Meeting

In an attempt to dissuade anyone from the notion that power markets are going to become over-built any time soon, Calpine Corp. held the second of a series of three conference calls last week with the financial community, reinforcing that it is not backing off its goal of having 70,000 MW of new capacity on line by the end of 2005, and growth in its $1.4 billion natural gas holdings will increase along with the new plants.

FERC cleaned house last week at its final regular meeting before its August hiatus, voting out a number of certificates, preliminary determinations and a Section 3 authorization for pipeline projects of Florida Gas Transmission (FGT), PG&E Transmission Northwest Corp., Colorado Interstate Gas Co. (CIG), Algonquin Gas Transmission/Texas Eastern Transmission (Tetco) and Otay Mesa Generating Co. LLC.

A spokesperson for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. (ERCOT) yesterday expressed optimism that ERCOT will be able to meet a Friday deadline to complete additional interactive testing with utilities and new market competitors before it begins operating as a single control area, which will in turn clear the way for a full ramp-up of the state’s deregulation pilot. But ERCOT’s Heather Tindall also refused to rule out further delays if the council determines that its systems are not up to snuff by the time the latest deadline rolls around July 20.

Energy Search Inc. announced that it will hold a special meeting of its common and preferred shareholders on July 19 in Knoxville, TN, to vote on a proposal to approve the merger of Energy Search and EOG Resources Inc. and to approve the transactions proposed by the merger agreement. If the merger and related transactions are approved, shares of Energy Search common stock and preferred stock will be converted to the right to receive $8.22 in cash. Only those persons who owned common stock or preferred stock of Energy Search at the close of business on the first of June will be entitled to vote on the proposal. The board of directors of Energy Search said it unanimously recommends that stockholders vote for the merger proposal. Under the agreement first announced in late May (see Daily GPI, May 24), EOG Resources said total consideration for Energy Search would equal about $37.6 million. Energy Search is an independent oil and gas exploration and production company focused primarily on developmental drilling and production of natural gas reserves in the Appalachian Basin. Energy Search holds 75 Bcfe of reserves and produces about 7 MMcf/d of Appalachian natural gas. Its proven reserves increased 17.9% in 2000 compared to 1999.

A smooth transition of the merger between Unicom and PECO Energy that created Exelon Corp. is just one of several reasons why the company believes it will meet or surpass its 2001 earnings target of $4.50 per share, said Exelon Co-CEO John W. Rowe last week.

A smooth transition of the merger between Unicom and PECO Energy that created Exelon Corp. is just one of several reasons why the company believes it will meet or surpass its 2001 earnings target of $4.50 per share, said Exelon Co-CEO John W. Rowe earlier this week.

Although this week’s presidential meeting is likely to complicate California’s embroiled political landscape, Republican state legislators are convinced that a bipartisan, wide-ranging deal is still possible without state transmission grid ownership or another utility bankruptcy. It would involve discounts by generators of past-due billings, amounting to billions of dollars. Ultimately, a key adviser to the Republicans said Tuesday, all civil suits against the merchant generators would have to be dropped, something Gov. Gray Davis has adamantly resisted publicly.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) during its regular meeting last Thursday approved the merger of Morristown, NJ-based GPU Energy and FirstEnergy Corp. by a 5-0 vote on a motion by Commissioner Terrance J. Fitzpatrick, but decided to postpone a decision on GPU’s request to raise rates by a 4-1 count with Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell dissenting.

The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) during its regular meeting Thursday approved the merger of Morristown, NJ-based GPU Energy and FirstEnergy Corp. by a 5-0 vote on a motion by Commissioner Terrance J. Fitzpatrick but decided to postpone a decision on GPU’s request to raise rates by a 4-1 count with Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell dissenting.