Unwelcome

Exelon Corp. has asked FERC to approve its proposed and unwelcome deal to acquire NRG Energy Inc. The company also filed notification with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

Basis blowouts are getting to be an unwelcome habit for Rockies producers. The previous week had begun with triple-digit plunges that took most Rockies points to sub-$2 averages and then to less than a dollar the next day. On Tuesday the regional market wasted no time in getting off to sub-dollar pricing in post-holiday trading. Elsewhere, quotes were mostly softer but mixed with occasional gains of up to about half a dollar.

Although an “unwelcome” and “unprecedented” development, FERC’sdecision last week ordering 13 power generators and suppliers inCalifornia to pay potential refunds of $69 million on transactionsfor the month of January will have a “relatively benign” impact onthe companies’ finances, according to a Merrill Lynch report.

In the latest of a yearlong effort to put the brakes to anunwelcome MarketLink project, the state of New Jersey and thestate’s Department of Law and Public Safety called on FERC lastweek to rescind and vacate the certificate approving constructionof the controversial pipeline expansion through the northern partof the state, and to treat sponsor Transcontinental Gas Pipe LineCorp.’s recent request to amend the project as a new application.