Official

When the retail market partially opens to competition in Texasnext June, it will be a “whole new ballgame,” according to anofficial with the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, but moregeneration, additional transmission lines and increased capacityshould guarantee the state faces no problems similar to those seenby California this year.

While an agreement is still under discussion and nothing hasbeen finalized, a Coral Energy official confirmed Friday thatparent company Royal Dutch/Shell and U.S. construction giantBechtel Enterprises will fold InterGen, InterGen North America andcertain assets of Coral Energy into one business.

While an agreement is still under discussion and nothing hasbeen finalized, a Coral Energy official confirmed Friday thatparent company Royal Dutch/Shell and U.S. construction giantBechtel Enterprises will fold InterGen, InterGen North America andcertain assets of Coral Energy into one business.

Vector Pipeline President Juri Otsason said last week the 720MMcf/d pipeline project from Chicago to Dawn, ON, is running alittle behind schedule and probably will not be in service untilthe end of October. It originally was expected to be in serviceOct. 1. He also said the results of a recent Vector open seasonwere disappointing despite the company’s new contract to provide200 MMcf/d of short-haul firm service to NIPSCO.

Vector Pipeline President Juri Otsason said the 720 MMcf/d pipelineproject from Chicago to Dawn, ON, is running a little behind scheduleand probably will not be in service until the end of October. Itoriginally was expected to be in service Oct. 1. He also said theresults of a recent Vector open season were disappointing despite thecompany’s new contract with NIPSCO, which was announced earlier thisweek (see Daily GPI, June 28).

If FERC should issue an unfavorable rehearing decision on theproposed MarketLink expansion, a Williams official yesterday saidthe company will ask FERC to sever the project from the proposedSupplyLink expansion and Independence Pipeline projects.

In what one gas industry official close to the case called a”major victory,” the District of Columbia Circuit Court of Appealsupheld the Environmental Protection Agency’s program for reducingnitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions for 19 eastern and midwestern statesplus the District of Columbia last week. Barring any furtherappeals, the NOx SIP Call rule will be added to the Clean Air Act,requiring the states included in it to reduce their NOx emissionsby a total of 1.2 million tons, or 28% of current levels, annually.

An official with Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line told a Senatecommittee last week that pipeline deliverability to the Northeastregion was extremely “taxed” this winter, resulting in highdelivered gas prices to the New York market during January andFebruary. This, he said, underscores the need for more pipelinecapacity to the region.

Even a mildly hot summer in California this year could bringall-time high power price spikes and could put a severe strain ongenerating capacity, according to energy officials in theCalifornia General Services Department (GSD). Based on state datanow available, GSD officials told a California energy conferencelast Thursday prices could be two to three cents-per-kwh above lastyear’s averages for the three traditionally hottest months,although last year was designated as a “cool” summer.