power

Western Resources last week threatened to cancel its proposedmerger with Kansas City Power & Light and sell off the companyto a national energy conglomerate following a decision by theKansas Corporation Commission (KCC) to reopen the docket on its $2billion merger.

Reaching a 30 Tcf gas market will greatly benefit the nation’spower market, so it only makes sense that electric utilities shouldhelp the gas industry achieve that goal, said Thomas Kuhn,president of Edison Electric Institute (EEI). Kuhn, speakingyesterday at the Natural Gas Roundtable in Washington D.C., saidthe convergence between the industries has become such a force thatthe EEI, whose members generate and distribute roughlythree-fourths of the nation’s electricity, is planning to take amore active role in helping the gas industry meet its demand.

Public Service Co. of Colorado and Cheyenne (WY) Light Fuel& Power will implement Operational Balancing Procedures in allareas effective Saturday and Sunday. The effect is to requireshippers to cut nominations to a level that does not exceedestimated daily consumption taken from a previous “Model Day” (inthis case July 4, 1999). Imbalance paybacks will not be allowedduring the OBP period.

Hoping to solidify the project’s shaky environmental status, Independence Pipeline Co., working with the Ohio Power Siting Board (OPSB), voluntarily agreed to a set of standards intended to protect Ohio’s environment from the construction and operation of the pipeline. The agreement, which was signed by the OPSB in early June, has been forwarded to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for consideration.

Hoping to solidify the project’s shaky environmental status,Independence Pipeline Co., working with the Ohio Power Siting Board(OPSB), voluntarily agreed to a set of standards last week intendedto protect Ohio’s environment from the construction and operationof the pipeline. The agreement, which was signed by the OPSB inearly June, has been forwarded to the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission (FERC) for consideration.

Shareholders of New Century Energies and Northern States PowerCo. approved the merger of the two companies yesterday. The newcompany will be named Xcel Energy Inc. At separate specialshareholder meetings held today in Denver and Minneapolis, morethan 83% of the voting shares of both NCE and NSP voted in favor ofthe merger. “This transaction will be accretive immediately, willprovide a balanced platform for growth, and will provide NCE andNSP customers with continued low-cost, reliable energy,” said NCEPresident Wayne Brunetti, who will become CEO of Xcel Energy. NCEsaid 93% of its shareholders representing 78% of its overall sharesapproved the deal, and 83% of NSP’s shareholders representing 62%of its shares okayed the transaction. The merger, announced onMarch 25, still requires state and federal regulatory approval. Theapproval process is expected to be completed in nine to 15 months.Under terms of the merger agreement, holders of NCE stock willreceive 1.55 shares of stock in Xcel Energy for each of their NCEshares. Each share of NSP stock will become one share of XcelEnergy.

El Paso Energy Communications Co., a subsidiary of Houston-basedEl Paso Energy; Touch America, a subsidiary of The Montana PowerCo.; and PF.Net LLC of Vancouver, a privately held company, plan tolaunch a $150 million project to create a long-haul fiber-opticnetwork linking Los Angeles and Houston.

Palmetto Interstate Pipeline Co., a partnership of SouthernNatural and Carolina Power & Light, said it is extending itsopen season for firm transportation capacity on its proposed systemuntil June 30. Interested parties should contact Sonat’s MarkLimbaugh at (800) 633-8570 or CP&L’s Rob Caldwell at (919)546-4552. Palmetto is planning to build a line that would run fromSonat’s terminus in Aiken, SC, to an interconnect with NorthCarolina Natural Gas – which is being purchased by CP&L – inRoberson, NC. CP&L plans to subscribe for a substantial portionof Palmetto’s 200 MMcf/d to 300 MMcf/d capacity to fuel newelectric generation being developed in the Carolinas, with theremainder to be used to increase regional gas availability.CP&L said it plans to build 4,000 MW of gas-fueled generationin the Carolinas by 2007. Palmetto said it plans to have Phase I ofits system in service in April 2002 with up to 300 MMcf/d ofcapacity. Two later phases in the following two years would addcapacity to the system.

CMP Natural Gas, a joint venture between Energy East Corp.(formerly NYSEG) and Central Maine Power Group, started servingcustomers in Windham, ME, last week, giving CMP Natural a bigadvantage over Bangor Gas, the other company vying to distributegas in the state.