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NRG Energy Inc. plans to spend $658 million to acquire fourcombined cycle power projects with a total capacity of 5,961 MWfrom LS Power LLC, an independent power producer headquartered inEast Brunswick, NJ. The agreement also gives the Minneapolis-basedNRG the opportunity to acquire ownership in the next 3,000 MW ofgeneration offered by LS Power and its partners.

NRG Energy Inc. plans to spend $658 million to acquire fourcombined cycle power projects with a total capacity of 5,961 MWfrom LS Power LLC, an independent power producer headquartered inEast Brunswick, NJ. The agreement also gives the Minneapolis-basedNRG the opportunity to acquire ownership in the next 3,000 MW ofgeneration offered by LS Power and its partners.

With total electricity sales likely to creep along at a snail’space of 1.2% growth each year over the next five years, picking theright market to set up shop could be the difference between lifeand death for many power marketers and utilities, according to apresentation made last week by Mark J. Bock, senior economist onelectric power from WEFA Inc.

With total electricity sales likely to creep along at a snail’space of 1.2% growth each year over the next five years, picking theright market to set up shop could be the difference between lifeand death for many power marketers and utilities, according to apresentation made last week by Mark J. Bock, senior economist onelectric power from WEFA Inc.

Allegheny Energy Supply Co. LLC upped its total generatingcapacity to nearly 10,000 MW after setting up a joint venture withUGI Development to expand and market generation output fromfacilities at UGI’s Hunlock Creek generating station nearWilkes-Barre, PA. Part of the deal gives Allegheny Energy Supplyaccess to 46 MW to sell into the Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Marylandmarket.

Transocean Sedco Forex reached a definitive agreement to acquireR&B Falcon Corp. in a 100% stock transaction for a total costof $8.8 billion. The transaction will result in what the companiesclaim will be the largest offshore drilling contractor.

Soliance Networks, the San Diego-based joint venture thatprovides total information solutions for the energy industry, hascompleted its first information technology project for an energyservice provider, getting the system running in just eight weeks.Soliance created an Internet-based “virtual utility” system forEnergy America’s customers that included enrollment, customerbilling operations, bill creation, and support. The “virtualutility” took six weeks to certify and validate, and two more weeksto become fully operational for Energy America. The system willsupport over 1 million customers by mid-2001. Energy America sellscompetitively priced natural gas and electricity to residential andsmall business customers in New Jersey, Georgia, Maryland, Ohio,Pennsylvania, and Michigan.

Vacant capacity on TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. will rise to about1.7 Bcf/d, or 24% of total capacity, by Nov. 1 as shippers ofCanadian gas production turn to transportation alternatives comingavailable to them for the first time in industry history.

Unanticipated maintenance on the #3 compressor at Amber Station(Grady County, OK) is expected to limit total West of Ambercapacity to 340,000 Dth/d through Friday, Reliant said.