Triple

As high temperatures and humidity pushed heat indexes into thetriple digits, electric output for the week ending July 24 reached81,144 gigawatt hours (GWh), surpassing the previous record of80,335 GWh set last August, according to data collected by theEdison Electric Institute.

Trading in El Paso Energy stock was nearly triple normalactivity Friday, thanks to a rumor the company was acquiring SonatInc. Sonat share trading was more than five times the usual volumeas well. Friday El Paso closed down 2 15/16 at 35 _. Sonat closedup 3 1/16 at 30 3/16. El Paso’s 52-week range is 24 11/16 to 393/8, and Sonat’s 52-week range is 23 9/16 to 45.

Florida Gas Transmission may not be the only interstatetrunkline in Florida if Williams-Transco succeeds in its plan foran underwater pipeline from offshore Mobile Bay through the Gulf ofMexico to landfall near Tampa on Florida’s southwest coast.

Triple-digit temperatures throughout much of California inlandfrom the Pacific Coast spurred record energy demand, promptingstate and utility officials to call for voluntary cutbacks inelectricity usage on the eve of the Labor Day holiday weekend.Collectively, August turned out to be California’s hottest ever,further testing the reliability of the new power system in thestate.As Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas and Electricand the nation’s largest municipal utility, the City of Los AngelesDepartment of Water and Power, all registered record power demandMonday, a corresponding record for natural gas delivered toelectric generating plants was marked at Southern California Gas,which transports supplies to all three electric utilities. Gassupplies for power generation equaled 1.92 Bcf/d on Monday,surpassing a one-day record set Aug. 11, 1994 (1.877 Bcf), and aspokesperson for SoCalGas said with the prediction of more hotweather later in the week, “there is a chance we will surpass thenew record.”