United

Some Capitol Hill lawmakers and energy experts believe theUnited States may be setting itself up for another energy crisis 10to 20 years down the road by relying too heavily on natural gas tofuel new power generation facilities.

A strong performance by Aquila Energy during the first quarterhelped UtiliCorp United earnings reach a record level. UtiliCorpearnings available for common shares were $54.4 million, comparedto $51.9 million in 1Q99.

The United States District Court for the District of Columbiahas struck down a controversial part of the Interior Department’s1997 royalty valuation rule for natural gas, which incorporatedmarketing costs in the valuation. (Civ. No. 98-00531)

The growth in Canada’s natural gas supply is moving northwardand at some point is expected to be “within reach” of Alaska, wherethe United States has “huge reserves” of gas. If this trendcontinues, the still-under-construction Alliance Pipelineconceivably one day could be transporting both Canadian and Alaskangas supplies, an executive with the pipeline said.

The United States District Court for the Western District ofOklahoma has dismissed the securities litigation filed in late 1997against Chesapeake Energy and its officers and directors and ruledin their favor, the company said yesterday. The litigation, whichoriginally consisted of 12 lawsuits but which was consolidated intoone class action suit in 1998, charged that Chesapeake hadmisstated or omitted facts concerning its activities in theLouisiana Austin Chalk Trend from Jan. 25, 1996 through June 25,1997.

Williams and Utilicorp United continued their prosperousrelationship yesterday as the two companies announced a four-yeargas supply contract between Williams Gas Pipeline-Central and a 600MW power plant in Cass County, MO, that is 50% owned by Utlicorp.No financial terms were disclosed. Williams said gas is expected toflow in time for the testing phase of the plant in the early summerof 2001.

“Opportunities in the regulated utility business have never beenbetter,” according to UtiliCorp United Chairman Richard C. Green,Jr.

There’s a major oil and natural gas boom going on now in one ofthe most unlikely places in the United States – northeasternTennessee.

“Opportunities in the regulated utility business have never beenbetter,” according to UtiliCorp United Chairman Richard C. Green,Jr.