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ANR notified interruptible storage customers under the DDS andMBS rate schedules that they will be limited to zero net injectionsduring the Sept. 1-Oct. 31 period. Injections will be allowed intoDDS/MBS accounts only if the customer withdraws an equal or greateramount of gas prior to Nov. 1.

In an attempt to win approval for their merger from regulatorsin Washington State, ScottishPower and PacifiCorp announced theyhave agreed to give retail electric customers in the state a mergercredit directly payable on customers’ bills of $3 million per yearfor four years beginning in January 2001. The deal is similar tothe those already offered to PacifiCorp customers in Oregon andIdaho. The merger credit, which equates to a reduction of 1.7% offcustomers’ bills, includes Washington’s share of the $10 millioncost savings that ScottishPower had previously committed to passthrough to customers in the state. The merger partners will be ableto offset the $3 million merger credit in each of the four years tothe extent that the cost reductions are reflected in rates. Theproposed marriage requires the approval of regulators in the fivewestern states served by PacifiCorp – Washington, California, Utah,Idaho, Wyoming and Oregon. All have either approved the transactionor have recommended it for approval by their respectivecommissions. It also has passed muster at FERC and the Securitiesand Exchange Commission, but still awaits clearance by the NuclearRegulatory Commission.

New cogeneration plants are on the move in California, but theymay not be built fast enough to keep up with growing demand.

Traders resurrected a phrase they hadn’t been using very muchlately: “following the screen.” Like a rising tide that lifts allboats, the Henry Hub futures contract for September turned in astrong performance Wednesday and spurred moderate firmness in cashnumbers. In the absence of substantial change in marketfundamentals, there was little besides the Nymex pit for cashguidance, a marketer said.

New Century Energies and Northern States Power said they havefiled, or are expected to file later this week, merger applicationswith state regulators in Colorado, Wyoming, Minnesota, Texas, NewMexico, Kansas and North Dakota and with FERC. Other filings withadditional state and federal regulators will follow. NCE and NSPshareholders approved the merger on June 28. The proposedcombination, to be called Xcel Energy, will serve three millionelectricity customers and 1.5 million natural gas customers in 12states.

ScottishPower PLC and PacifiCorp announced they have brokered asettlement in principle with the staff of the Oregon Public UtilityCommission (OPUC) that essentially clears the way for the firstacquisition by a foreign company of a U.S. power utility.

Dominion Energy Inc., a subsidiary of Dominion Resources, andRiver Gas Corp., a privately held company based in Northport, Al,said Friday they have jointly acquired lease rights to develop19,000 acres of coalbed methane territory in Alabama’s BlackWarrior Basin. Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed. Thearea produces about 315 MMcf/d of coalbed methane. The jointventure acquired the assets from Pittsburgh and Midway Coal MiningCo. Dominion and River Gas expect to drill approximately 200 wellson the newly acquired acreage over the next three years. Together,the two companies currently own and operate more than 530 coalbedmethane wells in the region which produce 50 MMcf/d. River Gasbegan operation of these properties in 1987 and was one of theearliest operators in the Black Warrior Basin. The Black WarriorBasin is a 35,000-square-mile area in northwest Alabama.

UtiliCorp United and Empire District Electric Co. have announcedthey have signed a definitive agreement to merge the twoMissouri-based companies in a stock and cash transaction valued at$800 million, including the assumption of debt.

Exxon and Mobil said yesterday they expect antitrust reviews oftheir proposed $88 billion merger will be completed by the end ofthe third quarter. The companies filed the formal pre-mergernotification with the European Commission on May 3. Under the EC’sregulatory framework, that process should be completed around theend of September. As a result of discussions with the Federal TradeCommission, the companies believe that the FTC process can becompleted in the same time period. Shareholders of both companiesare scheduled to vote on the deal on May 27.