El Paso Natural Gas last week said it awarded only a smallfraction of the 1.35 BBtu/d of soon-to-be available firm capacityon its system to one shipper — Williams Energy Marketing andTrading — following its recent open season. “There were no bigwinners,” noted El Paso President Richard Baish. The pipelinerejected the majority of shipper bids because they failed to meetthe “minimum revenue threshold” requirements for the capacity.
Southern
Articles from Southern
ACN Energy Calls SoCalGas on Billing Errors
ACN Energy, a gas supplier to thousands of consumers inCalifornia, issued a statement last week accusing SouthernCalifornia Gas Co. (SoCalGas) of mailing ACN customers statementsthat falsely imply SoCalGas is their gas provider. ACN has calledfor an immediate end to the practice and is seeking monetaryretribution for the resultant loss of customers.
Semco Grows in Construction, Engineering
Semco Energy Inc. of Port Huron, MI, broadened its presence inthe southern United States by acquiring two construction companiesand an engineering firm that provide services mainly to gas andtelecommunications companies.
Energymarketplace.com Goes Nationwide
Thanks to an agreement announced yesterday with the softwaresolutions company Excelergy, Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas)will expand its energy e-commerce Web site, Energymarketplace.com,to all states that have customer choice programs. The site hadpreviously emphasized the West Coast. While SoCalGas will continueto sponsor the site, Excelergy has assumed development, marketingand sales responsibilities.
SoCalGas Modifies Restructuring Proposal
With two more months of breathing room to work out a deal,Southern California Gas Co. has substantially modified its originalrestructuring proposal for the resumption of settlementnegotiations this week in Los Angeles. With SoCalGas leading theway, representatives of 75 interested parties are attempting tohammer out a consensus on how further unbundling is shaped forCalifornia’s natural gas industry.
New Entry in Northwest Territories Sweeps
Development is accelerating on Canada’s newest gas frontier as athird production project steps forward to tap discoveries in thesouthern Northwest Territories.
Palmetto Put on Hold as CP&L Examines Power Needs
A change in the timing and location of North Carolina’s powergeneration needs has forced Carolina Power & Light (CP&L)and Southern Natural Gas Co. to put a hold on their PalmettoInterstate Pipeline and consider other pipeline alternatives. Thecompanies said last week they have suspended ongoing routeselection and survey activities for Palmetto and are analyzing twocompeting pipeline projects.
Palmetto Put on Hold as CP&L Examines Power Needs
A change in the timing and location of North Carolina’s powergeneration needs has forced Carolina Power & Light (CP&L)and Southern Natural Gas Co. to put a hold on their PalmettoInterstate Pipeline and consider other pipeline alternatives. Thecompanies said yesterday they have suspended ongoing routeselection and survey activities for Palmetto and are analyzing twocompeting pipeline projects.
Industry Briefs
Construction is scheduled to begin this month on the PacificNorthwest’s first merchant power plant, a natural gas-fired 500 MWplant in the southern Oregon city of Klamath Falls just north ofthe California border and east of the Cascade Mountains. Commercialstart-up is scheduled for July 2001. The City of Klamath Falls,using $300 million tax-exempt public revenue bonds, will own theplant. PacifiCorp Power Marketing will build, manage, operate andfuel the plant. And PG&E Gas Transmission/NW will transport gasthrough an enlarged portion of its 80-mile, east-to-west MedfordLateral off its main north-to-south interstate pipeline thatcarries Canadian supplies to markets in California as well as thePacific Northwest. The plant is expected to need about 9 MMcf/d forits peak output. The City of Klamath Falls will use half of theplant’s electricity generation to operate municipal facilities, andPacifiCorp will market the remaining power, mostly to surroundingprivate- and public-sector utilities.
SoCal Battles Consumers on Storage Sale
The controversy surrounding an idle Southern California Gas Co.underground storage field in the Los Angeles Basin continues tosimmer as the ongoing state investigation into SoCal’s potentialmisuse of the power of eminent domain goes forward with hearingsscheduled for October. All the facts may never surface publicly,and even if they do, it will take months of complicated regulatoryproceedings.