Risk

Dynegy CEO Chuck Watson told the investment community Monday that he was “90% sure” that the risk/reward ratio in the planned merger with Enron Corp. made it “clearly worth doing the deal,” because the issues that decimated the former market leader were with its non-core businesses. Explaining that his team had “adequately bracketed the downside,” as the deal fell together over the past few weeks, Watson said he could not be “99% positive,” but noted that the upside was “substantial,” and said he had a “good deal of confidence…that we’ll be absolutely fine here.”

Continuing along its chosen path of focusing on its wholesale and energy risk management businesses, Kansas City, MO-based Aquila Inc. said on Monday that it has sold the retail energy manager services business of UtiliCorp Energy Solutions to Energy Management Resources Inc., a nationwide provider of energy supply management services to commercial and industrial customers throughout the United States.

At the risk of sounding like a broken record, prices continued to slide Wednesday for pretty much the same reasons that they have through nearly all of the May aftermarket so far: a relative dearth of weather demand for either heating or air conditioning; a weak screen; and a decidedly blasé attitude about any urgency in refilling storage.

Over-reliance on natural gas as the fuel for new electricgenerating plants nationally carries with it an inherent risk toreliability and the threat of exacerbating already volatilewholesale markets, according to three industry executives whoaddressed a meeting of state regulatory commissioners in San Diegolast week.

TXU Energy Services inked a five-year, $300 million energyservices contract to provide natural gas, electric and riskmanagement services to more than 80 of John Deere’s North Americanfacilities. TXU Energy Services will also help to developenergy-efficiency improvement projects for John Deere’s NorthAmerican operations.

TXU Energy Services inked a five-year, $300 million energyservices contract to provide natural gas, electric and riskmanagement services to more than 80 of John Deere’s North Americanfacilities. TXU Energy Services will also help to developenergy-efficiency improvement projects for John Deere’s NorthAmerican operations.

In the wake of California’s latest round of electricity priceand supply shock concentrated in San Diego, some of the state’smajor energy industry participants have raised the level ofinterest in forward markets and hedging. San Diego Gas and ElectricCo., in particular, has been second guessed about why it did notuse available hedging instruments through the state’s nonprofitpower exchange to help ease the impact of recent wholesale pricespikes on its retail customers.

With all the trajectory of a risk manager tethered to abungee-cord and thrust out of a Houston skyscraper, natural gasprices dove then rebounded Monday as traders digested fresh weatherforecasts.

PG&E Energy Trading-Gas Corp. has named Al Pollard to thepost of Midwest basis trader with responsibility for managing theMidwest desk’s basis risk, reporting to Michael L. Axton, directorof gas trading, Midwest. Pollard joins PG&E Energy Trading fromEnron where he has held trading positions in natural gas and powersince 1995.