Trip

IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) said it is conducting an internal investigation into a report by Duke Energy on Tuesday that it conducted 23 round-trip trades on the electronic trading system. ICE said that as a part of its investigation it will consider whether enhanced internal procedures are necessary to ensure the orderly, efficient and fair markets that customers expect. Duke told the Securities and Exchange Commission the transactions “had the apparent purpose of increasing volumes” on ICE and increased its revenues by $127 million in 2001, or about 0.25% of its $51 billion in gross revenue from gas and electricity trading and marketing last year (see Daily GPI, July 17). Duke is one of 13 equity owners in ICE.

If you’re planning to come to Washington, DC to visit the Enron exhibit at the Smithsonian Institution, you might want to re-think that trip. There’s not going to be any Enron display, says a museum official, who noted that news stories about an Enron display were, to put it mildly, greatly exaggerated.

With FERC-ordered mitigation measures on wholesale power prices in the western part of the country set to expire later this year, Commission Chairman Pat Wood on Thursday disclosed that he’s traveling to California this week to, among other things, receive assurances that the region’s market rules and infrastructure are on enough of a solid footing that those caps can be lifted when they expire at the end of September.

Mild weather seen in the Southeast and a softer U.S. economy were not enough to trip up Southern Co.’s 2001 earnings results as several factors, including continued customer growth and cost controls, helped the utility giant post earnings for the year of $1.12 billion, or $1.62 per share, compared with reported earnings of $994 million, or $1.52 per share, in 2000.

In the wake of last week’s Presidential energy trip to California, state officials are continuing their love-hate relationship with the Bush Administration, which Gov. Gray Davis credits with providing the “little things” needed to boost supply and cut demand, but avoiding “the big enchilada” of wholesale price relief.

If you made the trip to Capitol Hill or were listening over theWeb last Thursday, your jaw probably dropped a few inches whenChairman Thomas Bliley (R-VA) of the House Commerce Committeeannounced to a packed hearing room that he was postponing thescheduled markup on electric restructuring legislation until thisweek. At press time Friday, the committee hadn’t yet set a new datefor the markup, but an aide said the goal was to do it this week.

If you made the trip to Capitol Hill or were listening over theWeb yesterday, your jaw probably dropped a few inches when ChairmanThomas Bliley (R-VA) of the House Commerce Committee announced to apacked hearing room that he was postponing the scheduled markup onelectric restructuring legislation until next week.

It took FERC only a few days to recognize that ANR Pipeline’sMarch 8 application for a second Wisconsin expansion project in 18months fails to meet the Commission’s test for showing market need.

It took FERC only a few days to recognize that ANR PipelineCo.’s March 8 application for a second Wisconsin expansion projectin 18 months fails to meet the Commission’s test for showing marketneed.