Things

Legislation to create a Montana power authority that would be allowed to, among other things, acquire electrical generation facilities, recently cleared the Montana legislature. A state lawmaker who sponsored the measure expressed confidence the HB 474 would be signed into law by the governor no later than May 10.

The Texas Public Utility Commission last week finalized rules,which among other things, guarantee utility customers get a 6% ratecut when retail competition begins Jan. 1, 2002. The final rulesestablish the price utility affiliates will be allowed to charge.

Mirroring similar action he took last summer in the face ofskyrocketing wholesale power prices, California Gov. Gray Davis onFriday asked his state attorney general to investigate the recentsevere spike in wholesale natural gas prices at the Californiaborder, where prices are among the highest in the nation. In aseparate action, two class action lawsuits were filed Monday inCalifornia Superior Court, alleging that gas and electricity pricespikes are the result of a four-year-old “conspiracy” by SouthernCalifornia Gas, San Diego Gas and Electric and El Paso Natural Gas.(see separate story)

The natural gas business of the future is tied to three things:assets, knowledge and its customers, and the companies that knowhow to merge the three successfully will rise above the crowd,Linda Cook, CEO of Shell Gas and Power, told delegates last week atthe GasTech 2000 conference in Houston.

The natural gas business of the future is tied to three things:assets, knowledge and its customers, and the companies that knowhow to merge the three successfully will rise above the crowd,Linda Cook, CEO of Shell Gas and Power, told delegates yesterday atthe GasTech 2000 conference in Houston.

Things are skating along for the Atlanta-based IntercontinentalExchange, “The ICE,” which yesterday said that it has expanded itstrading platform to now include global crude and refined oilproducts. Natural gas and power are expected to slide into playbefore the end of the year. Trading in those markets was to beginimmediately.

Just so you’ll know: “The natural gas market is a real successstory…..FERC has gotten an enormous amount of things right. Themarket may not be unblemished, but there are lots who consider thenatural gas market the best market in the world offering genuineprice discovery on a daily basis across dozens of products. It’ssomething everyone should be proud of,” Robert Levin of the NewYork Mercantile Exchange told a FERC conference last week.

Just so you’ll know: “The natural gas market is a real successstory. …FERC has gotten an enormous amount of things right. Themarket may not be unblemished, but there are lots who consider thenatural gas market the best market in the world offering genuineprice discovery on a daily basis across dozens of products. It’ssomething everyone should be proud of,” Robert Levin of the NewYork Mercantile Exchange told a FERC conference yesterday.

Things are looking so good for Mitchell Energy & DevelopmentCorp. the company has stepped down from the auction block where it hasstood since early October (see Daily GPI, Oct. 7).