Judge

A federal appeals court in Washington, DC on Tuesday rejected a Utah-Arizona municipal group’s petition for review of a FERC order that doused the munis’ chances to distribute natural gas delivered by Questar Gas Co. to customers across Utah’s southern border without endangering Questar’s status as a Hinshaw pipe, which excuses it from FERC jurisdiction.

Rather than pre-judge how the Commission would implement legislation working its way through the House of Representatives directing FERC to boost natural gas price transparency, FERC Chairman Pat Wood last Wednesday said his inclination would be to instead hold an open workshop to get feedback on this and several other energy-related issues should the bill be signed into law.

Rather than pre-judge how the Commission would implement legislation working its way through the House of Representatives directing FERC to boost natural gas price transparency, FERC Chairman Pat Wood on Wednesday said his inclination would be to instead hold an open workshop to get feedback on this and several other energy-related issues should the bill be signed into law.

NewPower Holdings Inc. said Judge W. Homer Drake Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Newnan Division, has confirmed its Chapter 11 plan as it applies to subsidiary The New Power Company, and the company expects the court to issue its order in the next several days. Ten days following the order, NewPower will begin paying the allowed pre-petition claims of its creditors. Creditors will receive distributions totaling $8.1 million, representing payment in full of allowed claims plus interest from June 11, 2002, the date the company and its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11. NewPower will transfer any cash remaining after such payment to TNPC Holdings, Inc. in satisfaction of all intercompany debt outstanding between them.

NewPower Holdings Inc. said Judge W. Homer Drake Jr. of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Newnan Division, has confirmed its Chapter 11 plan as it applies to subsidiary The New Power Company, and the company expects the court to issue its order in the next several days. Ten days following the order, NewPower will begin paying the allowed pre-petition claims of its creditors. Creditors will receive distributions totaling $8.1 million, representing payment in full of allowed claims plus interest from June 11, 2002, the date the company and its subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions under Chapter 11. NewPower will transfer any cash remaining after such payment to TNPC Holdings, Inc. in satisfaction of all intercompany debt outstanding between them.

In a very broad initial decision issued last Tuesday, a FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) shot down nearly all of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s arguments in support of rolled-in rates for several Southeast expansions of the pipeline’s system that were built in the late 1990s. Instead, he recommended incremental pricing of the projects, which requires only those customers who directly benefit from expansions to pay the costs.

In a very broad initial decision issued late Tuesday, a FERC administrative law judge (ALJ) shot down nearly all of Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line’s arguments in support of rolled-in rates for several Southeast expansions of the pipeline’s system that were built in the late 1990s. Instead, he recommended incremental pricing of the projects, which requires only those customers who directly benefit from expansions to pay the costs.

While seeking a “global” solution to its credit crunch, PG&E Corp.’s merchant energy unit Friday hit the bottom of the credit ratings as its defaulted on debt payments involving nearly $500 million and faces another $900 million of debt due in the first quarter next year that its executives say it can’t make the payments on.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon handed Arthur Andersen LLP the maximum sentence in Houston on Wednesday — five years probation and a $500,000 fine — for obstructing justice in its handling of Enron Corp.-related documents that stymied a federal investigation of the company’s finances. Although it seemed minuscule when compared to the substantial market damage caused by the Enron scandal, the punishment was the harshest allowed under law. Andersen attorneys said they would appeal.