Industry

The merger of New Century Energies and Northern States Powerappears to be moving faster than expected. The companies announcedplans yesterday to hold their special shareholder meetings toapprove the merger in late June rather than in September. Theproposed merger requires shareholder approval as well as approvalor regulatory review by various federal and state agencies. Whencompleted the merged company will serve 3 million electricitycustomers and 1.5 million natural gas customers in 12 U.S. states.

The D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals remanded Friday a FERCdecision approving a 20-year cap on bids for Tennessee Gas Pipelinecapacity that are considered under the net-present-value approach.The Process Gas Consumers Group (PGC), which includes industrialgas users, challenged the Commission order, arguing that it failedto engage in “reasoned decision-making” by allowing the cap on theNPV bids. “…..[W]e find FERC’s reasoning on the cap to beunpersuasive and largely conclusory,” the court opined [No.98-1075]. The court said it didn’t “quarrel” with the goal behindthe Commission’s approval of the NPV capacity-allocation method forTennessee, “but [we] remind FERC of its admitted need to balancethe goal with its duty to prevent exploitation of Tennessee’smonopoly power. FERC appears to have forgotten the latter…..” PGCalso took issue with FERC’s decision allowing Tennessee to applyNPV to shippers attempting to change primary receipt and deliverypoints, and the court agreed with industrials on this point. Thecourt ordered the Commission to “better explain or modify” itsapproval of both issues.

Cumberland County awarded South Jersey Energy, the marketingaffiliate of South Jersey Industries, a one-year gas supplycontract yesterday. A company spokesman said the contract was worth$500,000. South Jersey will supply gas to all municipal facilitiesand aims to save the county government 20% off its regular gasbill. The announcement marks South Jersey’s third contract with NewJersey county governments in the past 12 months. It also has supplydeals with Atlantic and Camden Counties.

Union Gas announced the availability of 2 Bcf of peak storage atthe Dawn Market Hub. The storage permits summer 1999 injection and1999-2000 winter withdrawal. The storage capacity will be awardedbased on a bidding process. All bids are due by 1 p.m. EST onFriday, May 21. The high bidders will be awarded the capacity by 3p.m. EST that same day. The storage hub has six pipelineinterconnects and easy access to 15 pipeline and distributioncompanies, Union Gas said. The complex has a working capacity of130 Bcf and can deliver 2 Bcf/d for customers.

South Jersey Gas Co. filed a petition with New Jersey’s Board ofPublic Utilities (BPU) to increase eligibility in its customerchoice pilot program from 25,000 to 50,000. The announcement marksthe second time in the past 12 months the utility has increased thesize of its pilot. The BPU has set Dec. 31 as a deadline to definecomplete statewide gas deregulation. South Jersey said 22,000customers have participated in the program. The utility serves260,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in thestate.

Merger rumors that tweaked the stock prices of Chevron andTexaco have cooled somewhat. While the industry awaits word of adeal (or no deal), observers might consider the words of managementand economics professor Lester Thurow.

Houston skyline watchers should note Transco Tower will berenamed Williams Tower. “The tower is a Houston landmark thatsymbolizes stability and innovation, two qualities that accuratelydefine our business at Williams,” said Cuba Wadlington Jr., generalmanager of Williams’ Transco pipeline system. Williams merged withTransco Energy Co. in 1995 and moved to the tower. Then, WilliamsCommunications Solutions, formerly known as WilTel, moved itsheadquarters there in August 1995. Today, Williams houses itsnational technical resource center at the tower and occupies 39floors. The tower is 64 stories tall and was built in 1982. It isthe tallest building in the United States located outside of adowntown area.

Merger rumors that tweaked the stock prices of Chevron andTexaco have cooled somewhat. While the industry awaits word of adeal (or no deal), observers might consider the words of managementand economics professor Lester Thurow.

Providence Energy subsidiary ProvGas is providing remote systemcontrol and monitoring services for the Portland Natural GasTransmission System (PNGTS) – a new 272-mile pipeline that runsfrom Quebec to Massachusetts. ProvGas began providing 24-hourremote electronic monitoring of the pipeline from its Allens Avenuefacility shortly after the pipeline began operating on March 10.ProvGas will monitor the pipeline using a sophisticated SystemsControl and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to watch the portion ofthe pipeline that runs from Pittsburgh, NH, on the Quebec border,to Westbrook, ME. The line can transport 178 MMcf/d of gas.