Wood

Customer concerns have put a planned wood-fueled biomass power plant on hold in Traverse City, MI, prompting Traverse City Light & Power (L&P) to put natural gas at the top of its list to replace an old coal-fired power plant. “We’ve listened to many of our ratepayers tell us they don’t know enough about biomass and some have suggested they are more comfortable with natural gas as a power generation resource, even though natural gas is not a renewable energy,” said L&P Chairman Mike Coco. L&P said its previous goal of achieving 30% of its power from renewable sources by 2020 may fall by the wayside if a gas-fueled option is selected for the replacement power supplies.

The story “Wood Mackenzie: Gas Price Pain, Then Gain” (see NGI, Nov. 23) quoted an incorrect price forecast from a Credit Suisse presentation slide. For 2009 the firm has cut its U.S. gas price forecast to $3.97 from $4.01.

FERC announced Tuesday that it is reorganizing the Office of Market Oversight and Investigations (OMOI), which was established by former Chairman Pat Wood in 2002, into the Office of Enforcement, with four divisions — enforcement, audits, financial regulation and energy market oversight.

The year 2005 saw a smooth change of the guard at FERC as Chairman Joseph Kelliher took over the reins from Pat Wood in mid-year, and was marked by significant policy changes and clarifications on the natural gas side, along with agency approval of several key liquefied natural gas (LNG), pipeline and storage projects.

While domestic supply concerns will make increased liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports necessary, David Morrison, chairman of Wood Mackenzie, said he doesn’t expect to see much of a change in domestic gas prices.

Objecting to FERC Chairman Pat Wood’s characterization of current natural gas price surveys as “primitive,” Platts, in an open letter to the chairman Tuesday, pointed out that its surveys “are systematic and consistent,” using highly sophisticated electronic price collection and processing.

Don’t count on a multitude of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals and a flood of LNG collapsing domestic gas prices, said James Trifon, Wood Mackenzie’s managing consultant for North America LNG. Most of the import terminals planned won’t make it, and the underlying tight domestic supply situation will continue to support the market, he said in a preview of a presentation to be given at GasMart on March 18 in New Orleans (see http://www.gasmart.com/).

Don’t count on a multitude of new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminals and a flood of LNG collapsing domestic gas prices, said James Trifon, Wood Mackenzie’s managing consultant for North America LNG. Most of the import terminals planned won’t make it, and the underlying tight domestic supply situation will continue to support the market, he said in a preview of a presentation to be given at GasMart on March 18 in New Orleans (see http://www.gasmart.com/).

FERC Chairman Pat Wood Friday announced the appointment of William J. Cowan as Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge at the Commission. Cowan will assist Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner, Jr. with the administrative and managerial duties of the Office of Administrative Law Judges and serve as head of the office in the absence of the chief judge. Cowan joined FERC as an Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) in early 1997 until June 2001. From July 1998 to August 2001, he served as Deputy Chief Administrative Law Judge. In late 2001 until July 2003, he served as an ALJ for the Department of Labor in Boston, Massachusetts before returning to the Commission as an ALJ in July 2003. Before that he completed 24 years of service with the New York Public Service Commission, where he was General Counsel and Chief ALJ. Cowan received his Juris Doctor degree from Northeastern University’s School of Law in Boston and his undergraduate degree in economics from the same institution.