Network

In its bid to grow its pipeline network in the central UnitedStates and along the Gulf Coast, Enbridge Inc., Canada’s secondlargest pipeline operator, agreed to buy up-and-comer MidcoastEnergy Resources Inc. of Houston, which last year more than doubledits revenue and saw profits soar 51%. Enbridge owns 21.4% of the $3billion Alliance pipeline, which delivers gas from Alberta to theMidwest.

In its bid to grow its pipeline network in the central UnitedStates and along the Gulf Coast, Enbridge Inc., Canada’s secondlargest pipeline operator, agreed to buy up-and-comer MidcoastEnergy Resources Inc. of Houston, which last year more than doubledits revenue and saw profits soar 51%. Enbridge owns 21.4% of the $3billion Alliance pipeline, which delivers gas from Alberta to theMidwest.

Public power utilities are jumping into the B2B act too — morethan 225 community-owned electric utilities have committed up to$1.2 billion in purchasing power to UtilityFrontier.com, a nationalexchange launched earlier this year. The utilities will use the B2Bas a purchasing exchange to serve more than 6.7 million electricmeters — about one third of all public power customers.

Utility watchdog group The Utility Reform Network (TURN) isn’tquite convinced that California’s two major utilities are hurtingfinancially from this summer’s wholesale power price spikes.

Utility watchdog group The Utility Reform Network (TURN) isn’tquite convinced that California’s two major utilities are hurtingfinancially from this summer’s wholesale power price spikes.

Exelon Capital Partners, the energy services and marketing armof PECO Energy, and Orion Ltd., an international energy networkmanagement company, announced a partnership yesterday. The newcompany, called CIC Global, LLC, is an international technologycompany focused on providing real time energy and bill paymentinformation to residential and small commercial/industrialcustomers. CIC Global plans to reveal its products in Philadelphialater this year.

Despite the study by the Mid-America Interconnected Network(MAIN) last month indicating that power supplies in the Midwesthave greatly improved over last year, there are some who aren’tquite ready to write off the possibility of a recurrence of pricespikes for the region this summer.

In a report released yesterday, the Mid-America InterconnectedNetwork (MAIN) said it expects a new peak for power demand in themidwestern NERC region this summer but power supplies should be”significantly improved” compared to the past two summers. The MAINstudy forecasts a peak demand of 48,157 MW this summer, compared to46,824 MW in 1998.

Diversity of supply sources, a transportation network thatblankets nearly the entire state of Florida and strong customerties will give Florida Gas Transmission (FGT) the edge over newprojects – such as Williams-Transco’s proposed Buccaneer Pipeline- that plan to enter its territory to cash in on the growinggeneration market, says FGT President Rockford G. Meyer.