Program

El Paso Merchant Energy Co. will manage Niagara Mohawk PowerCorp.’s gas supply and storage refill program in a seven-monthasset management agreement announced yesterday. The agreement,signed April 1, gives El Paso Merchant management responsibilitiesover Niagara Mohawk’s existing term supply, interstatetransportation and underground storage. The total volume of gas tobe supplied over the term of the agreement is 40 Bcf. El PasoMerchant will handle storage for 20 Bcf.

Commonwealth Edison announced a voluntary pilot program thatwill automatically pay its customers if it fails to live up to itscommitment to reduce electric service interruptions, provide fasterservice restoration when outages do occur and deliver bettercommunication with customers and governmental bodies aboutservice-related issues. Developed in partnership with theMetropolitan Mayors Caucus and the City of Chicago, ComEd said itpledges to automatically pay business and residential customerswhose service has been interrupted as a result ofutility-controlled circumstances. Under the plan, qualifyingresidential and business customers will receive about the averageof one month’s electric service for each outage that exceeds eighthours or if they experience three or more outages, each of four ormore hours in length, during a two-month period. Business customerswould receive $100 credit on their account balance, whileresidential customers would receive a check for $60 for eachqualified outage. In addition, customers whose service isinterrupted for 12 hours or longer will automatically receive fullcredit of their monthly customer charge. Subsequent 12-hour outageswill result in an additional monthly credit for every outageincident. Payments will automatically be disbursed within 30 days,and do not require an additional call from the customer.

Tri-Valley Corp.’s “Project Ekho” exploration program in KernCounty, CA, reached its final depth of 19,100 feet Wednesday.Project backers now begin a 30- to 60-day period of self-imposedsilence to review drilling logs and records before continuing todevelop significant new supplies of oil and gas at thesub-15,000-foot levels in the extensively drilled central SanJoaquin Valley.

Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGLC) launched a pilot program inQuitman, GA, to help the city develop and implement a structuredprocess to enhance its 33-mile gas operating system. Quitman, acity of approximately 5,300 in Brooks County near Valdosta insoutheast Georgia, is not served by AGLC. Service, during the testperiod, is scheduled to begin May 1. AGLC will provide operationsmaintenance support, corrosion control, development of a workmanagement plan, and gas accountability. AGLC also will develop andmanage a compliance inspection plan, including an initial corrosionevaluation. AGLC inspected Quitman’s operations in February.

Calgary-based PanCanadian Petroleum Ltd. announced a $1.2billion capital spending program for 2000, an increase over 1999.The company plans to spend $940 million primarily in theexploration and development of PanCanadian’s western Canadaproperties, with a significant portion devoted to growing gasassets, including off Nova Scotia, in the Gulf of Mexico andoverseas.

The Williams Cos. Inc.’s consolidated credit measures have”deteriorated” due to an aggressive capital investment program,ever-widening losses from its communications business and weakenergy prices throughout 1998 and earlier this year, but Fitch IBCAnevertheless gave the company a credit rating of ‘BBB’ basedlargely on the stability of its interstate gas pipelines and thegrowth potential of its diversified energy businesses.

GPU Inc., parent of New Jersey’s largest electric utility, GPU Energy, unveiled a multi-point program designed to enhance shareholder returns at the Edison Electric Institute Finance Conference in Orlando, FL, last week. The plan includes a $100 million cost reduction over the next two years, a $40-$50 million investment to improve the company’s reliability and a non-core asset sale designed to generate over $500 million.

GPU Inc., parent of New Jersey’s largest electric utility, GPUEnergy, unveiled a multi-point program designed to enhanceshareholder returns at the Edison Electric Institute FinanceConference in Orlando, FL, yesterday. The plan includes a $100million cost reduction over the next two years, a $40-$50 millioninvestment to improve the company’s reliability and a non-coreasset sale designed to generate over $500 million.

The D.C. Court of Appeals last week rejected a challenge bySouthwest Gas Corp. to the capacity-release program of El PasoNatural Gas.