Initiates

FERC last Thursday issued two final rules and a policy statement aimed at bolstering and clarifying the agency’s enforcement of the regulated natural gas and electricity markets.

Despite a third straight triple-digit weekly storage injection (114 Bcf), natural gas futures surged Thursday in three distinct waves of short-covering and speculative buying. When the dust had settled and the orders counted at Nymex, the numbers were impressive: July natural gas futures rose 36 cents to close at $5.941, just off its new one-week high of $5.95. In contrast to the first three trading days of this week, volume at Nymex was heavy Thursday, with an estimated 92,607 contracts changing hands.

Coming a little more than a week after the company headed off bankruptcy, Hagerstown, MD-based Allegheny Energy, Inc. announced that Alan J. Noia, chairman, president, and CEO, has informed the board of directors of his decision to retire. Noia has agreed to remain with the company until a successor is found. The company said it is in the process of enlisting a prominent executive search firm to head the search.

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).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Division of Regulatory Audits last week began an industry-wide audit of annual financial reports to determine why such a high number of jurisdictional natural gas and electricity companies reported negative balances in their asset (cash) accounts pertaining to subsidiary investments for 2001.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s Division of Regulatory Audits has begun an industry-wide audit of annual financial reports to determine why such a high number of jurisdictional natural gas and electricity companies reported negative balances in their asset (cash) accounts pertaining to subsidiary investments for 2001.

FERC has ordered a formal, non-public investigation into the “apparent disclosure” to The New York Times of documents that were supposed to be sealed and protected as part of the California regulators’ complaint case against El Paso Natural Gas and affiliates.

FERC has ordered a formal, non-public investigation to be conducted into the “apparent disclosure” to The New York Times of documents that were supposed to be sealed and protected as part of the California regulators’ complaint case against El Paso Natural Gas and affiliates.

California power end users probably thought they were justhaving another nightmare Monday when the California ISO announcedStage One and Stage Two Electric Emergencies. After all, it’sNovember, not August. However, August apparently left a lastingimpression on the state’s ailing power plants.