Time

Enron Corp. has eliminated the last vestiges of its one-timehigh-profile venture into California’s residential electricitymarket by pulling out of its deal with the resort city of PalmSprings. Enron was the energy service provider for a citygovernment-established aggregation business, which had about 2,000mostly residential customers lured away from the local monopolyprovider, Southern California Edison.

Enron Corp. has eliminated the last vestiges of its one-timehigh-profile venture into California’s residential electricitymarket by pulling out of its deal with the resort city of PalmSprings. Enron was the energy service provider for a citygovernment-established aggregation business, which had about 2,000mostly residential customers lured away from the local monopolyprovider, Southern California Edison.

If you build it, a corporate sponsor will come. This time aroundit’s Houston’s new baseball stadium, and Enron Corp. said last weekit will pay $100 million over 30 years for naming rights to theballpark to be known as Enron Field. Enron Energy Services (EES)also will provide energy management to the facility.

If you build it, a corporate sponsor will come. This time aroundit’s Houston’s new baseball stadium and Enron Corp., which saidWednesday it will pay $100 million over 30 years for naming rightsto the ballpark to be known as Enron Field. Enron Energy Services(EES) also will provide energy management to the facility.

For the second time in five months, the National Energy Boardhas served notice that competition has arrived to stay in theCanadian natural gas pipeline community.

Midcoast Energy of Houston continued an ongoing buying spree last week. This time, however, the company has set its sights to the North. Subsidiary Midcoast Canada Operating Corp. bought the Calmar gas treating plant and gathering system in Alberta from Probe Exploration Inc. for C$20 million (US$13.2 million). The company said it has its sights on similar acquisitions in the future.

Wild Goose Storage, California’s first merchant natural gasstorage facility, is set to begin operations April 1, at the sametime the state’s second merchant storage project gets a publicairing of its 18 Bcf proposal.

CalEnergy Co. Inc. and MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co. formallyclosed their merger Friday, marking the first time that anindependent power producer has acquired a traditional gas andelectric utility. The Iowa Utilities Board’s (IUB) recent approvalof the deal cleared the way for it to be completed.

For ninth time in the last 10 trading sessions, natural gasfutures were lower last Friday as sellers pressured theprompt-April contract to its life-of-contract low. No freshfundamental news was seen to lift the market, and as a result itfollowed the long-standing trend 3.1 cents lower to $1.628.