Regulated

California’s private-sector utilities are primed to get back into the power generation sector, and pending rate cases, integrated resource planning and resolution of the state’s direct access program, all should be resolved this year by a combination of state regulatory and legislative actions, according to Carl Wood, the longest serving and most liberal commissioner of the five member California Public Utilities Commission.

El Paso Corp. has appointed Lisa A. Stewart, an Apache Corp. veteran, as president, Production and Non-regulated Operations. Stewart will oversee all of the Houston-based company’s production, midstream, power, marketing and petroleum businesses. Stewart, who will assume her position on Feb. 1, 2004, is currently executive vice president, Business Development and E&P Services for Apache Corp. Stewart earned a degree in petroleum engineering from the University of Tulsa in 1981 and went to work for Cities Service Co. Since 1984 she has worked for Apache and has steadily progressed through various management positions. In her current role, she is responsible for strategic business activities, including acquisitions.

Mark Leland has been named CFO of El Paso Corp.’s Production and Non-Regulated Operations. Leland, who has worked for El Paso for 18 years, most recently was senior vice president and CFO of El Paso Field Services, the company’s midstream business. While CFO for the Field Services unit, Leland was responsible for all finance, accounting and administrative functions. He also served as chief operating officer of GulfTerra Energy Partners LP, which recently merged with Enterprise Products LP. During his tenure at El Paso, Leland has held management positions in its Audit, Accounting, Budget and Corporate Development departments.

Strong contributions from its core regulated natural gas and electricity businesses are expected to help KeySpan Corp. improve earnings next year in the range of $2.55 to $2.75/share, the company said Monday. The Brooklyn, NY-based company also affirmed that its 2003 earnings will range between $2.45-$2.60/share, excluding special items.

The California state legislature’s chief advocate for a return to tightly regulated energy utilities absent retail customer choice programs told a legislative committee session Wednesday that natural gas could prove the next serious energy problem for the nation’s most populous state — perhaps as early as this fall or the coming winter. Increasing reliance on gas derivatives is at the heart of the problem, according to the legislator.

Bankrupt NewPower Holdings, Inc., parent of The New Power Co., signed an agreement with Vectren Source, a non-regulated subsidiary of Vectren Corp., for the sale of NewPower’s current natural gas customers within the Columbia Gas of Ohio and Dominion East Ohio Gas territories.

In keeping with its plan to merge with National Grid USA and focus on regulated energy transmission and distribution businesses, Niagara Mohawk Holdings Inc. on Tuesday sold its unregulated energy marketing and services subsidiary to Select Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Northeast Utilities. Terms of the sale of Niagara Mohawk Energy Marketing Inc., were not disclosed.

A local utility company spin-off and creation of three new separate federally regulated electric and natural gas businesses are central elements of a reorganization plan filed Thursday by Pacific Gas and Electric Co. in its Chapter 11 proceedings in federal bankruptcy court. The plan calls for all creditors to be paid in full without any added retail utility rate increases or a so-called “bailout” from state lawmakers. The utility, a major part of PG&E Corp., said the official creditors’ committee supports the plan, which the company expects to have fully implemented by the end of 2002.

DTE Energy Co. clarified its 2001 earnings predictions on Friday to include restructuring impacts and goodwill amortization related to its recently completed merger with MCN Energy Group, saying it expected “significant variations in quarterly earnings” because of the suspension of fuel and purchased-power cost recovery as part of Michigan’s restructuring legislation in 2000, but expected earnings to remain on track.