Selected

DPL Inc., parent of the Dayton Power and Light Co., was recentlyselected by the Indiana Farm Bureau as its energy partner, thecompany said last week. Under the agreement, DPL Energy will be theenergy provider of choice for the Indiana Farm Bureau and itsmembership, supplying natural gas and other energy services. Thisannouncement comes on the heels of DPL and the Ohio Farm Bureaurenewing their eight-year relationship. The Indiana Farm Bureau hasrepresented Hoosier farmers since 1919 and is now the largestagricultural organization in Indiana with more than 272,000members. It provides its members with a number of value-addedservices that include insurance, accounting, education, and nownatural gas through DPL Energy. DPL currently manages approximately25 Bcf of natural gas annually.

Virginia Gas Co., a small integrated natural gas companyoperating in the southwestern tip of Virginia, has selectedOppenheimer Corp. as its financial advisor to conduct an evaluationof the company, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and strategicalternatives available.

Virginia Gas Co., a small integrated natural gas companyoperating in the southwestern tip of Virginia, has selectedOppenheimer Corp. as its financial advisor to conduct an evaluationof the company, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and strategicalternatives available.

In its latest bid to add generation assets to its growingportfolio, Reliant Energy selected a 125-acre plot of land inMcHenry County, IL, last week as the site to develop a 500 MW,gas-fired power plant. The cost of the project was not disclosed. AReliant spokesperson said the company hopes to have the plant inservice by mid-2001.

In its latest bid to add generation assets to its growingportfolio, Reliant Energy selected a 125-acre plot of land inMcHenry County, IL, Tuesday as the site to develop a 500 MW,gas-fired power plant. The cost of the project was not disclosed. AReliant spokesperson said the company hopes to have the plant inservice by mid-2001.

Huntsman Corp., a Texas-based chemical company with $5 billionin revenues, selected Reliant Energy to supply gas to 10manufacturing facilities for $250 million. For competitive reasons,Reliant did not disclose the length of the contract or how much gaswill be supplied. It did say the contract has already gone intoservice.

The Gas Research Institute announced its newly created Canadiansubsidiary, GRI Canada, has been selected by Gas Technology Canadato manage a $5 million/year research, development andcommercialization program funded by the Canadian natural gasindustry.

CES/Way International was selected by Vandenberg Air Force Basein California and Goodfellow Air Force Base in Texas to provideenergy conservation measures that could yield nearly 20% savings onutility bills. The subsidiary of Sempra Energy Solutions of LosAngeles, is one of 11 energy services companies that werepre-qualified last year under the Department of Defense (DOD)program to implement energy conservation projects in 46 states,Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. With a total of up to $1.1billion in potential contracts, CES/Way and the other energycompanies can receive project awards of up to $150 million eachthrough the program. Among the other pre-qualifiers are Honeywell,Johnson Controls, Duke Energy, and Xenergy.

Union Pacific Resource has reiterated its intention to examine apossible sale of its gas gathering and processing business orselected non-core assets as part of a “deleveraging” programfollowing its recent $3.5 billion purchase (including assumption ofdebt) of Norcen Energy. At the time of the Norcen deal, UPR said itintended to sell $500-$700 million in assets to cut its debt toequity ratio, which ballooned to 73% following the Norcen deal fromabout 40%. But the company has valued its midstream assets, whichare located in Texas, Louisiana, Wyoming and Colorado, at about $2billion. The assets produced about $150 million in pretax operatingincome in 1997. The company has 25 operating plants and relatedpipeline facilities. A UPR spokesman said the company is justbeginning to evaluate its options but noted the market formidstream assets has been hot. UPR’s announcement follows similarplans announced recently by Aquila Gas Pipeline and EquitableResources. “These assets have been selling at a much higher cashflow multiple than E&P assets.”