Went

Aquila Inc. shareholders went on a roller coaster ride last week as ILA share prices plummeted $8, or 36%, from the $22.25 close on April 26 to last Tuesday’s low of $14.26 and then rebounded back above $17 on waves of bad and then good news. Moody’s Investor Service posted an outlook negative on the company’s credit April 26, putting Aquila in danger of falling below investment grade. After reaffirming its commitment to maintain an investment grade credit rating, Aquila announced it would buy Cogentrix Energy Inc., a large independent power producer with 3,496 MW of diverse power generation assets, for $1.5 billion, including debt assumption. The purchase, which was viewed favorably by Wall Street, overshadowed a negative earnings report the company released the following day.

In a clear rebuke to FERC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday ruled the Commission went too far in an order that restricted certain rights of electric utilities involved in an independent system operator (ISO), and violated the Mobile Sierra doctrine in unilaterally requiring reformation of pre-existing wholesale power contracts.

Trailblazer Pipeline, expanded and 100% owned by Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, went back into service Tuesday carrying KMP’s expectations of significant growth in its natural gas pipelines business segment with the increased capacity to carry gas out of the fast-growing Rockies supply area.

From a mixed performance the day before, the cash market went to a virtually united show of strength Tuesday. A large majority of the upticks were in double digits, but some — mostly in the Gulf Coast — were less than a dime.

Salt Lake City-based Questar Corp. went out to bid earlier this month on four new compressors to complete its conversion work on the east-of-California portion of its 705-mile Southern Trails Pipeline from the San Juan Basin to the Long Beach port area of Southern California. The portion of the converted oil pipeline between the California border and the Four Corners Area in New Mexico will open June 1 next year, a Questar spokesman said.

Salt Lake City-based Questar Corp. went out to bid earlier this month on four new compressors to complete its conversion work on the east-of-California portion of its 705-mile Southern Trails Pipeline from the San Juan Basin to the Long Beach port area of Southern California. The portion of the converted oil pipeline between the California border and the Four Corners Area in New Mexico will open June 1 next year, a Questar spokesman said Monday.

Prices went another few cents higher for no apparent reason yesterday. Most of Thursday’s advances ranged from a couple of cents to about a dime, but Malin, intra-Alberta and several Rockies/Pacific Northwest points tended to see larger upticks.

California’s lower house in the state legislature, the Assembly, went on recess last week like its state senate counterparts and failed to come back to vote on a utility bailout bill, although some discussion among the legislative leaders and various stakeholders did take place. As a result, the state lawmakers are unlikely to act on anything before the Aug. 15 deadline set in the deal between the state and Southern California Edison Co.

The market went into the long Good Friday/Easter weekend Thursday with the anticipated softness associated with generally mild weather and the typical demand slump of a holiday period. Activity and volatility were noticeably quieter than usual, several traders said.