Proceeding

Northern Natural Gas called on FERC this week to close the agency’s show-cause proceeding and dismiss a related complaint case brought against it by two Midwest cogenerators, claiming that the transportation letter agreements negotiated with the cogenerators were lawful and did not restrict competition.

The federal bankruptcy judge in Enron Corp.’s Chapter 11 proceeding cleared the way Thursday for Sierra Pacific Resources’ two Nevada utilities to appeal an earlier judgment ordering them to pay more than $330 million in penalties for a busted power supply contract with Enron that was broken off last year. The judge stayed his previous decision ordering the utilities to pay Enron in lieu of them posting bonds and cash while they pursue appeals through federal regulators and the courts.

As part of its ongoing Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding, the court approved Pacific Gas and Electric paying $281 million of 6.25% first mortgage refunding bonds that mature Aug. 1. The PG&E Corp. utility will pay the bondholders from its current available cash, which totaled $3.49 billion on May 31, 2003.

A FERC judge’s ruling in an El Paso Natural Gas complaint proceeding last month raises questions about the basis for the Commission’s action in ordering full-requirements (FR) shippers on the El Paso system to convert to contract-demand (CD) service next March, two large FR customers said. They asked FERC for a rehearing on the conversion order in light of the judge’s ruling.

A FERC judge’s ruling in an El Paso Natural Gas complaint proceeding last month raises questions about the basis for the Commission’s action in ordering full-requirements (FR) shippers on the El Paso system to convert to contract-demand (CD) service next March, two large FR customers said. They asked FERC for a rehearing on the conversion order in light of the judge’s ruling.

With its merger with Portland General Electric proceeding through state and federal approval processes, Northwest Natural announced Friday it has reduced previously announced fourth quarter earnings by $2.7 million, or 6 cents/share, due to a resolution of a 10-year-old lawsuit by one of its large commercial customers that went against the Portland, OR-based natural gas distribution utility.

Dynegy Corp. executives have to be scratching their heads at what it’s going to take to restore investor confidence. The Houston-based energy trader by all accounts had a stellar week: a bold restructuring plan to shed non-core assets, sale of 25 million shares of its stock, winning the first legal round in battle with Enron Corp., and an expanded multi-year natural gas marketing agreement with ChevronTexaco.

El Paso Natural Gas has received approval from the U.S. Departmentof Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to conduct moreinternal inspections on its rebuilt New Mexico pipeline, whichruptured August 19 killing 11 people (see Daily GPI, Aug. 22). Since the explosion, flowsthrough the line, which runs from West Texas to California, have beenreduced to 85% capacity, or about 920 MMcf/d.

El Paso Natural Gas has received approval from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) to conduct more internal inspections on its rebuilt New Mexico pipeline, which ruptured August 19 killing 11 people (see NGI, Special Report). Since the explosion, flows through the line, which runs from West Texas to California, have been reduced to 85% capacity, to a rate of about 920 MMcf/d.