Suppliers

Centrica is dangling a big carrot in front of liquefied natural gas (LNG) suppliers: its top market position in the U.S. and UK retail energy markets. Mike Hogan, senior vice president of upstream gas and power for Centrica subsidiary Direct Energy, said the company is actively seeking substantial new gas and power supply arrangements, including a stake in the LNG business, because of its rapid retail demand growth.

A class action lawsuit in a California court in San Diego County alleging a conspiracy among natural gas suppliers in the state and El Paso Corp. has been set for trial Sept. 7, according to one of the law firms bringing the legal action on behalf of residential and business utility customers. The trial will be aimed at Sempra Energy and its two utilities, since the law firm earlier in the year settled with El Paso.

A class action lawsuit in a California court in San Diego County alleging a conspiracy among natural gas suppliers in the state and El Paso Corp. has been set for trial Sept. 7, according to one of the law firms bringing the legal action on behalf of residential and business utility customers. The trial will be aimed at Sempra Energy and its two utilities, since the law firm earlier in the year settled with El Paso.

A class action lawsuit in a California court in San Diego County alleging a conspiracy among natural gas suppliers in the state and El Paso Corp. has been set for trial Sept. 7, according to one of the law firms bringing the legal action on behalf of residential and business utility customers. The trial will be aimed at Sempra Energy and its two utilities, since the law firm earlier in the year settled with El Paso.

A federal court has dismissed a $600 million complaint against several natural gas suppliers brought by Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources, the holding company for Nevada’s two major private-sector electric utilities, according to an announcement by Sierra Pacific Wednesday. The company said in a subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is reviewing the court decision and its options for further action, if any.

A federal court has dismissed a $600 million complaint against several natural gas suppliers brought by Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources, the holding company for Nevada’s two major private-sector electric utilities, according to an announcement by Sierra Pacific Wednesday. The company said in a subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is reviewing the court decision and its options for further action, if any.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal is investigating the actions of power suppliers during a recent bone-chilling freeze that blanketed the Northeast, saying he has information that some generators sold natural gas on the spot market that could have otherwise been used for their own power plants during the recent power supply crunch.

Increased interstate pipeline capacity, new storage capacity and other in-state natural gas infrastructure upgrades are just some of the possibilities outlined for the California gas market between now and 2006, according to panel assembled Tuesday at the first day of a two-day workshop in San Francisco examining “Natural Gas Market Outlook, 2006-2016.” The workshop was co-sponsored by the California Energy Commission and the California Public Utilities Commission.

Increased interstate pipeline capacity, new storage capacity and other in-state natural gas infrastructure upgrades are just some of the possibilities outlined for the California gas market between now and 2006, according to panel assembled Tuesday at the first day of FERC’s two-day workshop in San Francisco examining “Natural Gas Market Outlook, 2006-2016.”