Question

Will the South Atlantic region be the next ‘California 1992’ or ‘California 2000?’ That’s the question Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc.(EEA) asked in its July Monthly Gas Update because of all the pipeline expansions planned for the region and the current financial turmoil affecting the companies who are behind the new projects.

Will the South Atlantic region be the next ‘California 1992’ or ‘California 2000?’ That’s the question Arlington, VA-based consulting firm Energy and Environmental Analysis Inc.(EEA) asked in its July Monthly Gas Update because of all the pipeline expansions planned for the region and the current financial turmoil affecting the companies who are behind the new projects.

More fallout from the Enron meltdown surfaced last Wednesday as Democratic Reps. John Dingell (MI) and Ed Markey (MA) asked the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to reconsider its support for the repeal of the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA), “as well as its permissive administration of the act.” In addition, the two leading Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee sought SEC support for the removal of a provision in pending electric restructuring legislation that would allow a PUHCA-registered holding company to use one of its subsidiaries to operate its own unregistered and unregulated investment company.

Despite the drop in natural gas prices, the global recession and energy security issues, Canadian and Alaskan officials — on the governing side anyway — remain optimistic that an Arctic natural gas pipeline is in the offing. But — and there are several buts — officials on both sides still have come to no agreement as to what route the pipe should take and whether there should be one pipe or two. About the only agreement that could be had at the Arctic Gas Symposium in Houston Thursday was that an over-the-top route across the Beaufort Sea may be out of the picture.

Despite the drop in natural gas prices, the global recession and energy security issues, Canadian and Alaskan officials — on the governing side anyway — remain optimistic that an Arctic natural gas pipeline is in the offing. But — and there are several buts — officials on both sides still have come to no agreement as to what route the pipe should take and whether there should be one pipe or two. About the only agreement that could be had at the Arctic Gas Symposium in Houston Thursday was that an over-the-top route across the Beaufort Sea may be out of the picture.

The latest question revolving around Houston and the energy trading community as the week begins is how low can Enron Corp.’s stock go? On Monday, the stock dropped to a low not seen since 1994, failing to boost investor confidence as it lobbied banks for a new credit line. As investors bailed, Moody’s Investor Service cut the energy trader’s long-term debt ratings, and by the time the New York Stock Exchange had closed, Enron had fallen another 10.9%, losing $1.60 to stand at $13.95.

Duke Energy Oakland LLC is questioning whether generators should be bound by a “must-offer” obligation included in recent FERC price-mitigation orders if that compliance means that generators will have to run their generating units over and above what is allowed under the units’ air emissions permits.

Duke Energy Oakland LLC is questioning whether generators should be bound by a “must-offer” obligation included in recent FERC price-mitigation orders if that compliance means that generators will have to run their generating units over and above what is allowed under the units’ air emissions permits.

To solve the question of where gas supplies will come from for its new generating plant in San Diego, the Otay Mesa Generating Co. has asked the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for authorization to build gas import facilities at the California-Mexico border to import up to 110 MMcf/d to fuel a 510 MWh station to be sited near San Diego (see NGI, Oct. 16, 2000).