Past

The domestic natural gas resource base, both proven andpotential, has dropped slightly over the past two years, butthere’s more than enough available and known gas supply to meetU.S. needs well into the middle of the next century, according to anew study released last week by the Potential Gas Committee (PGC).

The domestic natural gas resource base, both proven andpotential, has dropped slightly over the past two years, butthere’s more than enough available and known gas supply to meetU.S. needs well into the next century, according to a new studyreleased Monday by the Potential Gas Committee (PGC).

Feeding off late gains notched by the expiring April contractMonday, May kicked off its campaign as the spot month at Nymexyesterday by continuing higher in active trading. And whereas Aprilcontract made its mark in a late short squeeze, May was promptedhigher throughout the day by a steady stream of commercial andspeculative buying. Several sources also pointed to buy-stoporders, which were triggered as the market moved through the$1.93-95 range as a reason for the strength. May finished up 9.5cents at $1.978.

Dynegy is making a reality of its promise to increase its powerasset portfolio in the Southeast by announcing construction plansfor two separate 500 MW facilities in the past seven days. Lastweek, Dynegy announced a local commission approved plans toconstruct a plant in Heard County, GA. Yesterday, the company saidit gained approval from a local court to build the BluegrassGeneration facility in Oldham County, KY. With the Kentuckyfacility, Dynegy will own or have interest in five power plants inthe Southeast.

Customer satisfaction with gas pipeline transportation in NorthAmerica has shown a marginal 2% improvement over the past twoyears, with 30 pipelines achieving a higher ranking while almost anequal amount of pipelines (27) experienced a decline, according toa bi-annual survey released by Mastio &amp Co. last week.

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The power price spike to $7,000 MWh this past June in theMidwest was not out of line with the cost of running little-usedpeaking generators, according to a leading marketer, and from aregulatory viewpoint the key lesson was that residential customersdid not have to pay those prices.

Although the public’s overall awareness of energy deregulationhas inched up over the past three years, a majority of residentialand business customers surveyed say they still know next to nothingabout the issue and its potential effect on them, according to theresults of two major surveys issued last week.

Although the public’s overall awareness of energy deregulationhas inched up over the past three years, a majority of residentialand business customers surveyed say they still know next to nothingabout the issue and its potential effect on them, according to theresults of two major surveys issued this week.