Into

El Paso Merchant Energy Co. made its first foray into providingfuel to Mexico when it signed a 25-year gas supply contract withFuerza y Energia De Hermosillo SA, a subsidiary of Spain’s UnionFenosa Group, to serve Mexico’s Hermosillo power plant. El Pasowill supply up to 43 MMcf/d to the 225 MW combined cycle powerplant. The plant is expected to begin testing in early 2001 andbegin commercial operation summer 2001.

Gas from NW Natural’s underground storage facility began flowinginto the company’s new Mist III Pipeline in Mist, OR. The24-inch-diameter pipe allows the company to provide more gas to thegrowing Washington County area. The $35 million pipeline runsparallel to a 16-inch line built in the late 1980s to connect theMist gas storage field to the company’s distribution system.

Dynegy Inc. yesterday announced plans to develop its firstmerchant power plant to serve the growing electricity market inFlorida.

Two main players in the gas industry’s e business sector joinedforces last week as Altra Energy Technologies and Excelergy Corp.announced an agreement in which Excelergy’s billing and customerinformation software will be marketed along with Altra’s wholesaletrading and risk management products. No financial terms weredisclosed. The venture is currently under way.

Two main players in the gas industry’s e business sector joinedforces yesterday as Altra Energy Technologies and Excelergy Corp.announced an agreement in which Excelergy’s billing and customerinformation software will be marketed along with Altra’s wholesaletrading and risk management products. No financial terms weredisclosed. The venture is currently under way.

Ohio Gov. Bob Taft signed into law a bill requiring the state’sPublic Utilities Commission to investigate any hostile takeover biddirected at an Ohio gas utility at the time the bidder’s tenderoffer is made.

Ohio Governor Bob Taft signed into law a bill requiring thestate’s Public Utilities Commission to investigate any hostiletakeover bid directed at an Ohio gas utility at the time thebidder’s tender offer is made.

Sixty U.S. gas pipelines are still trying to figure out whathappened to 106 Bcf of gas last year. The methane simply vanishedinto thin air at a cost of more than $200 million, according to asurvey of FERC Form 2 data by GRI. The GRI research shows that onaverage, each of those interstate pipes lost about 4.8 MMcf/d.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) last week called intoquestion Vice President Al Gore’s pledge to continue the drillingban along the Florida and California coasts if he’s electedpresident. “The producers of natural gas are dismayed by yourrecent announcement” to stop in its tracks any drilling along thesetwo coasts, where it’s believed more than 40 Tcf of gas may beavailable, wrote NGSA President R. Skip Horvath in a letter toGore. “Denying access to this environmental fuel, some of whichresides offshore, appears inconsistent with the goal for a cleanerfuture.”