Institute

Through a partnership announced yesterday with Endesco, afor-profit subsidiary of the Institute of Gas Technology (IGT),NiSource Inc. subsidiary EnergyUSA said it is advancing plans tobecome a major provider of residential fuel cells in the emergingmarket for distributed generation technology.

The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI ) said yesterday ithas created a new program that focuses on Internet security issuesas they impact the energy industry in response to a series ofrecent hacker incidents, which brought e-business to a halt onseveral high profile websites. There is a growing concern thatsimilar intrusions could interrupt the critical interdependentsystems that support the global energy infrastructure. “Ourimmediate focus is on the vulnerabilities of the electronic systemsthat monitor and operate our business systems and provide criticalcommunications within and outside the energy business,” saidCharlie Siebenthal, manager of EPRI’s Enterprise InfrastructureSecurity (EIS) program. “In the long term, the EIS program willshift its emphasis to the design and management of electronicsecurity activities that will augment a company’s existing physicalsecurity programs.” The program will consist of a series ofworkshops covering broad program issues, in-depth electronicsecurity technical issues, and legal issues. Participation is opento any company actively engaged in the production, transportation,distribution, or sale of energy. The first EIS workshop will beheld April 26-28, 2000 in Orlando, FL. Details are posted on theprogram website, http://eis.epri.com/. For additional informationon the EIS program please contact Susan Marsland (650/855-2946) orat smarslan@epri.com.

Using results from their latest Y2K survey as proof, the NaturalGas Council and the American Petroleum Institute (API) deemed theirworking group, formed to spur on Y2K readiness throughout the oiland gas industries, a success. With over two months to go, 93% ofthe oil and gas companies surveyed said their embedded systems areready for the Year 2000 and the rest expect to be done soon,leaders of the working group said at the National Press Club inWashington D.C. last week.

Using results from their latest Y2K survey as proof, the NaturalGas Council and the American Petroleum Institute (API) deemed theirworking group, formed to spur on Y2K readiness throughout the oiland gas industries, a success. With over two months to go, 93% ofthe oil and gas companies surveyed said their embedded systems areready for the Year 2000 and the rest expect to be done soon,leaders of the working group said at the National Press Club inWashington D.C. yesterday.

While the Gas Research Institute maintains the most likelyfuture for natural gas includes low prices and a 31 Tcf market by2015, it is hedging its bets with a new study examining the outcomeif not all the expected pieces fall into place.

While the Gas Research Institute maintains the most likelyfuture for natural gas includes low prices and a 31 Tcf market by2015, it is hedging its bets with a new study examining the outcomeif not all the expected pieces fall into place.

ARCADIS Geraghty & Miller, an environmental and engineeringservices consulting firm, and the Gas Research Institute (GRI) haveformed an alliance to commercialize natural gas co-firing andrelated technologies that significantly enhance steam boilerperformance.

The Gas Research Institute has offered a proposed budget of $98million for approval by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission tofund research and development projects for 2000. The funding wouldcover $72.6 million for 43 Core projects, widely beneficial to theentire industry and gas users and $25.4 million for 22 Non-Coreprojects targeted to specific activities and major market segments.In addition to the FERC-directed portion of the budget, GRIanticipates receiving about $53 million in cofunding from industryand govenrment sources in 2000. The filing Tuesday marked the thirdyear of the seven-year transition to an all-voluntary R&Dprogram. In 2001 the funding through FERC will drop to $70 million,then $60 million in 2002-2004. At the end of that period thefunding will be voluntary.

Terry Keane, former vice president of Smith International,Houston, has been named vice president and general manager of theGas Research Institute’s Exploration and Production Business Unitin Chicago.