Retail

Escalating natural gas prices forced Illinois retail gas marketer Santanna Energy to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on Monday just a few days after Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan filed a lawsuit in Cook County Circuit Court against the company because it reneged on its fixed-rate contract offerings to about 15,000 northern Illinois residential customers.

Responding to growing concerns about retail natural gas utility bills this winter in the face of ever-increasing wholesale natural gas prices, the Arizona Corporation Commission (ACC) Thursday announced it will hold a forum Sept. 8 to hear from utilities and consumer groups on preparations to help mitigate high winter gas utility bills. At the same time the ACC is reminding customers that the utilities it regulates don’t make a profit on the cost of gas.

Las Vegas, NV-based Southwest Gas Corp. announced Wednesday that it completed the acquisition of Avista Utilities’ natural gas retail operations in South Lake Tahoe, CA, serving about 18,600 customers in the mountains west of Reno. The transition will be completed Friday, Southwest said.

Admittedly on a limited basis at the beginning, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., offered Californian’s a chance at a version of “energy independence,” sending out its first retail version of the natural gas-powered Civic GX sedan, combined with a new home-refueling appliance the car maker is calling “Phill” (as in “phill-er up”).

Admittedly on a limited basis at the beginning, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., offered Californian’s a chance at a version of “energy independence,” sending out its first retail version of the natural gas-powered Civic GX sedan, combined with a new home-refueling appliance the car maker is calling “Phill” (as in “phill-er up”).

FirstEnergy Corp. sold its retail gas marketing business, FirstEnergy Solutions, to Amerada Hess Corp. on Friday. FirstEnergy Solutions supplied gas to 1,900 commercial and industrial customers in selected areas within Ohio, Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Terms of the deal weren’t released. Akron, OH-based FirstEnergy holds seven electric utility operating companies with 4.4 million customers in Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Asserting that it is seeking to prevent anticompetitive activities, widespread market manipulation and collusion to fix electricity prices, retail electric provider (REP) Utility Choice Electric (UCE) on Thursday said that it has filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court-Houston Division against TXU, American Electric Power (AEP), APX and Reliant, among other defendants.

With some national predictions for an easing of natural gas prices in the last weeks of winter, Pacific Gas and Electric Co. predicted lower retail utility bills for its gas customers this month, noting it expects the average utility bill to drop 17% in February, compared with January gas bills. The utility cited reduced wholesale prices and lower demand by customers.

With natural gas prices continuing to remain lofty, Americans should prepare themselves for higher utility bills this winter heating season, according to a new survey conducted by NUS Consulting Group. The annual survey found that the average price of natural gas nationwide increased by 4.3% from the period of September 2003 to September 2004.