Split

As is usually the case, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) appears split (with one commissioner undecided) ahead of a key decision expected to be made on Feb. 11 on Southern California Gas Co.’s (SoCalGas) comprehensive settlement agreement on transportation and storage unbundling, a SoCalGas official said Monday.

In its usual split fashion, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission Thursday voted 3-2 to allow Southern California Edison Co. on an interim basis to hedge a portion of its natural gas price risk in power supply contracts with small qualifying facility (QF) electricity generators. Specifics of the authority are kept confidential for proprietary reasons. The hedges cannot extend beyond June 30, 2004.

In its usual split fashion, the five-member California Public Utilities Commission Thursday voted 3-2 to allow Southern California Edison Co. on an interim basis to hedge a portion of its natural gas price risk in power supply contracts with small qualifying facility (QF) electricity generators. Specifics of the authority are kept confidential for proprietary reasons. The hedges cannot extend beyond June 30, 2004.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a 2-to-1 split vote, has agreed to prospectively prohibit interstate pipelines from entering into negotiated-rate transactions with shippers which reference “basis,” or the difference between the natural gas price indexes at two points, citing the potential for pipelines to manipulate spot gas prices.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a 2-to-1 split vote, has agreed to prospectively prohibit interstate pipelines from entering into negotiated-rate transactions with shippers which reference “basis,” or the difference between the natural gas price indexes at two points, citing the potential for pipelines to manipulate spot gas prices.

FERC last Wednesday “split the baby” in a series of long-awaited rulings on the western energy crisis, giving both sides reason to cheer and scowl. The agency, on one hand, revoked the marketing authorizations for Enron Corp. subsidiaries and launched show-cause enforcement actions against nearly 60 energy companies for potential gaming of the California market, while at the same time it rejected efforts by California and other western utilities to overturn contracts worth an estimated $12 billion that were negotiated at the height of the market turmoil two years ago.

The cash market separated on a rough geographical split in Friday’s trading for the weekend, with eastern points tending to range from flat to 20 cents higher, while flat to barely lower numbers in the unusually sultry Pacific Northwest belied overall western softness in which losses went as high as about half a dollar.

EnCana Corp. and MGV Energy Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Quicksilver Resources Inc., are calling it quits on a joint coalbed methane (CBM) venture that to date has successfully drilled 175 wells in southern Alberta.

EnCana Corp. and MGV Energy Inc., the Canadian subsidiary of Quicksilver Resources Inc., are calling it quits on a joint coalbed methane (CBM) venture that to date has successfully drilled 175 wells in southern Alberta.