Redistributed

After losing a court battle that would have nullified theacquisition, FPL Energy Inc. announced last week it closed thedeal to obtain Central Maine Power Co.’s (CMP) non-nucleargenerating assets. The transaction is expected to be completed inApril.

The surprisingly small storage withdrawal last week of 69 Bcf,as reported late Wednesday by the American Gas Association, tookthe blame for a 12.1-cent tumble in the April Henry Hub futurescontract yesterday. Most observers were expecting about 110 Bcf tobe withdrawn, so the AGA report was enough to trigger along-awaited correction. Heavy selling sent the front-month Nymexgas futures contract cascading down throughout the day to a low of$1.810 before closing at $1.820.

After losing a court battle that would have nullified theacquisition, FPL Energy Inc. announced Thursday it closed the dealto obtain Central Maine Power Co.’s (CMP) non-nuclear generatingassets. The transaction is expected to be completed inApril.

A group of Wisconsin distributors says FERC should order amandatory auction of short-term capacity only as a last resort -after other proposed initiatives, such as increased pipelinereporting requirements failed to achieve a competitive end.

A very divided FERC yesterday broke with a decade-old procedureby leapfrogging the preliminary determination (PD) step in fourcontroversial pipeline projects intended to serve the Northeast gasmarket. Instead, it deferred action on the fate of the projectsuntil all the environmental reviews are completed – “hopefully” byearly next fall.

Enron Energy Services proved energy management services appealto Catholic clerics as well as cranberry growers while adding twodeals to its parcel of contracts. Yesterday EES announced dealswith the Archdiocese of Chicago and Ocean Spray Cranberries Inc.

The near two-week futures rally from an apparent winter lowcontinued yesterday during the regular trading session helped by amajor winter storm that swept through the Midwest, Mid-Atlantic andNortheast and about a dime rise in cash prices. The April contractbroke through strong resistance and posted a new high of $1.965before backtracking to a low of $1.885 and then rebounding to closethe day up 1.3 cents at $1.941/MMBtu. A less-than-expected storagewithdrawal of 69 Bcf, however, helped push futures down sharplyduring the overnight Access trading session. As of 6:30 p.m. (EST),April was down 4.1 cents from the close to $1.900.

The Ohio-Pennsylvania Landowners Association (OPLA) has calledon the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee to commissiona General Accounting Office (GAO) study of the need for thecontroversial Independence Pipeline project.

After gapping higher at the open yesterday and reaching as highas $1.915/MMBtu during the day, the April contract was able tomanage only a small 0.6-cent gain for the day, telling someobservers the contract has lost its vigor after the rapid 22.5-centclimb last week. April opened at $1.905, up significantly fromFriday’s settle of $1.853, but it lost steam at $1.92 during themorning and fell back to about $1.86. During afternoon trading, thecontract bounced back up to $1.90 before falling back down to fillthe gap and close the day at $1.859.