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Billy G. Thompson, editor and publisher of the Austin-basednewsletter Texas Energy Week (TEn W), died at his home on Oct. 17,1998. He was 80.

The House Appropriations Committee Tuesday eliminated fiscalyear 1999 funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program(LIHEAP). Last month, the House Appropriations subcommittee onLabor, Health and Human Services and Education zeroed out fundingfor LIHEAP despite the Clinton administration’s request for morethan $1 billion in fiscal year 1999 funding. Tuesday’s actionclears the bill for consideration by the entire House ofRepresentatives.

Funding for the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program(LIHEAP) is up in the air again with a Senate committeereauthorizing funding through 2004 and a House subcommittee votingto zero out 1999 fiscal year funding for the program. Rallying forLIHEAP’s continuation is the American Gas Association. “Thisunanimous [Senate] committee vote demonstrates the depth of supportthat LIHEAP has in the Senate. In fact, several senators at themarkup expressed their dismay about the House subcommittee actionto eliminate program funding,” said Steve Crout, AGA director ofgovernment relations. “We intend to fight hard to restore the ’99funding for LIHEAP, and today’s action shows that we can count onstrong support from the Senate.”

Confident parent companies Enova and Pacific Enterprises are inthe home stretch for final merger approval by the Securities andExchange Commission, Sempra Energy announced a deal with a nationaltelecommunications marketer, The Furst Group, Inc., that shows it’srapidly expanding in the nonregulated energy and communicationsservices arena.

The June Nymex contract made it 2 for 2 for up days this week,as the spot month gained another 4.1 cents to settle Tuesday at$2.256. Sources said the market followed cash prices higher butalso warmed further gains may be limited. “This is the fifth timeJune has failed to rise above $2.27. Moreover, the daily lows havebeen rising also, so sooner or later something’s going to have togive,” an analyst told GPI.

The April NYMEX contract gained a meager 1.8 cents to $2.155 onMonday, as traders continue to hold the spot month to a tighttechnical trading range. The bottom of that range was confirmedwhen April bounced off major support at $2.105. Despite the narrowtrading band, estimated volume still managed to reach 33,502 totalcontracts.