Towel

The backers of the Crown Landing LLC liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal, proposed for the Delaware River in Gloucester County, NJ, have thrown in the towel after struggling to advance the project in a world of booming domestic gas supplies and increasing thirst for LNG abroad.

After six years, a heavily conditioned FERC approval and continuing state opposition, NorthernStar Natural Gas Corp. threw in the towel last Tuesday on its proposed $800 million, 1 Bcf Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Columbia River in Oregon after declaring bankruptcy.

After six years, a heavily conditioned FERC approval and continuing state opposition, NorthernStar Natural Gas Corp. threw in the towel Tuesday on its proposed $800 million, 1 Bcf Bradwood Landing liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal along the Columbia River in Oregon. Company officials cited the extended permitting delays and a “difficult investment environment” as the primary causes.

Mitsubishi Corp.’s Sound Energy Solutions (SES) isn’t throwing in the towel yet, despite a California state court ruling last Monday that upheld the Port of Long Beach’s termination of the environmental review of a proposed SES liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal in Long Beach Harbor. SES Executive Vice President Tom Giles told NGI Wednesday his firm will decide in April what its options are and whether to appeal.

While refusing to throw in the towel on competition in U.S. electricity markets, the Electricity Consumers Resource Council (ELCON) last Monday asserted that today’s power markets are plagued by a series of problems — including an inadequate transmission grid and icy relations between federal and state regulators — that must be fixed if restructuring is to successfully advance in the country.

Questar Corp.’s Southern Trails Pipeline has asked FERC to vacate its certificate authority to activate the 209-mile West Zone portion of the converted pipeline that extends from Essex, CA, to Long Beach.

Questar Corp.’s Southern Trails Pipeline has asked FERC to vacate its certificate authority to activate the 209-mile West Zone portion of the converted pipeline that extends from Essex, CA, to Long Beach.

Even with IDACORP’s energy marketing unit reeling from lower volatility and reduced pricing spreads out West, an executive with the company last Tuesday said the company is not ready to pull the plug on its trading operations, noting that the company has carved out a “unique position” in the Western power markets.

Altra has thrown in the towel in the electronic natural gas trading arena. Last winter’s high gas prices, competition from IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), TradeSpark and other electronic trading systems, and skyrocketing credit insurance costs since Enron’s downfall will force the company to shut down its electronic natural gas trading system at the end of this month, said Altra President Dixie Barrett Paden.