Quickly

FERC Chairman Pat Wood’s normally sunny demeanor quickly turned to one of agitation last Wednesday after Commission staff briefed him and other Commissioners on an order that directs Wisconsin Electric Power Co. (WEPCO) to explain apparent factual conflicts relating to the separation of control area and merchant function employees.

A large collection of generators is pleading with FERC to act quickly on a series of complaints filed against them by Nevada Power, Sierra Pacific Power and Southern California Water Co. last year that asked the Commission to retroactively mitigate prices included in contracts entered into between the utilities and power sellers in 2000 and 2001.

President Bush has called on the U.S. Senate to take “quick action” on a comprehensive energy bill when lawmakers begin debate on the measure this week.

By this summer, at least two more energy trading companies — more likely asset-light instead of asset-heavy — may be forced to file for bankruptcy, which will offer opportunities for other companies, and perhaps even an opening for new trading players, a panel of energy executives forecast last Tuesday. Speaking at the UBS Warburg Global Energy & Utilities Conference in New York City, the panel agreed that companies most likely to succeed will be the multi-dimensional players, with balanced portfolios that operate in both high or low volatility markets.

After opening at Tuesday’s low of $2.23 and quickly checking down into the teens, the natural gas futures market rebounded late in the session Wednesday on the news that the market withdrew a whopping 190 Bcf from underground storage facilities last week. However, the 30-minute rally was not enough to take back four hours of selling pressure, and as a result the February contract finished with a 5.3-cent loss at $2.228. The out months followed suit, propelling the 12-month strip down to $2.541, a 4.4-cent loss for the session.

Although the utility quickly discounted the importance of it, the California utility consumer watchdog group TURN (The Utility Reform Network) gained a temporary stay last week from a federal appeals court to the court-approved settlement between state regulators and Southern California Edison Co. TURN asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to stay an Oct. 5 judgment by a federal district court judge in Los Angeles.

The Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) moved quickly into a “response mode” following the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, contacting pipeline companies to determine the level of preparedness within the industry, said a top OPS official last week. In the end, it was judged to be “very good.”

The Department of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) quickly moved into a “response mode” following the Sept. 11 terrorist strikes, contacting pipeline companies to determine the level of preparedness within the industry, said a top OPS official. In the end, it was judged to be “very good.”

FERC’s Office of Administrative Law Judges is quickly responding to the Commission’s order last week for a hearing to determine whether Transwestern Pipeline exercised market power last winter. Acting Chief ALJ William J. Cowan already has scheduled a prehearing conference for Friday (Aug. 3), and has designated ALJ Jacob Leventhal as the presiding judge in the case.