It’s been a quick five months since David Parker took over thehelm at the American Gas Association but he’s already shown awillingness to pick up the cost-cutting flag and run with it.Parker said yesterday in an interview with NGI he’s made acommitment to the AGA board to continue restructuring measures,including changes that will further cut costs and hold down dues.
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Articles from Without
CPUC Judge Recommends Approval of PE-Enova Merger
A California Public Utility Commission administrative law judgehas recommended approval of the proposed Pacific Enterprises-EnovaCorp. merger, citing potential savings of $288 million spread overfive years and divided equally between ratepayers and shareholders.
D.C. Businesses to Get Customer Choice
More than 250 commercial gas customers in the District ofColumbia will soon have the opportunity to choose a gas supplierother than Washington Gas. The District of Columbia Public ServiceCommission (PSC) approved the company’s request to offer choice inthe District to large commercial customers who use at least 60,000therms/year and who do not maintain an alternate to gas service.(60,000 therms is about 60 times what the average residentialheating customer uses annually.) Large interruptible customers whouse more than 250,000 therms annually have had supplier choicesince 1988.
Enron Financing Gas-to-Liquids Plant
Enron Capital & Trade Resources Corp. (ECT), SyntroleumCorp., and SLH Corp. contributed a total of $3 million to funddetailed engineering, land purchase and other development costs foran 8,000 barrel/d gas-to-liquids specialty product plant inSweetwater County, WY, to be developed by Syntroleum. Subject toconditions, ECT committed an additional $14.5 million for aminority interest in the plant.
Producers Seek Extension of Refund Deadline
A group of natural gas producers and marketers has asked FERC toextend until July 9th the deadline for producer payments of anestimated $500 million in customer refunds. The refunds, which aredue March 9th, are owed to customers who purchased gas produced inKansas during the 1980s at costs that, because they included thestate’s ad valorem tax, exceeded the level allowed under theNatural Gas Policy Act (NGPA).
Viking Voyageur Accuses ANR of Trying to Derail Project
Viking Voyageur Gas Transmission called on FERC to dismiss ANRPipeline’s latest attacks on its project, saying they were”thinly-veiled” efforts to prevent, or “at least delay for as longas possible,” construction of a pipeline project that would bringsorely-needed competition into ANR’s Wisconsin market area.Voyageur, which would import Canadian gas into several Midwestmarkets, “is a significant threat to ANR’s market dominance inWisconsin. As a result, ANR has made every possible effort tothwart the Commission’s pro-competitive policies by delayingVoyageur’s project,” the proposed pipeline said in comments at theCommission [CP98-65].
Enova-PE Merger Set to Cross Critical Junctur
An important juncture in the proposed $5 billion merger ofPacific Enterprises and Enova Corp. is expected this week when anadministrative law judge with the California Public UtilitiesCommission recommends a proposed decision to the five-memberregulatory body. The CPUC is then expected to act by the end ofMarch. No one is expecting the proposed decision or the ultimatefinal one by the state to turn down the marriage of the holdingcompanies for Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas andElectric Co., but it is unclear whether the conditions placed onthe deal will make it financially unattractive for one or both ofthe companies
CNG Wins Gas Management Dea
CNG Energy Services of Pittsburgh signed a three-year contractwith Ormet Corp., one the nation’s largest aluminum producers andsuppliers of aluminum products, to provide gas management servicefor eight Ormet facilities in the United States. The facilitiesconsume about 12 Bcf/year
Williams Unveils New Trading Floo
Williams opened the doors to its new 300-position,21,000-square-foot energy trading floor, which it says featurestechnology, design and amenities surpassing those of most companiesin the nation. The trading floor is part of a new236,000-square-foot resource center adjacent to the 50-floorWilliams Tower in Tulsa, OK, where Williams has its corporateheadquarters. “As the second most profitable energy marketer in thenation, we remain committed to our customers by providing ourtraders with the absolute best tools available to compete andsucceed,” said Jerry Gollnick, senior vice president of energymarketing and trading for Williams.
Judge Rules Against Producers in Royalty Cas
In a “Freddie Krueger-style” wipeout, a federal district courton Friday the 13th dealt a crippling blow to a major producergroup and two producers when it denied their motions dealing withroyalty treatment of take-or-pay settlement payments. U.S. DistrictCourt Judge Royce Lamberth upheld his earlier ruling that theIndependent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) lackedjurisdiction in a lawsuit challenging the Interior Department’scollection of royalties on lump-sum payments made by producers toget out of their gas contracts with pipelines. The IPAA lawsuit ledto a 1996 ruling by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor ofgas producers