Said

Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson said he supports phase two ofANR Pipeline’s Wisconsin 2000 Expansion that would add 194 MMcf/dof firm capacity to meet peak-day requirements and the needs of thegrowing power generation market in the state.

Western Resources of Topeka, KS, said a stipulation andagreement had been reached with the Kansas Corporation Commission(KCC) staff, resulting in a proposed set of recommendations forsettlement in the company’s merger with Kansas City Power &Light. The agreement has been filed with the KCC. The City ofTopeka has agreed to, and the International Brotherhood ofElectrical Workers local 304 support the recommendations andstipulations. They include:

Exxon and Mobil said yesterday they expect antitrust reviews oftheir proposed $88 billion merger will be completed by the end ofthe third quarter. The companies filed the formal pre-mergernotification with the European Commission on May 3. Under the EC’sregulatory framework, that process should be completed around theend of September. As a result of discussions with the Federal TradeCommission, the companies believe that the FTC process can becompleted in the same time period. Shareholders of both companiesare scheduled to vote on the deal on May 27.

Columbia Energy Group said yesterday it is extending the deadlineby seven days to May 10 on its merger proposal with ConsolidatedNatural Gas in response to a data request from CNG’s board. CNG askedfor additional information on a two-way collar mechanism in Columbia’sunsolicited $6.7 billion bid for the company (see Daily GPI, April 20).

Transco shippers have accumulated a significant negativeimbalance through the first 20 days of April, the pipeline said. Inorder to avoid restrictions that would be caused by a large volumeof receipt makeup transactions requested to flow for a limited timeat the end of the month, Transco urged that such transactions bescheduled as soon as possible to allow a steady flow rate throughApril 30.

Columbia Gas Transmission said it opened a data room to provideinformation on 545 miles of small-diameter gas gathering pipelines,called the CHEWP system, and the Holbrook Storage Field, which has1.5 Bcf of total capacity in northern West Virginia andsouthwestern Pennsylvania. Anyone interested in the assets shouldmake an appointment to visit the data room in Charleston, WVA, bycalling (304) 357-2282.

Citing such factors as customer cooperation and recent storageactivity in March, ANR said it was able to rescind a Februarynotice requiring that interruptible storage customers under the MBSand DDS rate schedules draw their accounts down to a zero balanceby today. However, the pipeline added, due to abnormally highinventory balances remaining and overall operational concerns, itmust continue to limit interruptible injections “for theforeseeable future.”

Consolidated Edison Co. of New York said NRG Energy Inc. andKeySpan Energy are the winning bidders for two of its electricgenerating plants and 36 gas turbines.

TransColorado Gas Transmission Co. said it would start fillingadditional portions of the TransColorado Pipeline in New Mexico andwestern Colorado today with gas as it prepares to commence Phase 2operations in February.