January

After negotiating in January with Battle Creek, MI, officials and receiving final approval from the Battle Creek City Commission, Semco Energy Inc. said Thursday that its Semco Energy Gas Co. will implement its three-year adjustment in natural gas base rates.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co. (PG&E) last week said that it is resuming its long-term procurement process after a temporary delay that began in January. PG&E expects to issue updated request for offers (RFOs) in March, with a submission deadline for initial offers in April. Offers will continue to be solicited for both facility ownership and power purchase alternatives.

End-of-January prices reacted to moderating weather trends (either already under way or impending), Thursday’s screen loss of a dime, and lower weekend industrial load by dropping across the board Friday. The Northeast again was far out in front in leading the charge downward with multi-dollar plunges that had citygates returning to something more closely resembling “normal” levels.

The Energy Information Administration (EIA) said Wednesday that it has delayed the release of some of its January oil and natural gas inventory reports in observance of the Martin Luther King holiday on Monday, Jan. 17 and the presidential inauguration on Thursday, Jan. 20. The weekly natural gas storage report that would normally be released on Thursday, Jan. 20 will be delayed until Friday, Jan. 21 at 10:30 a.m (EST). The EIA’s report on U.S. crude oil and petroleum product inventories will be delayed until 5 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday, Jan. 19, instead of the weekly report’s normal release on Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. (EST).

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) new natural gas production survey, which is scheduled to begin in January with the first release of data at the end of April, will fill a substantial need in the gas market and should be as important as the EIA weekly gas storage report, said John Wood, director of reserves and production in the EIA’s Dallas office.

The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) new natural gas production survey, which is scheduled to begin in January with the first release of data at the end of April, will fill a substantial need in the gas market and should be as important as the EIA weekly gas storage report, said John Wood, director of reserves and production in the EIA’s Dallas office.

A former El Paso Corp. energy trader and a ex-Dynegy Inc. trader will be tried separately early next year on charges of reporting bogus energy data to an industry publication. A Houston judge set the first trial for Jan. 12, with the second trial scheduled to immediately follow.

A former El Paso Corp. energy trader and a ex-Dynegy Inc. trader will be tried separately early next year on charges of reporting bogus energy data to an industry publication. A Houston judge set the first trial for Jan. 12, with the second trial scheduled to immediately follow.

Northeast Utilities’ (NU) board appointed Charles W. Shivery as its new chairman, president and CEO effective immediately. Shivery, who has been interim CEO since January when Michael G. Morris left to become CEO of American Electric Power, becomes NU’s sixth chairman in its 38-year history. Shivery, 58, was previously president of NU’s competitive group, responsible for the strategic growth and performance of NU’s competitive energy businesses, which include Select Energy, Select Energy Services, Northeast Generation Services and Northeast Generation Co., which together provide electricity, gas and specialized generation services in the 11 state region from Maine to Maryland. He joined NU in 2002, having retired earlier that year as co-president of the Constellation Energy Group, parent company of Baltimore Gas & Electric (BG&E).