Trouble

Dynegy Chairman Chuck Watson said last Wednesday his company was “encouraged” by Enron’s success in extending a deadline on a $690 million obligation until mid-December and is “working to accelerate the regulatory approvals required to complete the merger with Enron Corp.” in light of the continuing free fall of Enron’s stock. The stock fell more than $2 early Wednesday morning to $4.75 but moved back above $5 following Enron’s announcement that it was able to find some breathing room.

Dynegy Chairman Chuck Watson said his company is “encouraged” by Enron’s success in extending a deadline on a $690 million obligation until mid-December and is “working to accelerate the regulatory approvals required to complete the merger with Enron Corp.” in light of the continuing free fall of Enron’s stock Wednesday. The stock fell more than $2 early in the day to $4.75 but moved back above $5 following Enron’s announcement that it was able to find some breathing room.

Natural gas pipeline capacity appears “adequate” to meet mostpeak-day demands as the nation heads into the 2000-2001 winterheating season, assuming the weather is normal. But there are someareas where capacity constraints and bottleneck problems could cropup – most notably in the Northeast region, according to a newreport by the Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Despite trouble in the retail market in several states thisyear, gas customer choice appears to be making a little progress.The Michigan Public Service Commission has adopted terms andconditions to make gas choice programs for residential andcommercial customers a permanent fixture in the state.

Further fueling concerns that there may not be enough domesticgas supply to meet a 30 Tcf demand market down the road, a newstudy warns the industry likely will face a shortage of productionpersonnel to explore and drill for natural gas if the current trendtowards consolidation, divestiture and downsizing continues.

Further fueling concerns that there may not be enough domesticgas supply to meet a 30 Tcf demand market down the road, a newstudy warns the industry likely will face a shortage of productionpersonnel to explore and drill for natural gas if the current trendtowards consolidation, divestiture and downsizing continues.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline officials predict there couldbe a service delay and a rate increase on its 164,000 MMBtu/d SaintJohn lateral because clearing work has been stopped illegally byunion workers. Work was scheduled to begin last Monday on theproject, but union laborers physically prevented clearing by HEFIndustries Ltd., the hired excavation/clearing contractor, whichuses non-union labor.

Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline officials predict there couldbe a service delay and a rate increase on its 164,000 MMBtu/d SaintJohn lateral because clearing work has been stopped illegally byunion workers. Work was scheduled to begin Monday on the project,but union laborers have physically prevented clearing by HEFIndustries Ltd., the hired excavation/clearing contractor, whichuses non-union labor.

If this spring is any indication of what’s to come this summer,utility and power grid operators in the Northeast and Mid-Atlanticregions might want to say a few extra prayers for electricreliability and affordable power.