Residential

Shell Energy Services Co. LLC, the third largest natural gas marketer in Georgia, hopes to extend its success in the residential arena to the large commercial and industrial market in the state with several new product offerings and a new website, www.shellenergyconnect.com.

Shell Energy Services Co. LLC, the third largest natural gasmarketer in Georgia, hopes to extend its success in the residentialarena to the large commercial and industrial market in the statewith several new product offerings and a new web site,www.shellenergyconnect.com.

The Web site www.energyOn.com of Englewood, CO, has expanded itsservice territory to include gas service for business andresidential consumers in Maryland. The site currently offers aselection of competitive energy suppliers and products forconsumers in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, California,the District of Columbia, Virginia, and Maryland. The site alsorecently expanded the Pennsylvania market to include York County.

GasKey, a marketer to more than 20,000 residential and smallcommercial customers in Georgia, won the dubious award of being themost complained-about gas supplier in the state last month, theGeorgia Public Service Commission said in a new online report cardpublished earlier this week. GasKey, which recently sold its customersto Georgia Natural Gas Services (GNGS), compiled 45.14 complaints per10,000 customers last month. Second on the list is the now bankruptPeachtree Natural Gas, which received 26.43 complaints per 10,000customers. Shell Energy Services bought Peachtree’s 170,000 customerslast month. The two largest suppliers in the market, GNGS and Scanareceived relatively few complaints, ranking No. 11 and No. 13respectively out of a total of 17 utilities. For more information onthe ranking see the PSC’s web site.

FirstEnergy Corp. added 30,000 industrial, commercial andresidential customers in the Midwest through an acquisition of theretail natural gas business of Volunteer Energy LLC, a subsidiaryof Williams. The acquisition was filed with the Federal TradeCommission and the Department of Justice and the parties expect toclose later this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

FirstEnergy Corp. added 30,000 industrial, commercial andresidential customers in the Midwest through an acquisition of theretail natural gas business of Volunteer Energy LLC, a subsidiaryof Williams. The acquisition was filed with the Federal TradeCommission and the Department of Justice and the parties expect toclose later this month. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

Pennsylvania’s Senate convincingly voiced its support for SB601, a gas deregulation bill for residential and small commercial customers, with a 47-3 vote of approval early last week. The bill is now in the hands of Pennsylvania’s House of Representatives Consumer Affairs committee. If the bill is signed into law, each of Pennsylvania’s LDCs would be required to submit a restructuring plan by Nov. 1.

While Pennsylvania’s gas deregulation bill for residential andsmall commercial customers has grabbed most of the focus on thestate’s gas industry, the fate of Philadelphia’s embattledmunicipal gas utility, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), also will bedecided during the current legislative session. A movement hasarisen in both the state Senate and the House of Representatives toattach an amendment onto the deregulation bill, which would shiftPGW control from the city government-selected Gas Commission to thePennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC).

While Pennsylvania’s gas deregulation bill for residential andsmall commercial customers has grabbed most of the focus from thestate’s gas industry, the fate of Philadelphia’s embattledmunicipal gas utility, Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), will also bedecided during the current legislative session. A movement hasarisen in both the state Senate and the House of Representatives toattach an amendment onto the deregulation bill which will shift PGWcontrol from the city government-selected Gas Commission to thePennsylvania Public Utilities Commission (PUC).