Initiated

California regulators Thursday unanimously initiated a two-phase investigation of the causes for the unprecedented wholesale natural gas price spikes at the Arizona-California border in a 14-month period covering March 2000 through May 2001. The effort is designed to be supplementary to the proceedings already underway at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the border prices and the alleged role of El Paso Natural Gas and its affiliates in driving up those prices in the midst of the state’s energy crisis.

El Paso Natural Gas has initiated an open season for the “Bondad Expansion Project,” responding to customer interest in capacity expansion from receipt points located upstream of the Bondad Compressor station to the Blanco, NM area.

El Paso Natural Gas has initiated an open season for the “Bondad Expansion Project,” responding to customer interest in capacity expansion from receipt points located upstream of the Bondad Compressor station to the Blanco, NM area.

The Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) last Thursday initiated an in-depth review of the financial condition of the state’s major public utilities in order to ensure that unregulated affiliate activities do not negatively affect the financial condition or service quality of the regulated utilities serving Ohio. Utilities based in Ohio include American Electric Power (AEP), FirstEnergy, Cinergy and DPL.

The Florida Public Service Commission (PSC) last week initiated a rulemaking procedure aimed at reforming the state’s bid rule for new generation projects. The rule has come under fire from power suppliers who view the current bidding process as heavily stacked in favor of investor-owned utilities (IOUs).

Pacific Gas & Electric continued a Stage 2 high-inventory OFO, initiated Wednesday, through at least Thursday. Penalties and imbalance tolerance remain at $1/Dth and 3% respectively. The utility continued to project linepack above its maximum target levels through the weekend.

FERC will review costs and revenues for Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline in hearings initiated under section 5 of the Natural Gas Act, according to an order voted out at the Commission’s meeting last Wednesday.

FERC will review costs and revenues for Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline in hearings initiated under Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act, according to an order voted out at the Commission’s meeting Wednesday.

FERC will review costs and revenues for Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline in hearings initiated under Section 5 of the Natural Gas Act, according to an order voted out at the Commission’s meeting Wednesday.