Serving

Sea Robin reported completing an investigation of a leak in its “J” leg segment (see Daily GPI, May 16). The “J” leg is being returned to service after the leak was isolated on the lateral serving Eugene Island Block 305 (receipt location 94027), Sea Robin said. It resumed taking nominations for Thursday’s gas day at all affected points except for location 94027.

Aquila is beefing up is high deliverability gas storage holdingsin the Gulf Coast region in preparation for serving growinggas-fired power generation demand. The company bought rights to theproposed Houston Energy Center, a greenfield, natural gas saltcavern storage project being developed by SG Resources of Houston,Inc. The sale price was not disclosed.

Pacific Gas and Electric Co., the giant San Francisco, CA-basedutility branch of PG&E Corp., acknowledged Tuesday that it isin danger of running short of gas supplies later this winter due tothe venerable utility’s electricity-induced credit woes spillingover to its natural gas operations. “Most” of the company’s 30 to40 interstate gas suppliers are refusing to sell to the giantutility beyond existing contract terms, some of which expire withina few weeks, according to a PG&E utility spokesperson.

In an emergency motion filed at FERC last week, eight powermarketers serving California asked the Commission to bar theCal-ISO and Cal-PX from disclosing confidential information abouttheir companies and/or practices – absent adequate safeguards – tostate agencies investigating the out-of-control electricity marketin the state.

In an emergency motion filed at FERC this week, eight powermarketers serving California asked the Commission to bar theCal-ISO and Cal-PX from disclosing confidential information abouttheir companies and/or practices — absent adequateconfidentiality safeguards — to state agencies investigating theout-of-control electricity market in the state.

Although energy e-commerce is a burgeoning industry, there areonly a few electronic exchanges so far that can be used for servingaggregated retail energy customer loads, and even those that are upand running still may need to be customized, according to AvistaAdvantage, an Avista Corp. subsidiary.

Shareholders of NiSource Inc. and Columbia Energy Groupoverwhelmingly approved the merger of the two companies, whichwould create a mega energy powerhouse serving nine states and morethan 4 million customers, stretching from Chicago in the west toNew England in the east and south to the Gulf of Mexico.

Having made a partnership with the intent of serving the Chicagogas market late last year, Peoples Energy Corp. and Enron’s EnronNorth America Corp. (ENA) moved their attention to the Chicagopower generation market yesterday by announcing a commitment tojointly develop a portfolio of at least 800 MW.

Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) imports could play a larger role inserving U.S. gas demand next year if strong domestic gas prices andan abundance of LNG on the spot market remain. While LNG servesonly a fraction of U.S. demand, imports have been growing thisyear, most recently with two agreements announced last week.