Week

FERC Chairman James Hoecker announced last week that aCommission staff team has been formed to closely monitordevelopments in the electric market in an attempt to identify earlyand possibly prevent price aberrations similar to those thatoccurred in the Midwest last summer.

FERC last week put off making a final decision on the merger ofTopeka, KS-based Western Resources Inc. and Kansas City Power &ampLight (KCP&ampL), citing potential competitive concerns. It set theproposed combination of the Midwest electric utilities for anevidentiary hearing on issues involving market power and customerprotection.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) shuffled its executive organization last week, yet its hunt for a new president continues. The NGSA said it still does not have a timeline for an appointment to the presidency post, but it hopes to get the job filled quickly. Sources indicated, however, the search may take longer than initially anticipated.

El Paso Field Services entered the energy project financingarena with last week’s purchase of En Cap Investment Co. for $52million in cash and stock. Robert Phillips, El Paso Field Services’president, said all regulatory issues have been settled and thedeal will be accretive to El Paso’s earnings beginning April 1.

Commonwealth Edison (ComEd) parent Unicom received about $1.76billion over book value last week in the largest divestiture yet ofa utility’s fossil-fueled power plants. Edison International’sindependent power subsidiary is buying 9,772 MW of ComEd’s coal-and gas-fired baseload and peaking plants for $5 billion.

The nation’s largest gas distributor, Southern California Gas,last week signaled a possible future change in the way itscustomers access intrastate transmission during oral arguments atthe CPUC on future changes in California’s gas industry. Inaddition, for the first time, a number of the 19 major participantsin the state’s gas restructuring proceeding suggested a settlementprocess might be adopted to resolve some controversial issues.

The Senate unanimously passed two economic relief measures forindependent oil and gas producers last week. The bad news, however,is that the initiatives are part of a supplemental spending billthat President Clinton has threatened to veto because theexpenditures – mostly for foreign aid efforts – would cut intospending for domestic programs that he supports.

National Fuel Gas used a hearing in the Pennsylvania senate last week to voice its opposition to the state’s gas deregulation bill. It is the only LDC to oppose the bill so far.

BP Amoco and the Williams Cos. announced last week they have reached a partial settlement with the Southern Ute Indian Tribe, while leaving the key issues of their dispute to be determined in an upcoming Supreme Court case. The settlement released Williams and BP Amoco from all claims included in the Southern Utes’ lawsuit against them but did not address key ownership issues.