Midst

In the midst of this week’s power alerts exacerbated byCalifornia’s shortage of electric generating capacity, theSacramento Municipal Utility District drew only three responses toa proposal put out for bids early in the summer to have a developerbuild, own and operate a natural gas-fired 500 to 1,000 MWgeneration plant on part of a 2,000-acre site owned by the nation’slargest municipal utility. The earliest the plant would beoperational would be in 2004.

In the midst of this week’s power alerts exacerbated byCalifornia’s shortage of electric generating capacity, theSacramento Municipal Utility District drew only three responses toa proposal put out for bids early in the summer to have a developerbuild, own and operate a natural gas-fired 500 to 1,000 MWgeneration plant on part of a 2,000-acre site owned by the nation’slargest municipal utility. The earliest the plant would beoperational would be in 2004.

Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co. is in the midst ofupgrading firm transportation capacity on its system inanticipation of supplying cheaper Powder River Basin gas toshippers on Northern Border Pipeline, who it believes will bedeprived of economical Canadian gas supplies when Alliance Pipelinegoes into service in October.

Williston Basin Interstate Pipeline Co. is in the midst ofboosting firm transportation capacity on its system in anticipationof supplying cheaper Powder River Basin gas to shippers on NorthernBorder Pipeline, who it believes will be deprived of economicalCanadian gas supplies when Alliance Pipeline goes into servicelater this year.

In the midst of bullish earnings projections for the secondquarter in early July, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s new boss,CEO Steve Baum, has been busy outlining his vision for employeesand the financial community. In a nutshell, it calls for emphasison growing a nationwide energy retail operation, de-emphasizingregulated utility operations and accelerating the change tocompetitive energy markets nationwide. It also may includeunloading start-up LDCs.

In the midst of bullish earnings projections for the secondquarter in early July, San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s new boss,CEO Steve Baum, has been busy outlining his vision for employeesand the financial community. In a nutshell, it calls for emphasison growing a nationwide energy retail operation, de-emphasizingregulated utility operations and accelerating the change tocompetitive energy markets nationwide. It also may includeunloading start-up LDCs.

In the midst of a Stage Two emergency alert by the state gridoperator, California generating plants used every cubic foot ofnatural gas they could squeeze through the state’s pipeline systemto keep the air conditioners humming in response to a statewideheat wave throughout the inland valleys and deserts. The secondstage alert, enacted less than two hours after a Stage One had beencalled, required major utilities to seek voluntary curtailmentsamong some of their largest power users.

Adding insult to injury for gas producers suffering through awarm winter, reports from the Bonneville Power Administration (BPA)and California’s Department of Water Resources indicate the PacificNorthwest’s snow pack is thicker than normal, meaning hydropower isprimed for another productive year.

Caught in the midst of heated criticism of FERC’s proposedauction mechanism, Mississippi River Transmission (MRT) isdefending its proposed new auction procedures from attack bymarketers and producers.