Widespread

The widespread blast of Arctic cold put a strain on natural gas and electricity distribution across the eastern third of the United States last week as consumers cranked up their heat to counteract single-digit temperatures in many locations. Utilities as far south as Florida, where temperatures dipped to the lowest level in more than a decade, warned consumers to take precautions and conserve energy as delivery systems were tested and old records were broken for gas and power sendout.

Despite widespread mild weather that argued for continued softness, most of the cash market managed to pull out of this week’s downhill slide Thursday and post remarkably consistent flat numbers. Only the Rockies, and to a lesser degree Northeast citygates and Columbia-Appalachia, recorded declines of more than a couple of pennies.

The cash market paid little heed Wednesday to a winter storm moving into the Southeast and bringing snow to areas that rarely ever see the white stuff. Instead, it concentrated on the futures declines of Monday and yesterday, and the increasing switch to using storage in lieu of buying new supplies, in sending prices down by double-digit amounts at nearly all points.

Prices acknowledged the falloff in weekend demand and widespread Chamber of Commerce-like weather by continuing to slump Friday, but late rebounds were strong enough to astound more than one trader. There wasn’t much consistency in the declines, which ranged from about a nickel or less at a few Gulf Coast, Midcontinent/Midwest and Pacific Northwest points to about 35 cents at OFO-plagued PG&E-related points.

As investors are being blitzed with reports of bleak economic news and widespread stock sell-offs on Wall Street, Raymond James & Associates Thursday offered an encouraging word to energy companies: energy stocks are “at or very near the bottom point.”

Building more greenfield natural gas pipelines to the Northeastis not the answer. In fact, widespread switching from distillateoil to natural gas will not shield the region’s energy customersfrom a repeat of the heating oil price shocks that they experiencedearlier this year. If anything, it could aggravate prices not onlyfor distillate oil but for gas, the Energy InformationAdministration (EIA) said in a report issued last Wednesday.

A winter storm sweeping through the South, along with freezingtemperatures expected to last through the weekend in much of theU.S. from the Rockies eastward, resulted in rising prices at nearlyall points Friday.

For those seeking to sell energy in a competitive environment,it’s a happy coincidence widespread consumer use of the Internethas come about at the same time deregulation of gas and powerunfolds. Several Internet sites have been established to simplifyshopping for consumers and reduce the cost to marketers of reachingsales prospects.

For those seeking to sell energy in a competitive environment,it’s a happy coincidence widespread consumer use of the Internethas come about at the same time deregulation of gas and powerunfolds. Several Internet sites have been established to simplifyshopping for consumers and reduce the cost to marketers of reachingsales prospects.