Potential

Peoples Energy Chairman Richard E. Terry indicated Tuesday thathis company is talking with potential partners about building analternative pipeline project that would extend from the Chicago hubto serve the southern Wisconsin market.

Nova Corp. announced yesterday it is selling its 26% interest(38.8 million shares) in Dynegy Corp. (formerly NGC Corp.) andplans to redeploy the potential $460 million in proceeds in itscommodity chemicals business. Nova CEO Jeffery Lipton said themarket is “currently assessing little or no value to ourinvestment” in the Houston-based marketing and processing company.

Retail energy service providers and marketers now have an addedpotential way to reach into California’s mass market residentialand small business customers by buying part of the utility billingenvelope space. Under new state regulatory rules, investor-ownedenergy utilities (IOUs) are opening access to their ubiquitousbills that are mailed regularly to millions of customers.

A rate hike proposal of Northern Natural Gas that has thepotential to cause a showdown at FERC over key policy issues got acool reception last week from Midwest municipals and smalldistributors on Northern’s system.

After a pause for consideration by one potential taker,TransCanada PipeLines, Canada’s second-biggest pool of natural gassupplies is again looking for new owners. Pan-Alberta Gas’president, Ross Weaver, confirmed, “we are still for sale.”

Despite predictions of waning gas supplies and worries over Gulfof Mexico production potential from some, several companies aretouting boom years for reserve replacement with some settingrecords. The strong reserve replacement came in a year when gasproduction is said to have seen only a modest increase of abouthalf a Bcf. Much of the good news for reserve replacement comesfrom oil and international operations, but domestic gas fared well,too, according to some company reports.