Limits

In response to simmering environmental concerns on the U.S. side of the Mexican border, California congressional members introduced legislation last week that would place fuel limitations and stringent environmental requirements on Mexican-based power plants that sell supplies across the border into the United States. The action was prompted by two power plants now under construction just south of Mexicali in North Baja.

Three utilities serving Idaho asked state regulators last week for stricter limits on what customers qualify for a three-month winter moratorium on service disconnections for nonpayment. Fearing growing unpaid bill write-offs in the spring, the utilities want stricter income and repayment guidelines.

FERC’s proposal to place limits on the participation of regulated public utilities and natural gas and oil pipelines in intra-corporate cash management programs, or money pools, would duplicate existing regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), inflict higher administrative costs on companies and discriminate against smaller jurisdictional entities, companies said last week.

FERC’s proposal to place limits on the participation of regulated public utilities and natural gas and oil pipelines in intra-corporate cash management programs, or money pools, would duplicate existing regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), inflict higher administrative costs on companies and discriminate against smaller jurisdictional entities, companies said.

The revelations last week that Aquila Inc. will soon shutter its merchant services unit and that Dynegy Inc. stopped its online trading business were not nearly as surprising as one industry veteran had expected. Referring to this time as “the Great Shakeout,” energy consultant Ben Schlesinger said a year from now, “those who don’t want to be in this business won’t be in it, and those who are good and really want to be in this business, will be.”

PG&E Gas Transmission-Northwest (GTN) began scheduled maintenance Friday on the B unit of Station 9, which limits that station’s throughput to 1,970 MMcf/d and consequent capacity at Station 14 just upstream of Malin to 1,940 MMcf/d. Normal capacity is expected to be restored Feb. 26.

Amid concerns over potential terrorist attacks on energy facilities, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is limiting the public’s access to maps of natural gas pipelines and electric transmission lines.

Amid concerns over potential terrorist attacks on energy facilities, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is limiting the public’s access to maps of natural gas pipelines and electric transmission lines.

After gapping lower at the open, natural gas futures tumbled lower for the third day in a row and the sixth out of seven sessions as traders tested the bottom end of the market’s eight-week trading range. However, when the dust had settled and the orders counted at Nymex, it was clear that support had held, leaving traders slightly bullish heading into today’s expiration. On its penultimate day, the May contract closed 9.7 cents lower at $4.981, about 42 cents below where it was when it began its tenure as prompt month.