Massachusetts

NewEnergy is seeking natural gas supply for its commercial,institutional and municipal customers in Massachusetts, RhodeIsland and Connecticut. The company issued a request for proposals(RFP) for an undetermined amount of supply this week. Stephen J.Remen, a managing director in NewEnergy’s New England office, saidthe amount will be determined after a supplier is found and a salesproposal can be sent out to NewEnergy’s customers, which numbermore than 20,000 in the three states. “This new gas RFP willposition us to offer both electricity and natural gas service toincreasing numbers of customers as we anticipate the marketbecoming more competitive in the months ahead,” said Remen. “As themarket continues to evolve we want to solicit bids on gas supply tomaximize the dollar savings that we can offer our customers.” TheRFP requires citygate delivery and behind-the-citygatetransportation management. Responses to the RFP are due May 29 at10 a.m. Contact NewEnergy at 617-772-7500 or 888-772-WATT toreceive a copy of the RFP document.

Fall River Gas Co., a small LDC serving 47,000 customers inSoutheast Massachusetts, announced last week it received an offerto be bought at a value of $23.50/share, but did not provide anymore details. The company said its board of directors was takingthe proposal under advisement and had formed a committee to reviewits options. If accepted at the announced price, the transactionwould be valued at $51.7 million.

Bay State Gas avoided a significant bypass by the MassachusettsMunicipal Wholesale Electric Co. (MMWEC) thanks to landowneropposition to a larger pipeline proposal and a lengthy negotiationprocess. After two years of work on an alternative 15-mile bypassof the Bay State system that would have linked with Tennessee GasPipe Line, MMWEC yesterday signed a 20-year agreement covering 13Bcf/year of new gas transportation on Bay State’s system to servepower generation load.

FPL Energy Inc., a subsidiary of FPL Group Inc. plans to build,own and operate a 700 MW gas-fired power plant in Bellingham, MA.FPL Energy signed a purchase agreement with Massachusetts-basedInfrastructure Development Co. (IDC) for the right to build theplant. IDC planned the project, has been working with localcommunities and the state to obtain regulatory approvals and willcontinue to assist FPL Energy with development. Information on theplant’s projected gas consumption was unavailable.