Partner

Tenaska, Inc. and Diamond Generating Corp., a subsidiary ofMitsubishi, have formed Tenaska Diamond, LP, a new power generationpartnership. Through the new company, the partners will own fourdomestic power generating facilities totaling 3,500 MW of capacity.Tenaska and Diamond have also entered into a non-exclusive,strategic alliance agreement for future power generatingdevelopment.

The Southwest Gas merger soap opera took another turn recentlyas Oneok, the former merger partner of Southwest, announced it ispursuing lawsuits against the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC),the state of Arizona and specific members of the ACC staff fortheir roles in interfering with the merger. Oneok said it iswilling to settle its claims for $85 million.

The Southwest Gas merger soap opera took another turn recentlyas Oneok, the former merger partner of Southwest, announced it ispursuing lawsuits against the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC),the state of Arizona and specific members of the ACC staff fortheir roles in interfering with the merger. Oneok said it iswilling to settle its claims for $85 million.

California regulators gave San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp. andits partner, San Francisco-based Bechtel Enterprises, the okay tobuild a $450 million, 880 MW natural gas-fired power plant, theDelta Energy Center, near the Dow Chemical facility in Pittsburg,CA, an industrial town in the East San Francisco Bay area.Construction is expected to get under way this summer, bringing tothree the number of merchant plants approved by Californiaauthorities, all involving Calpine.

The financial risk associated with a lawsuit against its mergerpartner Southwest Gas forced ONEOK to call off the deal lateFriday.

Aquila Energy sold to San Jose-based Calpine Corp. a 50%interest in its 600 MW gas-fired, combined-cycle Aries power plantnow under construction in Pleasant Hill, MO. Under the agreementMerchant Energy Partners, an Aquila subsidiary, will manage thefuel supply for the plant as well as all the power produced by theplant. Calpine will oversee construction, operation andmaintenance.

McMoRan (MMR) Exploration Co., Phosphate Resource PartnersLimited Partnership (PLP) and its administrative managing generalpartner IMC Global Inc. (IGL) said PLP and IGL have resolved anddismissed with prejudice their lawsuit against MMR and four formerdirectors of Freeport-McMoRan Inc.

DPL Inc., parent of the Dayton Power and Light Co., was recentlyselected by the Indiana Farm Bureau as its energy partner, thecompany said last week. Under the agreement, DPL Energy will be theenergy provider of choice for the Indiana Farm Bureau and itsmembership, supplying natural gas and other energy services. Thisannouncement comes on the heels of DPL and the Ohio Farm Bureaurenewing their eight-year relationship. The Indiana Farm Bureau hasrepresented Hoosier farmers since 1919 and is now the largestagricultural organization in Indiana with more than 272,000members. It provides its members with a number of value-addedservices that include insurance, accounting, education, and nownatural gas through DPL Energy. DPL currently manages approximately25 Bcf of natural gas annually.

Brandt Energy, a former partner in the Wild Goose Storageproject in California, is planning the development of Colorado’sfirst independent gas storage facility. The Totem Gas StorageProject is to be located about 12 miles east of the Denver Airportin a depleted gas field in the J Sand reservoir of the DenverJulesburg Basin. Brandt, Star Natural Gas, Renegade Oil & Gasand Fairchild, Ancell & Wells make up the development team forthe project, which will target growing power generation load andmarketers serving customers along the Front Range.