Underway

Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP (KMP) said Monday that a $40 million project is underway to expand its Texas intrastate natural gas pipeline system into the Permian Basin by converting 254 miles of a previously acquired 24-inch diameter crude oil pipeline to natural gas service. The pipeline conversion will access several gas processing plants in West Texas, providing transportation service from McCamey, TX to just west of Texas’ rapidly growing capital city, Austin.

The first criminal trial in the Enron Corp. case got underway Tuesday in Houston, and prosecutors said in opening statements that emails and other evidence will prove two former Enron executives conspired with four Merrill Lynch bankers to illegally increase the profits so that the company could meet Wall Street expectations.

With solutions underway on the regulatory, legislative and financial fronts, PG&E Corp. and its combination utility are optimistic that they will reach several key milestones by mid-year.

With solutions underway on the regulatory, legislative and financial fronts, PG&E Corp. and its combination utility are optimistic that they will reach several key milestones by mid-year.

Preparations quietly got underway last week at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission for an orderly changing of the guard at the end of the month, as the White House named Commissioner Pat Wood III to succeed current Chairman Curt Hebert Jr., who is resigning to join New Orleans, LA-based Entergy Corp. as executive vice president of external affairs.

The much ballyhooed power generation race in Florida finally gotunderway last Monday as the Florida Public Service Commission (PSC)unanimously approved the first independent power combined cyclefacility under the Florida Power Plant Siting Act. The approvedapplication for a 529 MW facility was submitted by Calpine Corp.and Seminole Electric Cooperative.

The much ballyhooed electricity plant construction race inFlorida finally got underway on Monday as the Florida PublicService Commission (PSC) unanimously approved the first independentpower combined cycle facility under the Florida Power Plant SitingAct. The approved application for a 529 MW facility was submittedby Calpine Corp. and Seminole Electric Cooperative.

Although the proposed rulemaking process to beef up safetyinspections of natural gas pipelines isn’t expected to get underwayuntil early 2001, a Duke Energy executive says the Department ofTransportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS) already has begunto step up its oversight of interstate gas lines.

It’s not a perfect world yet, but sponsors of the major projectsto tap reserves in the far north are working to avoid mistakes ofthe past by coming up with a joint plan to pipe supplies fromAlaska and the Northwest Territories to market areas in the south.