Orders

Citing allegations from consumer groups and other opponents in past proceedings that were left unaddressed, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission Thursday in a split decision directed its staff to launch an investigation into the operations of San Diego-based Sempra Energy’s two major utilities in relation to various merchant energy businesses that Sempra also operates.

A FERC judge on Tuesday will hear arguments on whether to toss out an agency subpoena that orders El Paso Corp. to furnish documents on its deceptive price reporting activities to California parties to support their claim for refunds.

A FERC judge late Wednesday scheduled a hearing for El Paso Corp. to challenge an agency subpoena that orders the energy company to furnish documents on its deceptive price reporting activities involving an energy publication.

FERC Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) H. Peter Young has ordered several Enron-affiliated wind farm projects and Southern California Edison Co. to file a status report by the end of next week on their efforts to complete a settlement that would resolve assertions made by Edison that the projects failed to comply with the Commission’s regulations for qualifying facility (QF) status.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Wednesday ordered two Duke Energy gas pipelines to revise the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) provisions in their tariffs to give firm shippers paying maximum rates the opportunity to review third-party bids for capacity under expiring transportation contracts, even in cases where shippers signal an intention to terminate their contracts.

California regulators Thursday unanimously initiated a two-phase investigation of the causes for the unprecedented wholesale natural gas price spikes at the Arizona-California border in a 14-month period covering March 2000 through May 2001. The effort is designed to be supplementary to the proceedings already underway at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission regarding the border prices and the alleged role of El Paso Natural Gas and its affiliates in driving up those prices in the midst of the state’s energy crisis.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday ordered two Duke Energy gas pipelines to revise the right-of-first-refusal (ROFR) provisions in their tariffs to give firm shippers paying maximum rates the opportunity to review third-party bids for capacity under expiring transportation contracts, even in cases where shippers signal an intention to terminate their contracts.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered its staff last Wednesday to convene a technical conference to address Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America’s (NGPL) proposed tariff revisions to its creditworthiness standards, noting that the changes being sought “may be unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory or otherwise unlawful.”

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered its staff Wednesday to convene a technical conference to address Natural Gas Pipeline Co. of America’s (NGPL) proposed tariff revisions to its creditworthiness standards, noting that the changes being sought “may be unjust, unreasonable, unduly discriminatory or otherwise unlawful.”