG&E’s market. The companyplans to file an application in November to build the facility nextyear with service starting in November 1999.

Cross Bay Pipeline Co., a limited liability company formed bysubsidiaries of Williams, Duke Energy and KeySpan Energy, announcedit is holding a 30-day open season from Oct. 15 to Nov. 13 todetermine market interest in 125,000 Dth/d of firm capacity to theNew York City metropolitan area.

Nation Fuel Gas Supply Corp. is holding an open season for19,100 Dth/d of long-term firm transportation capacity that hasbeen turned backed to its system. The open season will terminate onSept. 11.

Niagara Mohawk Power’s new holding company structure, which isexpected to receive regulatory approval in the first quarter of1999, will be called Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. William E. Davis,currently Niagara Mohawk Power chairman and CEO, will becomechairman and CEO of Niagara Mohawk Holdings. Niagara MohawkHoldings will succeed Niagara Mohawk Power as the sole entity inwhich common stock is held.

In a move to renew PG&E Corp.’s focus entirely on NorthAmerican markets, the utility holding company sold its natural gastransmission pipeline, related facilities and energy tradingoperations in Queensland, Australia to Duke Energy International,LLP.

Questar is holding an open season through June 26 to solicitinterest in a new pipeline to provide FT service for supplies inthe Wind River and Powder River Basins. Questar proposes to build aline with up to 300,000 dth/d of capacity and a projectedin-service date of Oct. 1, 2000. The route would begin near theMontana border at Recluse, WY and run south through the PowderRiver Basin, then southwest to Lost Cabin, WY and continuing toQuestar’s Kanda/Coleman/Nightingale compressor stations. From theregas could be delivered to Questar, Wyoming Interstate Co., CIG orOverthrust. Questar also is evaluating an alternative in which theline would run southeast from Powder River Basin to Chalk Bluffsnear Cheyenne, WY, where gas could be delivered into pipelinesserving the Midcontinent market. The pipeline said it would pickthe final route based on shippers’ desired receipt points. Itanticipates charging incremental rates. Call Brad Burton at (801)324-2717 or Brent Kitchen at -2117 for information.

KeySpan Energy Corp. combined last week with Long IslandLighting Co. (LILCO) to form MarketSpan Corp., a new holdingcompany dedicated to market growth in the Northeast as well asinvestments in energy in North America and abroad.

The less-than-sensational first quarter earnings reported byPacific Enterprises, holding company of Southern California Gas,were reflective of the thinner margins that have so farcharacterized the transition to restructured energy markets fornatural gas and electricity. In brief, the regulated utility isproducing all of the earnings; the unregulated businesses are stillproducing only red ink.