Muscle

PowerSpring Inc. is preparing to muscle its way into the virtualmarketplace next month, offering commercial and industrial energyusers an online shopping area to take better advantage ofderegulation. Officials last week touted the launch of its newInternet site, www.powerspring.com, promising energy users the “bigplayer” benefits of deregulation – market clout and savings.Through its website, PowerSpring plans to manage energy use for itscustomers by using aggregated customer demand, an online auctionand customized reports. Sidney Hinton was named president and CEOof PowerSpring at the launch last week, which coincided with parentcompany Metretek’s annual shareholder meeting in Denver. The newcompany was first announced last month (see NGI, April 17).”PowerSpring has the potential to revolutionize the purchase andmanagement of energy among an ever-growing universe of commercialenergy users,” Hinton said. PowerSpring’s virtual energymarketplace, designed by e-business partner Scient, will offer asingle source for purchasing and managing energy, with customersreceiving one consolidated bill. Initially, the service will onlybe available to commercial and industrial natural gas users,however, as deregulation grows, PowerSpring plans to expand thecoverage area.

A new dream team of companies formed yesterday has more thanenough market muscle and expertise to succeed where others havefailed in the retail energy market. Enron Corp., IBM and AmericaOnline have launched an ambitious plan to build a major nationalretail energy company with IBM as back office manager, Enron asenergy supplier, and AOL as the key link to the small customermarketplace.

PowerSpring Inc. is preparing to muscle its way into the virtualmarketplace next month, offering commercial and industrial energyusers an online shopping area to take better advantage ofderegulation. Officials yesterday touted the launch of its newInternet site, www.powerspring.com, promising energy users the “bigplayer” benefits of deregulation – market clout and savings.Through its website, PowerSpring plans to manage energy use for itscustomers by using aggregated customer demand, an online auctionand customized reports.

Enron and Peoples Energy put their Chicago market muscletogether last week in a wholesale services partnership and energyasset optimization package that likely will impact the Midwestmarket for years to come. With the help of Enron, Peoples will beefup its Chicago gas infrastructure and secure about two thirds ofits gas supply requirements for the next five years.

Energy consulting company Skipping Stone Inc. is adding acommunications systems notch to its bow with the acquisition ofTransCapacity Inc., an established provider of software and systemsto automate pipeline transportation.

With at least 800 MMcf/d and potentially more than 1 Bcf/d ofgas supply to sell, the Minerals Management Service (MMS) will be amajor force in the gas market come October when its Gulf of MexicoRoyalty In-Kind (RIK) pilot program begins. MMS’ total royaltyshare of Gulf production is 2.5 Bcf/d and it expects at least athird of that will be taken in kind by next spring.