Industrial

The soaring gas market continues to claim casualties amongindustrial end-users. The ammonia, urea and methanol industries,just to name a few that require significant amounts of natural gasfor production, are on the verge of being crippled because of highfeedstock costs and continuing poor sales prices in the domesticand international markets.

The soaring gas market continues to claim casualties amongindustrial end-users. The ammonia, urea and methanol industries,just to name a few that require significant amounts of natural gasfor production, are on the verge of being crippled because of highfeedstock costs and continuing poor sales prices in the domesticand international markets.

Although the proposed project is focused primarily on newelectric generation and large industrial/wholesale localdistribution loads, the backers of a proposed 212-mile natural gaspipeline from the Arizona-California border south into northernBaja, Mexico are testing potential market interest for thepipeline’s U.S. segment as part of an open season running throughJuly 14.

Although the rate of service interruptions to industrial andcommercial gas customers on its system during January was thehighest in five years, a Public Service Electric and Gas Co.(PSE&G) official told New Jersey regulators yesterday theimpact of the interruptions on the usage and price of home-heatingoil was “negligible.”

Amerada Hess agreed to buy gas and power marketer Statoil EnergyServices Inc. of Alexandria, VA. Statoil serves industrial andcommercial customers, mainly in New York, Pennsylvania, Maryland,Virginia and Washington, D.C.

Like many other industrial operators before it, Duke EnergyServices has found that operating along California’s famouscoastline can be a rocky proposition. Duke has been forced to pullback and reconfigure plans for its Morro Bay power plant along thecentral coast to accommodate local city concerns and is makingpromises to increase the city’s coffers by up to 30% through theplant remodel.

Like many other industrial operators before it, Duke EnergyServices has found that operating along California’s famouscoastline can be a rocky proposition. Duke has been forced to pullback and reconfigured plans for its Morro Bay power plant along thecentral coast to accommodate local city concerns and is makingpromises to increase the city’s coffers by up to 30% through theplant remodel.

SCANA Corp. and Enermetrix.com have jointly announced SCANAOnline Energy, a gas and electricity auction marketplace designedfor use by business and industrial customers.

FirstEnergy Corp. added 30,000 industrial, commercial andresidential customers in the Midwest through an acquisition of theretail natural gas business of Volunteer Energy LLC, a subsidiaryof Williams. The acquisition was filed with the Federal TradeCommission and the Department of Justice and the parties expect toclose later this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.