Ranging

With the official start of spring, time began to press California’s wide-ranging efforts to fix past, present and future (short and long-term) energy problems. For every positive last week, there seemed to be greater negative developments to deal with, rolling blackouts being the most dramatic. By last Friday, the prospect for bigger problems ahead seemed unavoidable.

Pockets of firmness in the West went against the grain of overall price declines ranging from about a nickel to 15 cents elsewhere Wednesday. Most of the declines were around a dime.

With the official start of spring, time began to pressCalifornia’s wide-ranging efforts to fix past, present and future(short-and long-term) energy problems. For every positive lastweek, there seemed to be greater negative developments to dealwith, rolling blackouts being the most dramatic. By last Friday,the prospect for bigger problems ahead seemed unavoidable.

As a footnote to the wide-ranging issues emerging fromCalifornia’s electricity wars this summer, the City of Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power (LADWP) Tuesday paid a record $14million penalty to regional air quality regulators as a result ofrunning its older, more polluting LA Basin generating plantsfull-out this summer. The heavy penalty points up an increasinglytenuous situation for merchant generators who are running out ofways to avoid exceeding their plants’ air emission limits.

The overall weekend market was firmer Friday, ranging frombarely above flat to as much as 20 cents higher with most of thegains concentrated between a dime and 15 cents. San Juan Basin andthe Southern California border were the rare points seeing smalldeclines.

Kinder Morgan Interstate Gas Transmission (KMI) has attempted anend run around FERC’s Order 637, filing wide-ranging operationaland rate changes early under expedited tariff procedures to avoidthe more rigorous review in store for compliance filings, accordingto customer protests.

Coastal Oil and Gas has announced it is selling its interests in36 offshore oil and gas holdings. The offshore leases are locatedin the Gulf of Mexico, in blocks ranging from offshore of Alabamato south of Texas. When asked about the reasons for selling theseleases, spokesperson Dorothy Beeler said it was just “ongoingportfolio asset management,” and that it had nothing to do withCoastal’s planned merger with El Paso Energy.

The acquisition and management of natural gas supplies is a keypart of San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp.’s five-year strategy tohave generating plants totaling 25,000 MW by the end of 2004, theaggressive merchant power plant developer/operator’s seniorexecutives told the company’s annual shareholders’ meeting lastweek.

Prices for the last day of February were generally on theupswing Monday, ranging from flat in California to more than a dimehigher at a few Northeast points.