Marketers

While many marketers are complaining to FERC that its drastic order “Imposing Reporting Requirements on Natural Gas Sales to California Market” is not needed or oversteps its jurisdiction, state utilities and regulators would like to see the order expanded and the results shared.

While many marketers are complaining to FERC that its drastic order “Imposing Reporting Requirements on Natural Gas Sales to California Market” is not needed or oversteps its jurisdiction, state utilities and regulators would like to see the order expanded and the results shared.

Customer choice and so-called direct access retail power deals between end-use customers and supplier/marketers may be an ultimate casualty of California’s year-old energy wars. State energy regulators indicated last week they are divided over the issue along political lines.

Customer choice and so-called direct access retail power deals between end-use customers and supplier/marketers may be an ultimate casualty of California’s year-old energy wars. State energy regulators indicated last week they are divided over the issue along political lines.

The National Energy Marketers Association (NEM), responding to the Bush administration’s energy plan and the Democrats’ response, issued on Tuesday an urgent call for bipartisan support for meaningful incentives for massive new investments in additional energy supplies, conservation, infrastructure and technology. “Both plans recognize that new investments are required immediately, but both plans lack sufficient incentives to permit energy prices to come down,” said NEM President Craig Goodman. “Accelerated cost recoveries for new investments in energy supply, conservation, advanced energy technology and environmental protection will solve the energy supply problem quickly and is one of the lowest cost, highest yield policy solutions. New energy supplies, conservation and advanced technology will lower costs to all consumers and should be considered a moral imperative. NEM has long advocated the expansion of existing Internal Revenue Code Sections to include ‘Qualified Energy Restructuring Investments’ for new supplies, conservation, infrastructure, advanced metering and distributed generation technologies.”

“What we have is basically a two-lane road, and the marketers and everyone else want to use it as a six-lane highway,” Edward Tirello, analyst for Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown, said describing the U.S. power grid. “But someone is going to have to spend a enormous amount of money to [make it happen], and no one is spending any money right now.”

Power marketers and other suppliers to the California market got a major boost last week when FERC ordered the state’s independent system operator (Cal-ISO) to assure payment for all third-party energy sales made to the state transmission coordinator.

In the fourth time in as many months, the Ohio Consumers’ Counsel (OCC) filed two similar complaints with the Public Utilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) against Summit Natural Gas and The Energy Cooperative — which includes Cinergy Resources and Licking Rural Electrification — alleging violations of Ohio’s much maligned natural gas choice program, as well as Ohio law.

In the fourth time in as many months, the Ohio Consumers’Counsel (OCC) filed two similar complaints with the PublicUtilities Commission of Ohio (PUCO) against Summit Natural Gas andThe Energy Cooperative — which includes Cinergy Resources andLicking Rural Electrification — alleging violations of Ohio’smuch maligned choice program, as well as Ohio law.