Pending

Legislation pending on Capitol Hill that seeks to cut emissions of power plant pollutants would force electric utilities to jumpstart a “massive construction effort” in order to meet the compliance timeframe included in the measure, Gerard Anderson, president of DTE Energy Resources, told a Senate panel last Thursday. That construction effort, in turn, would hike the cost of power and in many regions impact the reliability of the overall electric grid, Anderson said.

While he strongly supports a money settlement between parties in the high profile case alleging affiliate and market-power abuse on the part of El Paso Corp. subsidiaries, FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. indicated that he won’t postpone issuing his initial decision to accommodate settlement negotiations. Assuming a settlement is not brokered, Wagner said he “feels strongly that this case should proceed to decision at the very earliest possible date.”

With a new major entity in the state’s energy mix — a $5 billion power authority — California’s lineup of pending natural gas and electricity reports is growing, and two existing ones are getting more fine-tuning at the state’s energy commission. After the five-member California Energy Commission postponed adopting reports on electricity/natural gas “trends” and the state’s gas transmission/storage infrastructure, revised versions of those studies may be delayed until Sept. 19, according to energy commission sources.

Staff at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has urged state regulators to reject the pending merger between FirstEnergy Corp. and GPU Inc. on the grounds that the two companies have failed to back up claims that the merger will not harm ratepayers in the Garden State, among other things.

Staff at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has urged state regulators to reject the pending merger between FirstEnergy Corp. and GPU Inc. on the grounds that the two companies have failed to back up claims that the merger will not harm ratepayers in the Garden State, among other things.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission set its seal, pending environmental review, on another westward-bound pipeline project last Wednesday. The North Baja Pipeline will carry up to 500 MMcf/d from a connection with El Paso Natural Gas near Ehrenberg, AZ, to fuel power plants and gas distribution systems in Northern Mexico and Southern California.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission set its seal, pending environmental review, on another westward-bound pipeline project Wednesday. The North Baja Pipeline will carry up to 500 MMcf/d from a connection with El Paso Natural Gas near Ehrenberg, AZ to fuel power plants and gas distribution systems in Northern Mexico and Southern California.

California regulators postponed a growing backlog of pendingactions in deference to ongoing legislative efforts to develop acomprehensive solution to the state’s energy woes. Regulators lastweek put off action on an allocation of utility revenues to thestate water resources department, which is buying electricity forconsumers and attempting to sign long-term power contracts.

California regulators postponed a growing backlog of pendingactions in deference to ongoing legislative efforts to develop acomprehensive solution to the state’s energy woes. Regulatorsyesterday put off action on an allocation of utility revenues tothe state water resources department, which is buying electricityfor consumers and attempting to sign long-term power contracts.