Upgraded

The next 20 years should see the development of an upgraded electric grid, bolstered by fully integrated renewables and electric appliances providing regulation service with few, if any, new nuclear or coal generators — and a major role for natural gas, FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said Wednesday.

The next 20 years should see the development of an upgraded electric grid, bolstered by fully integrated renewables and electric appliances providing regulation service with few, if any, new nuclear or coal generators — and a major role for natural gas, FERC Chairman Jon Wellinghoff said Wednesday.

A low-pressure system in the eastern Gulf of Mexico was upgraded to Subtropical Depression 10 Friday morning and subsequently to Tropical Depression 10 (TD10), but it was becoming more and more apparent that the system posed little or no threat to offshore production facilities. That was reflected both by prices continuing to fall at nearly all points Friday and by announcements that some evacuated workers were already starting to return to their platforms and mobile rigs that afternoon.

Due to continuing declines in linepack from “receipt underperformance” despite its declaration of a Strained Operating Condition Wednesday, El Paso upgraded the OFO to a systemwide Critical Operating Condition (COC) Thursday. “Performance caps are being placed on all receipt locations that are supplying volumes at less than scheduled rates,” the pipeline said. Receipt shortfalls from San Juan Basin are in excess of 350 MMcf/d, while those in the Permian Basin exceed 300 MMcf/d, it added. “Shippers should immediately evaluate performance of their suppliers and insure that they are sourcing their supplies from locations that are capable of performing…Shippers taking gas above their scheduled quantities should immediately acquire additional supply or reduce their rate of take. There is transmission system capacity available at Waha and at interconnects downstream of Keystone if shippers determine that they need additional or different sources of supply to protect their markets.” El Paso continued to encourage payback of due-pipeline imbalances.

News that newly upgraded Hurricane Wilma was now expected to shift course eastward toward lower Florida after entering the Gulf of Mexico (GOM), instead of menacing the offshore production area as believed the day before, had reached cash traders by the time they got down to business Tuesday morning. So they ignored Monday’s screen spike of nearly 70 cents, and instead sent prices lower at all points Tuesday.

As the energy industry and the states of Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi continue to sort through the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, recently upgraded Tropical Storm Ophelia off the coast of Florida has some forecasters wondering whether they might be suffering from Deja vu. The forecasting gurus aren’t sure of the storm’s path yet, but agree it’s one to watch.

Although there are lingering risks, San Diego, CA-based Sempra Energy received a boost in its outlook Wednesday from Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB). Analysts at CSFB predicted that the company will “outperform” previous estimated earnings and stock prices in 2003.

At literally the eleventh hour, Reliant Resources Inc. (RRI) last week successfully completed a $6.2 billion financing package to refinance $5.9 billion of existing bank credit facilities with new ones that won’t mature until 2007. The lenders also provided the cash-poor company a $300 million line of credit, which matures in 2004.

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services upgraded its opinion on Dynegy Inc. last week, and investors responded, after the company offered an upbeat, investor-inspiring earnings forecast on Tuesday that beat Wall Street expectations.