Market

Northern Natural Gas ended a System Overrun Limitation for allmarket area zones Tuesday after it had been in effect for threestraight weeks (see Daily GPI, Dec. 12,2000).

The Market Oversight and Enforcement Section of FERC’s Office ofGeneral Counsel has ordered Williams Gas Pipelines Central Inc. topay refunds and reduce its base tariff rates for customers servedby its Webb storage facility in Grant County, OK.

Although the sky appears to be the limit for the current gasmarket, it apparently hasn’t affected the long-term optimism of theEnergy Information Administration. EIA actually predicts priceswill begin to decline in 2002 and basically flatten out through2020. That will occur, EIA believes, despite a massive increase ingas consumption to nearly 35 Tcf by 2020.

Southern Energy Inc. took a giant leap into the Mid-Atlanticpower market yesterday by completing the purchase of 5,154 MW ofpower generation from Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) for anet price of $2.65 billion.

In an attempt to capture the price discovery offered in therapidly expanding electronic exchange market, NGI added a new pricereport to its daily publication, NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index, andto its website. “NGI’s Electronic Platform Trading Index” will becomprised of deals done each morning before 11:30 a.m. (CST) andwill be published on its website at http://intelligencepress.com by1 p.m. (CST) each business day and in NGI’s Daily Gas Price Indexthe following day.

“The new market structure is broken and must be discarded,” saidEdison International Chairman John E. Bryson yesterday, in astatement warning that his company soon will be “compelled to takedrastic measures,” including “rationing” electricity. He called fora return to regulation, where needed.

In an attempt to capture the price discovery offered in the rapidlyexpanding electronic exchange market, NGI is adding a new price reportto its website. “NGI’s Electronic Platform Trading Index” will becomprised of deals done each morning before 11:30 a.m. Central Timeand will be published on its website at http://intelligencepress.com by 1 p.m. Central Time each business day.

Vector Pipeline has appointed Craig R. Fishbeck as president ofVector. Vector believes that Fishbeck’s extensive industryexperience and knowledge of Vector’s market area position him wellto lead the company through its December 2000 start-up and comingyears of growth. The pipeline also believes Fishbeck’s appointmentstrengthens Vector’s role as a vital link between the Chicago Huband Dawn, Ontario, to help meet the growing demand for natural gasin the U.S. Midwest, Eastern Canada and the U.S. Northeast.Fishbeck comes to Vector from CMS – Panhandle where he held theposition of vice president, marketing.

Citing significant demand in its market area, Florida GasTransmission issued an Overage Alert Day notice Thursday, effectiveuntil further notice. The OFO has a 10% tolerance for negativedaily imbalances.