Rapid

The rapid transition to a competitive power industry wasresponsible for last summer’s outages and brownouts, and a repeatcould be in store for this year, according to the results of theDepartment of Energy’s (DOE) final report on reliability issues.

In response to the rapid consolidation of the natural gas andelectricity industries, the head of a major gas pipelineassociation said he plans to initiate talks soon with otherWashington D.C.-based energy trade groups about possibly merginginto one organization.

In response to the rapid consolidation of the natural gas andelectricity industries, the head of a major pipeline associationsaid he plans to initiate talks soon with other WashingtonD.C.-based trade groups about possibly merging into oneorganization.

Fueled by rapid growth in its unregulated energy businesses andstrong performances by electric and gas transmission operations,Duke Energy reported record earnings for 1999. Before interest andtaxes (EBIT), Duke posted a gain of $2.8 billion before a $660million after-tax gain on the sale of the Midwest Pipelines and aone-time charge of $800 million at Duke Power. EBIT for 1998 was$2.6 billion. Duke Energy set another record for revenues in 1999,reaching $21.7 billion. Fourth quarter revenues increased 48%.

Commonwealth Edison and PECO Energy told regulators last weekthey are expecting approval of their mega-merger in near recordtime because of a long list of expected merger benefits and fewapparent regulatory hurdles. They filed applications and notices ofreorganization last week with FERC, the Pennsylvania PUC and theIllinois Commerce Commission.

Computers, their manufacture and use, the Internet and the rapidgrowth of the nation’s communications infrastructure are not onlyrevolutionizing the energy industry, they’re fueling demand forelectricity and will continue to do so, according to Enron CEOKenneth L. Lay.

Start-up costs and rapid Georgia customer acquisitions by itsSouthStar Energy Services partnership with Dynegy and AGLResources, cost Piedmont Natural Gas about $0.06/share during itsthird quarter, which ended July 31, the company reported this week.It experienced a net loss of $8.2 million (-$0.26/share) during thequarter, compared with a net loss of $6.3 million (1$0.20/share)during the same period a year earlier. As of Oct. 1, SouthStar willbe serving more than 450,000 new gas customers in Georgia. Theearnings per share impact of this venture for the first nine monthsof the year was -$0.10/share. Piedmont also noted that weather inits territory was 57% of the thirty-year normal heating degreedays. The company’s margin (revenues less cost of gas) was $44.4million compared with $45.5 million for the comparable year-agoperiod. For the nine-month period, basic earnings per share were$2.17, compared with $2.32 for the year-ago period, and margin was$279.8 million compared with $282.6 million for the prior yearperiod.

In a new analysis of power demand growth, Colorado-basedResource Data International (RDI) projects slightly over 186,000 MWof primarily gas-fired electric generating capacity will have to beadded by 2010 nationwide to meet burgeoning demand and to replaceretiring nuclear and non-nuclear capacity. The cost approaches$90-billion.

Storage statistics show the industry is heavily into squirrelingaway its nuts for the winter. Some traders watching robust storageinjections have questioned the validity of AGA-reported figures,but storage operators say, “Yes, Virginia, there really is thatmuch gas in the ground.”