Turning

A bid by GPU to raise rates by approximately $316 million in Pennsylvania is quickly turning into a larger debate over whether the utility should be allowed to avoid electricity rate caps already in place in the state. As the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission prepares to consider GPU’s rate increase request later this week, the plan has received criticism from a number of fronts, including PUC Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell and Pennsylvania’s consumer advocate.

A bid by GPU to raise rates by approximately $316 million in Pennsylvania is quickly turning into a larger debate over whether the utility should be allowed to avoid electricity rate caps already in place in the state. As the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission prepares to consider GPU’s rate increase request later this week, the plan has received criticism from a number of fronts, including PUC Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell and Pennsylvania’s consumer advocate.

Despite turning downward again Friday, the screen’s uptick of nearly 15 cents the day before had a residual supportive effect for Friday’s cash prices in eastern and Permian/Waha markets. They ranged from flat at a couple of Northeast points to 15 cents or so higher (Gulf South was a rare softer point in Louisiana), with most gains between a nickel and a dime. Most western points declined by various amounts ranging from small to huge.

While the clocks tick and the calendar pages keep turning,California keeps churning out court and regulatory cases fasterthan legislative solutions for its nagging energy woes.

With Bighorn Gas Gathering LLC turning a year old this month,the joint-venture which consists of CMS Energy affiliates andNorthern Border Partners L.P. continues to sign up new customersfor its Powder River Basin natural gas gathering system, upping itstotal number of producers to six with the newly announced additionof Prima Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Prima Energy.

New and improved drilling technology is turning out to be partof the answer to the emerging natural gas supply squeeze, at leastin Canada. Horizontal wells, developed initially for oil, increasethe accessibility, raise the productivity and cut the overall costsof tapping gas fields too, says a study by the National EnergyBoard, the Oil and Gas Commission of British Columbia and the B.C.Ministry of Energy.

New and improved drilling technology is turning out to be partof the answer to the emerging natural gas supply squeeze, at leastin Canada. Horizontal wells, developed initially for oil, increasethe accessibility, raise the productivity and cut the overall costsof tapping gas fields too, says a study by the National EnergyBoard, the Oil and Gas Commission of British Columbia and the B.C.Ministry of Energy.

Repeating what has become a familiar pattern in recent years,California’s legislature has begun the process of turning back thedecision made last week by state energy regulators to allow thestate’s major investor-owned utilities to purchase electricitythrough exchanges other than the state-chartered nonprofitCalifornia Power Exchange (Cal-PX). Legislative action could comeas early as today as part of California’s annual budget bill.

The optimists are turning out to be right as Canadian naturalgas exports to the United States continue to climb, laying to restpessimistic productivity forecasts a year ago.