Took

The City of Corona, CA, earlier this month took a step forward in its plans to form a municipally-owned utility after the city council unanimously passed a resolution in support of creating such an entity. However, a final decision on whether to proceed with the project, including the construction of two new power plants, will not be made until a detailed economic analysis is completed over the next six to eight weeks, according to George Hanson, a power utilities and project manager recently hired by the city.

Electric restructuring in Ohio took a bite out of FirstEnergy Corp. earnings. The company reported net income for the first quarter was $106.2 million, or 49 cents per share, compared with $140.9 million, or 63 cents per share in 1Q2000. After adoption of new accounting standards for derivative transactions, net income was $97.7 million, or 45 cents per share of common stock. The Akron-based company said results are on track with annual earnings projections, which reflect higher amortization of transition costs during the first quarter as a result of the company’s rate plan under Ohio’s new deregulation law. For the year, total transition cost amortization is expected to be lower than last year’s accelerated cost amortization under the former regulatory rate plans for the company’s operating subsidiaries. Consolidated generation kilowatt-hour sales increased 13.1% for the quarter. Regulated distribution deliveries to residential customers rose 8.1%, and industrial sales gained 3.6%, while commercial sales were off 1.3%. Revenues were $2 billion, compared with $1.6 billion for the year-earlier quarter. FirstEnergy made significant progress in obtaining regulatory approvals of its proposed $4.5 billion merger with Morristown, NJ-based GPU, Inc. The merger still requires approvals from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities and the Securities and Exchange Commission. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to cash flow and earnings and produce other benefits, including cost savings of at least $150 million annually from the combination of operations. Upon completion, FirstEnergy will be the fourth largest investor-owned electric system in the nation, based on serving 4.3 million customers within 37,000 square miles of Ohio, Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

New York State Electric & Gas Corp.(NYSEG) last Wednesday took direct aim at a recent New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) report on the state’s power market, asserting, among other things, that it “unrealistically assumes” that 8,600 MW of new generation for the state can be built by 2005.

New York State Electric & Gas Corp.(NYSEG) yesterday took direct aim at a recent New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) report with the utility asserting, among other things, that the ISO’s report “unrealistically assumes” that 8,600 MW of new generation for the state can be built by 2005.

Southern Crossing Pipeline, first proposed in April 1998, tookthe long way home, but made it in time for 2000 winter service. BCGas, the owner and operator of the Canadian line, announced thatits 188-mile natural gas pipeline began service in Southern BritishColumbia.

California regulators Tuesday took several steps to implement higher electricity rates and stepped up load management, assure payment to the state’s wholesale power buying program and examine whether the parent corporations for the three largest investor-owned utilities have done enough to assure their financial viability during the persistent crisis surrounding supplies and prices.

Because of production receipts upstream of its Logansport (LA)facilities continuing to exceed capacity, Sonat issued a Type 5 OFOthat took effect Saturday. Volumes delivered into the system thatexceed 104% of scheduled quantities will be penalized $15/Dth. TheOFO affects 25 Logansport Field points and 24 Joaquin Field points.

FERC last week took the first step towards developing a broadregional transmission organization (RTO) in the southeasternsection of the nation.

FERC last week took the first step towards developing a broadregional transmission organization (RTO) in the southeasternsection of the nation.