Procurement

Along with its two more headline-grabbing actions on electricity procurement and transmission, the California Public Utilities Commission last Thursday established a two-phase proceeding to be completed before the end of the year to “ensure reliable, long-term supplies of natural gas” are available to the state.

A recent decision by FERC to set for hearing a series of power purchase agreements (PPAs) filed by Entergy Services Inc. and various affiliates will have an effect on how quickly the company can “get through” all of the various power supply acquisitions that the utility is considering, a top executive with Entergy Corp. acknowledged last Monday.

With several significant matters unresolved, including questions related to the procurement of property, Sempra Energy Resources is hesitant to predict when it will reach a final decision on pursuing the construction of a 500 MW, natural gas-fueled power plant in Escondido, CA.

With several significant matters unresolved, including questions related to the procurement of property, Sempra Energy Resources is hesitant to predict when it will reach afinal decision on pursuing the construction of a 500 MW, natural gas-fueled power plant in Escondido, CA.

Entergy Corp. and The Shaw Group Inc. have created EntergyShaw LLCto provide management, engineering, procurement, construction andcommissioning services to build electric plants worldwide. The twosigned the letter of intent to form the new company in early June. Itwill be headquartered in Baton Rouge, LA (see Daily GPI, June 5). Entergy and Shaw each will own a50% interest in the new company and Jim Early, a Shaw senior vicepresident, has been appointed president. In the next few years, thecompany is expected to manage the construction of several powerprojects, with a total capital value of more than $6 billion. Theactual number of projects was not announced.

Coral Energy entered into an energy alliance with TerraIndustries Inc., an international chemicals company, to increasethe energy efficiency of Terra’s Blytheville, AR, chemical facilityusing Coral Site Advantage, Coral’s proprietary measurement,benchmarking and energy modeling program. Terms of the arrangementwere not released. The program will begin with a comprehensiveanalysis of energy requirements throughout the chemical complex.This information will be used in the development of a modelingprogram to establish a benchmark for optimal energy usage. “Energyis the major cost component at each of our manufacturingcomplexes,” said Mike Bennett, executive vice president for Terra.”The first step in that process is determining our precise energyneeds, which is a strength of the Coral Energy program. We expectto quickly achieve savings by becoming a more efficient energyuser.” Once the modeling system is in place, Coral will work withTerra to develop a multi-year energy savings plan, initiallyfocusing on energy utilized within existing plant processes. Coralwill receive compensation for its Coral Site Advantage servicesbased upon a portion of Terra’s measured energy savings.

Duke/Fluor Daniel of Charlotte, NC, was selected by TexasIndependent Energy to provide turnkey engineering, procurement,construction and start-up services for a 1,000 MW, greenfield powerplant in Santa Clara, TX. The project is Texas Independent Energy’s(TIE) first power plant to receive financing. TIE is a jointventure of Panda Energy International Inc. and PSEG Global. “Basedon our reference power plant design, the Guadalupe Power Project isour fifth merchant power plant we are building in Texas,” saidClarence Ray, CEO of Duke/Fluor Daniel. Commercial operation ofPhase I scheduled for December 2000. Construction began thissummer.

The Oklahoma Corporation Commission (OCC) has delayed the startdate for retail gas unbundling in the state from Oct. 1, 1999 toJune 1, 2001. Retail unbundling affects gas utilities serving morethan 25,000 customers. The commission order delaying unbundlingalso allows groups wanting to propose competitive purchase programsat earlier dates to submit their proposals for commissionconsideration.

Duke/Fluor Daniel said it has been awarded a turnkey contract byPanda Paris Power LP, to provide engineering, procurement,construction and start-up services for a proposed 1,000 MWgas-fired power plant in Paris, TX. “Power from the plant will bedistributed through TU Electric and will be sold to members of theElectric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the Southwest PowerPool (SPP) and other users,” said a spokesman for Dallas-basedPanda Energy, parent company of Panda Paris Power. Commercialoperation of the combined cycle power plant is scheduled for summer2000. Construction will begin next March.