Relationship

Adding to the lengthy and often heated controversy surroundingits contractual relationship with El Paso Natural Gas, Dynegy hassigned up for another 196 MMcf/d of El Paso pipeline capacity,bringing under its control a total of 1.5 Bcf/d of space on thesouthwestern pipeline.

A new study finds all is not well with the relationship betweenenergy marketers and service companies and their commercialcustomers. Indeed, BENTEK Energy Research says “commercialcustomers feel marketers and ESCOs promise prices that are notrealized, underperform on services, and they are not meetingcustomers’ needs in helping to reduce their energy consumption.”

A new study finds all is not well with the relationship betweenenergy marketers and service companies and their commercialcustomers. Indeed, BENTEK Energy Research says “commercialcustomers feel marketers and ESCOs promise prices that are notrealized, under-perform on services, and they are not meetingcustomers’ needs in helping to reduce their energy consumption.”

Demonstrating the growing relationship between marketers andmunicipal gas companies, USX Corp. subsidiary Marathon Oil Co.(Marathon) announced a $52.8 million agreement last week to supplyover 31 Bcf of firm natural gas to the Public Energy Authority ofKentucky (PEAK) for 10 years. Effective Nov. 1, Marathon willprovide gas for PEAK through the Texas Gas Transmission pipelinesystem.

A transportation agreement signed by Columbia Gulf and theTennessee Valley Authority (TVA) may mark the beginning of alasting relationship. The agreement covers firm transportation onColumbia for 240,000 MMBtu/d of gas that will fuel 1,500 MW ofpower generation at TVA’s Gallatin Power Plant in Sumner County,TN. But the plant represents a small piece of a larger conversionprocess which will turn another 20 generation units to gas usageover the next year.