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SCANA Energy and affiliate Powertel, Inc., one of the largestwireless PCS telecommunications providers in the Southeast,announced plans to jointly market their services at 30 kiosklocations in Kroger grocery stores in Greater Atlanta, Macon,Augusta and Savannah beginning today. Powertel will provide thepersonnel for the kiosks locations, which were built and installedby SCANA. Customers will soon be able to sign up for Powertel andSCANA services, make bill payments and receive information on otherservices while shopping at Kroger.

In what is possibly the largest business process outsourcing(BPO) contract to date, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BP Amoco agreedto expand their existing BPO relationship to the United States. Thedeal is valued at $1.1 billion.

ScottishPower and PacifiCorp received Nuclear RegulatoryCommission (NRC) approval of their merger. It is the final federalapproval needed to complete the transaction. NRC approval isrequired because PacifiCorp owns a 2.5 percent share in the TrojanNuclear Plant in Oregon. The plant has not operated for severalyears, and is in the process of being decommissioned. “With allfederal, and four of the six state approvals in place, we are wellon track to completing the merger by the end of the year,” saidPacifiCorp CEO-designate Alan Richardson.

In what is possibly the largest business process outsourcing(BPO) contract to date, PricewaterhouseCoopers and BP Amoco agreedto expand their existing BPO relationship to the United States. Thedeal is valued at $1.1 billion.

Price points throughout the country varied in their responses toweather forecasts, the American Gas Association storage reportexpectations, and a rising futures screen yesterday. Despite thelack of direction, many traders agreed that weather, which wasresponsible for significant increases in the East and Midcontinentearlier in the week, is set to regain its leadership role in themarket, and push prices down heading into the weekend.

Computers, their manufacture and use, the Internet and the rapidgrowth of the nation’s communications infrastructure are not onlyrevolutionizing the energy industry, they’re fueling demand forelectricity and will continue to do so, according to Enron CEOKenneth L. Lay.

El Paso Energy Corp. and Sonat Inc. completed their $6 billionmerger yesterday. As NGI reported earlier, the two companies jumpedthe final hurdle when El Paso agreed to the FTC’s terms to divestits 100% ownership in East Tennessee Natural Gas Co., Sonat’s 100%ownership of Sea Robin Pipeline Co., and Sonat’s one-third interestin Destin Pipeline Co., L.L.C. following the merger (see Daily GPI,Oct. 25). The transaction creates a transmission system comprisingover 40,000 miles, which El Paso said is the largest system inNorth America both in terms of throughput and miles of pipeline.The new El Paso’s pipeline systems will transport 12.4 Bcf/d-fullyone quarter of the natural gas volumes transported in the UnitedStates. The combined company will be headquartered in Houston.Sonat’s headquarters will remain in Birmingham, AL, and El PasoNatural Gas Co. will remain in El Paso, TX. William Wise,previously CEO of El Paso Energy, will retain his position in thenew company. Ronald Kuehn, who has been CEO of Sonat, is now thechairman of the board for the combined company until Dec. 31, 2000.

Kinder Morgan and KN Energy announced the completion of theirmerger. The company has been renamed Kinder Morgan, Inc. and willtrade under the New York Stock Exchange symbol “KMI.” The $900million merger was announced last July.

Enron and Peoples Energy put their Chicago market muscletogether last week in a wholesale services partnership and energyasset optimization package that likely will impact the Midwestmarket for years to come. With the help of Enron, Peoples will beefup its Chicago gas infrastructure and secure about two thirds ofits gas supply requirements for the next five years.