President Obama announced his intention to nominate Scott O’Malia, a Republican staff member on a Senate Appropriations subcommittee, to the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). O’Malia currently is a minority clerk for the Energy and Water Subcommittee, where he has focused on expanding U.S. investment in clean energy technologies. Prior to joining the appropriations panel, O’Malia was a staff member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, with energy trading and domestic oil and natural gas production as his chief interests. O’Malia also established the Washington, DC, office of Mirant Corp., where he worked to establish rules and standards for corporate risk management and energy trading among wholesale power producers. He began his stint on Capitol Hill in 1992, working for Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY). O’Malia received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan. His nomination will require the approval of the full Senate. If confirmed, O’Malia will serve out the remainder of the term of former Acting CFTC Chairman Walter Lukken, who left the CFTC in July. His term would expire on April 13, 2010.
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Industry Brief
National Grid and KeySpan Corp. have filed information in compliance with the Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act, a requirement of their proposed merger transaction, the companies said on Friday. In addition, National Grid and KeySpan have made voluntary notice to the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) that National Grid, a London-headquartered company, is acquiring a U.S. company. In both the HSR and CFIUS filings, the applicable federal authority has 30 days to determine if the filings require further review. On Feb. 27, National Grid and KeySpan announced an agreement for National Grid to acquire KeySpan, which will materially expand the size of National Grid’s US operations and create the third-largest gas delivery utility in the U.S. (see Daily GPI, Feb. 28). In May, National Grid and KeySpan submitted their merger plan to FERC, promising no adverse impacts on the wholesale energy market nor any cross subsidization from regulated to unregulated operations from the $7.3 billion combination (see Daily GPI, May 30).
Second Former Williams Trader Pleads Guilty to Gas Market Manipulation
In the latest in a long series of gas market manipulation cases, former Williams trader Brion Scott McKenna, 36, of Houston, TX, pleaded guilty on May 20 to one count of manipulating the price of natural gas in interstate commerce in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
Second Former Williams Trader Pleads Guilty to Gas Market Manipulation
In the latest in a long series of gas market manipulation cases, former Williams trader Brion Scott McKenna, 36, of Houston, TX, pleaded guilty on Friday to one count of manipulating the price of natural gas in interstate commerce in violation of the Commodity Exchange Act, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of California.
WIC’s Reversal Project Fails to Attract Market Support
El Paso Corp.’s Wyoming Interstate Company (WIC) said there is insufficient demand for it to move forward with its flow reversal and expansion project, which would have brought as much as 550,000 Dth/d of Powder River Basin production to Kanda, WY, and to Kern River Gas Transmission at the Opal Hub from the Cheyenne Hub in northern Colorado.
Done Deal: Dynegy, Enron to Merge in $22 Billion Deal
In a deal that began with a phone call from one chairman of the board to another a day after Enron Corp’s third quarter earnings were released, Dynegy Inc. and Enron agreed to merge on Friday in a transaction estimated to be worth about $22 billion. In the process, Enron will lose its once stellar name, while the new company, which will keep the Dynegy trademark, will become the largest energy trading and marketing company in the world, with revenues expected to exceed $200 billion. The combined company also would have about $90 billion in assets. Through the third quarter of 2001, the two companies had gas sales of about 40 Bcf/d and power sales exceeding 500 million MWh, and their combined assets include more than 22,000 MW of generating capacity and 25,000 miles of pipe.
Done Deal: Dynegy, Enron Sign $22 Billion Merger Pact
In a deal that began with a phone call from one chairman of the board to another a day after Enron Corp’s third quarter earnings were released, Dynegy Inc. and Enron agreed to merge on Friday in a transaction estimated to be worth about $22 billion. In the process, Enron will lose its once stellar name, while the new company, which will keep the Dynegy trademark, will become the largest energy trading and marketing company in the world, with revenues expected to exceed $200 billion. The combined company also would have about $90 billion in assets. Through the third quarter of 2001, the two companies had gas sales of about 40 Bcf/d and power sales exceeding 500 million MWh. Its combined assets would include more than 22,000 MW of generating capacity and 25,000 miles of pipe.
People
Scott N. Smith has joined American Electric Power (AEP) as vice president and chief risk officer. He will be responsible for enterprise-wide risk management, including oversight of commodity, operational, credit, interest rate and currency risk across all business units and functional areas. Smith, 37, previously was vice president of risk management for Global Consumer Bank, a division of Citigroup.
Industry Briefs
NiSource said it filed the necessary information under theHart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976 with theFederal Trade Commission and Department of Justice regarding itstender offer for all of Columbia Energy Group’s common shares. CEOGary Neale said it “sends a serious message to Columbia that we arecommitted to completing this transaction and that we are confidentin our ability to secure the necessary regulatory approvals. Wehave said throughout that we believe the regulatory approvalprocess can be completed within six to nine months if we worktogether. HSR clearance is an important first step, and one thatconfirms our commitment to move forward on all fronts of thistransaction.” NiSource is offering $68/share for Columbia stock.Columbia’s board has said the company is not for sale and isfighting the hostile takeover attempt (See Daily GPI July 16, July15, June 25, June 11 and June 8).
FTC Approves Sempra-KNE Merger
The Sempra Energy-KN Energy merger leaped its first hurdle last Monday, as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) cleared it under the Hart Scott Rodino Act. Shareholders from both companies as well as other federal and state regulatory authorities still need to approve the deal.
