Thomas

House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas J. Bliley (R-VA) saysthat while the short-term fixes approved by FERC last week toprevent power outages this summer are laudable, he doubts they’llbe effective.

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners, LP announced that Thomas A.Bannigan has been named President of its products pipelineoperations. Bannigan will also continue in his current role asPresident of Plantation Pipe Line Company, which is 51% owned byKinder Morgan. He succeeds William V. Allison who has assumedresponsibility for Kinder Morgan’s natural gas pipeline operations.

PG&E Corp. lured in Thomas Boren, a former top executive atSouthern Co., to lead its PG&E National Energy Group, lastweek, only a few weeks after Boren had announced his retirement atSouthern. Boren, 50, will be president and CEO of the PG&Edivision, which includes PG&E Gas Transmission, PG&E PowerTrading, and PG&E Energy Services.

PG&E Corp. lured in Thomas Boren, a former top executive atSouthern Co., to lead its PG&E National Energy Group, lastweek, only a few weeks after Boren had announced his retirement atSouthern. Boren, 50, will be president and CEO of the PG&Edivision, which includes PG&E Gas Transmission, PG&E PowerTrading, and PG&E Energy Services.

In a move to strengthen its still under-performing Texas naturalgas assets, PG&E Corp. yesterday named Thomas B. King presidentand COO of unregulated subsidiary PG&E Gas Transmission, whichis based in Houston. King, formerly president of Kinder MorganEnergy Partners, takes on his new duties Nov. 23. He is filling aposition left vacant by the sudden death of Joseph Kearney, aPG&E executive who suffered a heart attack in September. Kingwill be replaced at Kinder Morgan by Vice Chairman Bill Morgan.

House Commerce Committee Chairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA) andEnergy and Power Subcommittee Chairman Dan Schaefer (F-CO) tried tojump-start interest in electricity restructuring on Capitol Hillearlier this week by issuing draft legislation that would mandatecustomer choice at the state level by Jan 1, 2001, and wouldgrandfather state retail-access programs that are in effect bythen.

Five senior AGL Resources officers are leaving the company forearly retirement or other business interests, the company said.Leaving the company are Thomas Benson, President and COO of AtlantaGas Light; Robert Goocher, COO of AGL Resources Services; VerleneCobb, vice president corporate communications; Charlie Lail, seniorvice president operations improvement; and Marvin Wyatt Jr., vicepresident operations support. All but Benson’s position are beingeliminated as part of CEO Walter M. Higgins effort to betterposition AGL for gas deregulation in Georgia, which is scheduled totake place later this year. Higgins took over as CEO in February.AGL said an acting president of Atlanta Gas Light will be announcedwithin the next several days as will other internal reassignments.