Usual

While some of the usual suspects who are attempting to re-open or summarily close down energy markets have re-submitted bills, a wide variety of proposed new energy laws were dumped in the California Legislature’s hopper as the deadline for submitting bills passed at midnight last Tuesday. What has emerged, even has one energy industry veteran in the state capital scratching his head trying to determine what might gain some traction this legislative session.

As traders had predicted based on Thursday’s below-expectations storage report, the accompanying March futures drop of nearly 19 cents and the usual extra loss of industrial load over a long holiday weekend, the entire cash market was united in softer prices Friday.

In the next 60 days, Calpine Corp. will leave its usual role as a major turbine purchaser to become a partner with GE Energy on a complex beta test of GE’s newest, most efficient combined-cycle turbine system for making electricity, according to Calpine Senior Vice President Bob Fishman.

Absent the usual pomp, President Bush on Friday signed into law a $136 billion corporate tax cut bill that provides a host of tax incentives and credits for natural gas, electricity, renewable energy and other fuels.

Absent the usual pomp, President Bush on Friday signed into law a $136 billion corporate tax cut bill that provides a host of tax incentives and credits for natural gas, electricity, renewable energy and other fuels.

Absent the usual pomp, President Bush on Friday signed into law a $136 billion corporate tax cut bill that provides a host of tax incentives and credits for natural gas, electricity, renewable energy and other fuels.

To no one’s surprise, swing prices for the last day of June kept falling Tuesday. The usual suspects were at work: overall mild weather with daily highs unable to struggle higher than the 80s virtually everywhere outside the desert Southwest and Florida, and energy futures weakness the day before that remained in force Tuesday.

On its usual split 3-2 vote, the California Public Utilities Commission Tuesday approved $7.4 million in general rate increases for Las Vegas, NV-based Southwest Gas Corp. for its natural gas distribution utility customers in the remote foothill and desert regions in the eastern side of the state. The action authorized $3.8 million for Southwest’s Northern California customers and $3.6 million in the southern half of the state.

On its usual split 3-2 vote, the California Public Utilities Commission Tuesday approved $7.4 million in general rate increases for Las Vegas, NV-based Southwest Gas Corp. for its natural gas distribution utility customers in the remote foothill and desert regions in the eastern side of the state. The action authorized $3.8 million for Southwest’s Northern California customers and $3.6 million in the southern half of the state.