Trouble

Atlanta Gas Light (AGL) announced last week that it will refund$34 million to its former retail customers. The $26 per customerrefund will be issued by the 13 marketers in AGL’s serviceterritory during the May/June billing cycle.

The merger of BP Amoco and Atlantic Richfield Co. (Arco) becamesignificantly more complicated last week. Now the companies facefederal and state opposition, but they’ve added one formerchallenger to their camp.

Like many other industrial operators before it, Duke EnergyServices has found that operating along California’s famouscoastline can be a rocky proposition. Duke has been forced to pullback and reconfigure plans for its Morro Bay power plant along thecentral coast to accommodate local city concerns and is makingpromises to increase the city’s coffers by up to 30% through theplant remodel.

Like many other industrial operators before it, Duke EnergyServices has found that operating along California’s famouscoastline can be a rocky proposition. Duke has been forced to pullback and reconfigured plans for its Morro Bay power plant along thecentral coast to accommodate local city concerns and is makingpromises to increase the city’s coffers by up to 30% through theplant remodel.

Can you trust a marketer with all of your regulated assets? It’sa question many LDCs are asking themselves these days asderergulation and competition are stranding more and more supplycontracts, upstream transportation and storage. But there’s no easyanswer, according to several panelists speaking at GasMart/Power’99 in Dallas yesterday.

A strong performance by Columbia Energy Group’s transmission,distribution, and exploration and production operations last yearin spite of 17% warmer than normal weather and lower commodityprices was significantly tainted by several major blunders in itsenergy marketing operations.

Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGL) will be the first to say that warmweather and fixed prices can cause trouble. In a situation that hascaught the eye of Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC), AGL’snew unregulated rates have enraged hundreds of customers who,because of warm weather, have not used much gas, but still receivedwinter-like gas bills. The public outcry caused the PSC to schedulea vote on Jan. 5 to determine whether a hearing should be held toexamine re-regulating the state’s gas industry. If the commissiondecides a hearing is necessary, it will be held Jan. 26 with adecision to come shortly thereafter.

Atlanta Gas Light Co. (AGL) will be the first to say that warmweather and fixed prices can cause trouble. In a situation that hascaught the eye of Georgia’s Public Service Commission (PSC), AGL’snew unregulated billing has enraged hundreds of customers who,because of warm weather, have not used much gas, but still receivedwinter-like gas bills. The public outcry caused the PSC to schedulea vote on Jan. 5 to determine whether a hearing should be held toexamine re-regulating the state’s gas industry. If the commissiondecides a hearing is necessary, it will be held Jan. 26 with adecision to come shortly thereafter.

Republican members of the Senate Energy and Natural ResourcesCommittee Wednesday warned Energy Secretary nominee Bill Richardsonhis nomination could face an indefinite delay when it reaches theSenate floor unless the Clinton administration makes concessions onthe controversial issue of nuclear-waste storage. Democrat members,on the other hand, vowed to fight against any efforts to block thenomination.