Columbia Gas of Virginia says the first year of its two-yearcustomer-choice program has captured high marks, with aboutone-fifth of its eligible customers in the northern part of thestate having signed up to participate in it so far. This is the”best endorsement for the [program’s] expansion” throughoutColumbia’s entire service territory, a company official said.
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Low-Cost States Gain under Customer Choice, Study Says
The notion that electricity customers in high-cost states willobtain lower priced power under retail competition at the expenseof customers in low-cost states was debunked in a pipeline-backedstudy released last week.
Rising Pipe, LDC Prices Will Hurt Gas Demand, NGSA Says
If pipeline and LDC rates continue their upward climb, the”inevitable result” will be a sharp decline in producers’ wellheadrevenues and a subsequent “significant loss” of natural gassupplies, an official of a major producer group said Monday.
Court Says CA Shippers Due Refunds
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission got it right, findingan access fee charged to interstate shippers by Southern CaliforniaGas was illegal-but then dropped the ball in failing to order$800,000 in refunds, the D.C. Court of Appeals said in a decisionhanded down May 22 (No. 97-1028).
Pena Says DOE Restructuring Bill Nearly Complete
Departing Energy Secretary Federico Pena indicated yesterday thedepartment has nearly finished its work on the legislative proposalfor electricity restructuring, but other federal agencies arelagging behind in their input.
Nuclear Closings to Open Up 1.55 Tcf Market, Study Says
The amount of nuclear plant capacity that has been eitherpermanently shut down or has been slated for closure in the Midwestand Northeast will create a potential new market of up to 1.55 Tcfper year for natural gas in those two regions, according to anupdated Washington International Energy Group (WIEG) study due tobe released Wednesday.
Large Electrics May be Headed Toward Extinction
The majority of existing large electric-related companies willnot be intact a decade from now, says Roger Gale of WashingtonInternational Energy Group. In fact, he anticipates more than halfof the companies will disappear completely.
API to Create Gas ‘Component’
As part of a major reorganization plan, the American PetroleumInstitute (API) says it plans to establish a “natural gascomponent” aimed at attracting medium-to-small sized companies asnew members and at retaining current API members.
Signs Point to Higher Gas Prices, Producer Says
Four factors will continue to tighten the future domestic gassupply picture, Randy Mundt, executive vice president of marketingfor producer Burlington Resources, said Tuesday at Ziff EnergyGroups’ New Gas Dynamics 2000+ conference in Houston. The twobiggest factors are producers’ difficulty in replacing productionand accelerated decline rates in the Gulf of Mexico. Also, Mundtsaid, Canadian imports are not an immediate threat to domesticproducers, and the current supply-demand scenario is roughly inbalance.
UtiliCorp, Andersen Spar Over Fees
UtiliCorp United and Andersen Consulting are engaged in a legalbattle over fees for work Andersen did for UtiliCorp that theclient says spiraled to more than twice the amount agreed upon.Most recently, UtiliCorp filed a $10 million suit in a Missouricourt charging Andersen with negligence and failure to live up toterms of a 1996 contract for administrative software and systems.The suit is a response to a complaint filed in March by Andersenseeking payment of fees UtiliCorp had withheld.