Success

IntercontinentalExchange deemed the first week of business for itsB2B electronic over-the-counter precious metals marketplace a success,with “no hours of down time” and “growth in both volume andcustomers.” The online scalable trading system called “The ICE,”traded precious metals spot, forwards and options within its firstweek of service (see Daily GPI, Aug. 25).

A group of natural gas producers has called on FERC to step inand settle once and for all the controversial issue of re-designingthe capacity-allocation procedures of El Paso Natural Gas so that”firm” capacity on El Paso would really come to mean firm, and thepractice of overbooking firm primary transportation capacity wouldbecome history at the pipeline’s SoCal/Topock delivery point intoCalifornia.

Shell Energy Services Co. LLC, the third largest natural gas marketer in Georgia, hopes to extend its success in the residential arena to the large commercial and industrial market in the state with several new product offerings and a new website, www.shellenergyconnect.com.

Shell Energy Services Co. LLC, the third largest natural gasmarketer in Georgia, hopes to extend its success in the residentialarena to the large commercial and industrial market in the statewith several new product offerings and a new web site,www.shellenergyconnect.com.

BetterMarkets Ltd. announced the success of the first real-timesimulation of its Internet-based trading platform, which will pavethe way for a global border-less exchange, said company founderDavid Rudd. “We expect this platform to revolutionize the wayforwards and other financial instruments are traded. It will makegeography irrelevant and allow trading on a 24-hour-a-day basis.”

Achieving a vast amount of success in Georgia’s newlyderegulated retail gas industry came at a significant price, SCANAsaid last week as the South Carolina-based company reported 1999earnings of $179 million, or $1.73/share of common stock, down from$223 million, or $2.12/share in 1998.

Plug Power Inc.’s first demonstration using a gas-fired fuelcell to power a home was declared a success by the company. Thehome in Latham, NY, was converted to gas from pure hydrogen inAugust without a glitch. The house is equipped with Plug Power’sfuel cell stack, a power conditioner and gas fuel processor.”Powering a house with electricity from a natural gas fuel cellsystem is an important first for Plug Power and for the fuel cellindustry,” said Gary Mittleman, Plug Power’s CEO. Plug Power plansto make its fuel cell systems available beginning in 2001 through ajoint venture with GE MicroGen, a subsidiary of GE Power Systems.The typical 7-10 kW units are expected to cost $3,000-$5,000 by2003. They will have a 17-year life span. The Plug Power systemreceives fuel from a home’s existing gas line or propane tank,converts the fuel into a hydrogen-rich stream and then combines itwith oxygen from the air in a chemical reaction that produceselectric power.

Houston Street Exchange said its web-based wholesale powertrading floor, HoustonStreet.com, experienced a successful firstmonth of operations as users bought and sold more than 270,000 MWh.It also said that more than 60% (70 out of 110) of the activewholesale power trading companies in the United States have eitherfully registered to trade power on HoustonStreet.com or are in theregistration process.

Building on its success developing the first salt cavern storagefacility in the Northeast, Energy East announced plans to developanother high-deliverability gas storage facility in the same areaof southwestern New York about five miles north of Watkins Glen.The proposed plant will be designed by Energy East subsidiarySeneca Lake Storage in two caverns owned by U.S. Salt and will beconnected to Columbia Gas Transmission via a proposed 3.2-milepipeline. It is expected to be in service in November 2001 with750,000 Dth of working gas capacity and 75,000 Dth of dailydeliverability.