Rates

Saying it was “experiencing significant linepack loss in the middle of the system while withdrawing at maximum rates from all storage fields,” Tennessee issued an OFO Balancing Alert Friday for all LMS-MA Balancing Parties with meters located in Zones 1 through 4 or in Zone 5 upstream of the Checks (Main Line Valves 245 and 321). Penalties of $15/Dth plus the applicable regional daily spot price will be assessed on shippers whose takes exceed the greater of 500 dekatherms or 102% over scheduled quantities. Penalties will not apply to customers who overdeliver into the system or undertake out of the system, Tennessee said.

New Jersey’s Board of Public Utilities (BPU) approved a special rate plan for New Jersey Natural Gas Co.’s (NJNG) residential and commercial customers who use natural gas to fuel distributed generation technologies. Under the new rate offering, an average commercial customer could save up to 50% and a residential customer could save up to a 40% on delivery charges for natural gas used to power the small generation units, the utility said.

Enbridge Gas Distribution said Monday it has received approval from the Ontario Energy Board to adjust its gas prices upward on Jan. 1, increasing its gas supply charge from C19.095 cents per cubic meter to C21.254 cents per cubic meter. The subsidiary of Calgary-based Enbridge Inc. noted that due to costs that are directly linked to the price of the commodity, there is also a slight increase in its delivery charge.

The Virginia State Corporation Commission (VSCC) has approved Virginia Natural Gas’ (VNG) request to use a weather normalization adjustment (WNA) to reduce the effect of weather on customer’s natural gas bills. The company also committed not to file for a general rate increase for at least two years.

California regulators Tuesday increased the amount of natural gas and electricity eligible for lower rates, effectively giving small monthly savings to the customers of the state’s major private-sector utilities. The higher baseline levels become effective May 1, following a review of the volumes that was started last year by the state regulatory commission.

Despite the sharp downturn in domestic gas-directed drilling rates since July, there will probably not be enough of a reduction in natural gas productive capacity to prevent relatively low prices this winter and through most of 2002, but reduced drilling could have important implications for market prices by 2003, according to the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook –January released last week.

Despite the sharp downturn in domestic gas-directed drilling rates since July, there will probably not be enough of a reduction in natural gas productive capacity to prevent relatively low prices this winter and through most of 2002, but reduced drilling could have important implications for market prices by 2003, according to the EIA’s Short-Term Energy Outlook –January released on Tuesday.

Promax Energy Inc. said that based on recent test rates from its southeastern Alberta properties and a thorough review of gas price risk management strategies with its gas marketer, Coral Energy Canada Inc., it has physically hedged an additional 4 MMcf/d of gas at C$4.37/Mcf for three years beginning Dec. 1. This brings the total hedged volume to 12 MMcf/d with 8 MMcf/d at C$4.71 and 4 MMcf/d at C$4.37 for an average of C$4.59/Mcf. The company said approximately 50% of its current production will be hedged with the balance sold to the spot market. Promax Energy is a junior oil and gas exploration and production company focusing on natural gas in southeastern Alberta.

Columbia Gas Transmission is conducting an open season to test the level of interest in moving Midcontinent gas collected by other pipelines into its Ohio territory to serve the growing power generation load.