Stride

PG&E Corp. last week made another stride to bring moreelectricity generating projects online in an attempt to provideCalifornia with an adequate power supply in the future. The companyentered into an agreement with Waste Management Inc. to replace 120diesel-fueled garbage collection trucks with natural gas-fueledversions in order to offset the emissions of a proposed 500 MWnatural gas-fired power plant to be located in San Diego County.

Although Nevada utilities took in stride all-time record peakelectric demand last week, drawing on a diverse supply portfoliothat includes about one-third purchased power deals under long-termfixed-prices, the major energy holding company, Sierra PacificResources, reported a $20.2 million net loss for the second quarterended June 30. The red ink was attributed to $70 million ofunanticipated fuel and purchased power price increases that werereported by the company last month.

After taking Tuesday’s small gain in stride, the bears were atit again yesterday pushing the August contract to test the bottomof a descending channel that has limited movement in the contractsince July 1. However, support held and light buying ensued pushingthe contract up to close at $2.231, down 3.5 cents for the day.