Urged

The North American Electric Reliability Council (NERC) and a broad-based coalition of electric industry and state organizations urged members of Congress and other key energy officials to support prompt passage of federal legislation to promote and ensure the continued reliability of high-voltage electric transmission systems in the United States and throughout North America.

Republican House energy leaders have urged the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to expand its California market mitigation plan to 24 hours a day across the West this summer.

Staff at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has urged state regulators to reject the pending merger between FirstEnergy Corp. and GPU Inc. on the grounds that the two companies have failed to back up claims that the merger will not harm ratepayers in the Garden State, among other things.

Staff at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has urged state regulators to reject the pending merger between FirstEnergy Corp. and GPU Inc. on the grounds that the two companies have failed to back up claims that the merger will not harm ratepayers in the Garden State, among other things.

Energy officials yesterday urged Congress to clear away the regulatory, legislative, tax and rate-related hurdles that are holding up construction of much-needed new power transmission and natural gas transportation facilities to serve the nation’s expanding energy appetite.

A number of top House Democrats, including Minority Leader Richard Gephardt (D-MO), recently urged Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham to initiate a rulemaking at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to re-impose cost of service prices for all wholesale power sales in California and the other 12 states in the Western Systems Coordinating Council, including full refunds back to October of last year.

U.S. Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) urged the New York PublicService Commission (PSC) last week to quickly approve thecompromise route for the 442-mile Millennium Pipeline, which hasbeen languishing in a regulatory quagmire since December 1997. TheFederal Energy Regulatory Commission issued a supplemental draftenvironmental impact statement last month approving the new routefor the project, which would bring 715 MMcf/d of gas to New YorkCity from connections with the Canadian pipeline grid under LakeErie.

Merrill Lynch urged investors in energy marketing stocks to “proceed with caution” during this period of “finger pointing” in California. “Outrageous claims and ignorance appear to be the themes of the day,” the Wall Street analysts said in a bulletin titled “Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and Leprechauns Do Exist – Just Ask California.”

“Let us [California] just do our thing and leave us alone withfederal legislation,” the state’s chief negotiator for powercontracts urged a House subcommittee yesterday.