Sought

A small Massachusetts power marketer has called on FERC to orderthe suspension of all installed capacity (ICAP) charges forparticipants in the New England Power Pool (NEPOOL) duringApril-July until the Commission and Department of Justice (DOJ)have completed separate investigations into gaming charges in themarket.

The California Electricity Oversight Board has called on FERC toorder the state Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) to maintainexisting bid caps on wholesale energy, ancillary services andreplacement reserves until the Commission completes its probe ofthe California bulk market, initiates reforms and finds the marketsto be “workably competitive.”

Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc., a power marketer, is seekingan emergency cease and desist order directing the California ISO’sgoverning board to overturn its decision reducing the power pricecap to $500/MWh and to restore the temporary $750 cap. It furtherhas asked FERC to stay the ISO’s price-cap authority, and to stripit entirely of that power when an existing resolution expires inOctober.

With the ink barely dry on the final FERC order, state Rep.Frank LaGrotta of Pennsylvania yesterday sought review of theCommission’s decision awarding a certificate to the hotly contestedIndependence Pipeline that would run through his state. Thelawmaker said the Commission should have denied the Midwest-to-EastCoast pipeline project a certificate because the precedentagreements it filed as a show of market support contained “outclauses” for shippers.

Morgan Stanley Capital Group Inc., a power marketer, is seekingan emergency cease and desist order directing the California ISO’sgoverning board to overturn its decision reducing the power pricecap to $500/MWh and to restore the temporary $750 cap. It furtherasked FERC to stay the ISO’s price-cap authority, and to strip itentirely of that power when an existing resolution expires inOctober.

FERC Chairman James Hoecker extended an olive branch to theboard of trustees of the North American Electric ReliabilityCouncil (NERC) during a recent visit to Canada, urging the counciland the Commission to work more cooperatively toward a common goal— ensuring the reliability of the bulk electric market.

Major and independent gas producers last week commended FERC fortaking steps to reinstate its authority to make well determinationsso that qualified producers can obtain Section 29 tax credits forhigh-cost gas wells. But they urged the Commission to extend thedetermination process to all qualifying wells, irrespective ofwhether the wells were spudded and/or recompleted pre-Jan. 1, 1993or whether they were recompleted after Dec. 31, 1992.

In an effort to reduce U.S. dependence on foreign oil, Sen. KayBailey Hutchison (R-TX) introduced legislation last week that wouldoffer tax credits to domestic producers of marginal oil and naturalgas wells. Although the credits would not become effective untilthe prices of oil and gas fell significantly, they would provide asort of financial safety net to encourage marginal well producersto reopen shut-in wells in the face of a volatile market.

Williams Energy Marketing & Trading has petitioned FERC toissue a declaratory order stating that its ban against “buy-sell”arrangements doesn’t apply to the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS),particularly to the Minerals Management Service’s (MMS) royaltyin-kind projects.