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Canadian natural gas exporters have wasted no time in takingadvantage of their new power to shop around for markets as a resultof expanded pipelines.

By virtue of a new agreement with TransCanada PipeLines Ltd.,Sears Canada could become the place where Canadians shop fornatural gas. Sears Canada and TransCanada, through its wholly ownedsubsidiary TransCanada Energy Ltd., plan to offer gas toresidential consumers in Ottawa. The program will start out as apilot, and the agreement between the companies is for six years.Sears will be the first national Canadian general retailer to offergas, the companies said.

Seeking to become a “one-stop” energy shop and a larger regionalenergy company, Carolina Power and Light (CP&ampL) announced itsinitial entry into the gas industry with the acquisition of NorthCarolina Natural Gas (NCNG) through a stock-for-stock transactionworth $354 million. The agreement is still pending state regulatoryand shareholder approval, so no closing date has been announced.The acquisition reflects the strategy CP&ampL announced last Aprilto become “an organization with the potential to be a one-stopshopping service for our customers.”

Seeking to become a “one-stop” energy shop and a larger regionalenergy company, Carolina Power and Light (CP&L) announced itsinitial entry into the gas industry with the acquisition of NorthCarolina Natural Gas (NCNG) for $354 million in stock. Theagreement is still pending state regulatory and shareholderapproval, so no closing date has been announced.

California’s pioneering Internet-based retail gas market, theEnergy Marketplace, expanded earlier this month to include some ofthe largest energy users in the state and is planning a furtherexpansion into electricity marketing later this year. The plan ofdeveloper Southern California Gas Co. and partners Pacific Gas andElectric Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co. is to ultimately gonational with a network of other utilities in the South andNortheast.

Electricity buyers with multiple facilities are eager toconsolidate power buying activities from myriad suppliers to just ahandful when competition comes, according to a recent survey.