Impending

A majority of points were moderately softer Wednesday, although quite a few others were flat to as much as about a nickel higher. An impending decline in power generation load as cooler weather returns to the Midwest and Northeast starting Thursday were cited as the primary cause of declines ranging from 2-3 cents to nearly 20 cents. Most of the dips were in single digits.

End-of-January prices reacted to moderating weather trends (either already under way or impending), Thursday’s screen loss of a dime, and lower weekend industrial load by dropping across the board Friday. The Northeast again was far out in front in leading the charge downward with multi-dollar plunges that had citygates returning to something more closely resembling “normal” levels.

A recent report by Forrester Research on the impending demise of independent trading exchanges doesn’t impress Altra Energy Technologies CEO Paul Bourke, who told NGI there are a few items the researchers overlooked in their race to endorse exchanges sponsored by the New York Mercantile Exchange and by companies trading in the market.

Thanks to impending colder weather in the major northern marketareas along with some extra boost from a rising screen, overallcash prices ranged from flat to about a nickel higher Thursday,with increases of 3-6 cents tending to occur most frequently.

MRT lifted Wednesday an OFO affecting interruptible gas north ofthe Glendale, AR, Station (see Daily GPI,Jan. 5).