Regional

Conectiv sold the southern regional division of ConectivServices, which is located in southern Delaware and easternMaryland, to the unit’s employees. Terms of the sale were notdisclosed. The southern division provided new construction,replacement, service and maintenance of heating, cooling, andplumbing services for residential and commercial customers. Themove continues Conectiv’s previously announced plan to exitbusinesses it no longer considers strategic, and seek a partner forits telecommunications business, and focus on its core mid-meritand power delivery segments. Earlier this year, Conectiv announcedthe sale of the northern and mechanical divisions of ConectivServices and the sale of its Conectiv Thermal joint ventures inCalifornia and Nevada. Conectiv is focused on two core energybusinesses: Conectiv Power Delivery, which provides energy serviceto more than one million customers in New Jersey, Delaware,Maryland, and Virginia; and Conectiv Energy, which includes powertrading and a growing portfolio of “mid-merit” power plants.

The New England Council and the New England Governors’Conference will present “Winter Fuels Outlook: A National andRegional Perspective” in Boston today, offering insight fromindustry, academic and government officials about the comingmonths. Massachusetts Gov. A. Paul Cellucci, who also chairs theNew England Governors’ Conference, will speak, as well as James T.Brett, CEO, New England Council; Roger Cooper, American GasAssociation; John Felmy, American Petroleum Institute; and MarkRodekohr, Energy Information Administration, U.S. Department ofEnergy. The conference has been called in response to a recentprediction by the DOE that with a “normal” heating season, naturalgas prices likely will increase by as much as 50% this winter.Similar predictions have been made about the cost of heating oil.To learn more about today’s conference, contact David Graves of RDWGroup Inc. at (401) 521-2700, extension 106.

Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), a gridinterconnection policy and FERC’s merger-review policy are issuesthat have captured the interest of the electric industry, butCommissioner William Massey says natural gas companies should beequally as curious since the measures are likely to favorablyinfluence demand.

Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), a gridinterconnection policy and FERC’s merger-review policy are issuesthat have captured the interest of the electric industry, butCommissioner William Massey says natural gas should be equally ascurious since the measures are likely to influence demand.

NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index incorrectly stated that “active”ownership by a class of market participants in a regionaltransmission organization (RTO) was limited to a benchmark of 25%.The correct level is 15%. Active ownership of RTOs by either aclass of market participants or an individual market participantwill cease after a five-year period, “with an extension possible incertain circumstances,” FERC said last week on rehearing of Order2000, which promotes the formation of RTOs in the electricitymarket.

Indianapolis-based Indiana Energy continued to expand itsregional service territory last week through a $425 millionpurchase of the retail gas distribution business of DPL Inc. ofDayton, OH. The deal, which will grow its distribution customerbase by more than 300,000 customers and will add 5,000 miles ofdistribution pipe, comes only a few months after the $1.9 billionmerger of Indiana Energy with Sigcorp, the Evansville, ID-basedholding company of Southern Indiana Gas and Electric (Sigeco),which provides gas and electricity to 150,000 customers insouthwest Indiana.

There was decided regional divergence in Tuesday’s swing pricemovement. The Gulf Coast and Appalachia/Northeast, being the areasstill affected most by unseasonably warm weather, ranged from flatto down as much as a dime. But from the Midcontinent westward,where it actually seemed a bit winterish behind a cold frontheading east, prices were flat to a few cents higher, with theRockies, Southwest basins, California and intra-Alberta seeingincreases of about a nickel or more.

Once again Tuesday the cash market tended to be stronger to theWest and weaker to the East, although neither region was a model ofconsistency. The West had a couple of flat points, while a few inthe East were flat to slightly higher.

Last week’s trading wound up wound up with a reversal ofregional price trends. Whereas in the first couple of days of theweek Western points were recording gains while the stagnant Easternmarket was mostly flat to a little lower, the West was falling hardFriday but the East was flat to 2-3 cents higher. The Easternfirmness came as a surprise to some traders who had expected mildweather and the usual slump in weekend load to yield modest pricedeclines.