Years

Enron Corp. reported that Vice Chairman J. Clifford Baxter is resigning effective immediately. “Over the past 10 years, Cliff has made a tremendous contribution to Enron’s evolution, particularly as a member of the team that built Enron’s wholesale business,” said Jeff Skilling, Enron’s CEO. “His creativity, intelligence, sense of humor and straightforward manner have been assets to the company throughout his career. While we will miss him, we are happy that his primary reason for resigning is to spend additional time with his family, and we wish him the very best.” Baxter, who will continue working for the company as a consultant, joined Enron in 1991 and was chairman and CEO of Enron North America prior to being named chief strategy officer for Enron Corp. in June 2000 and vice chairman in October 2000.

After five years in the making, Alliance Pipeline officiallyopens for business today, adding 1.325 Bcf/d of new firmtransportation capacity from British Columbia and Alberta to theChicago gas market hub. The pipeline company held a grand openingceremony yesterday. “Our new, state-of-the-art pipeline systemprovides Western Canadian natural gas producers the opportunity toexpand their markets in both the Midwest United States and EasternCanada by offering them incremental transportation capacity througha real, competitive choice,” said CEO Norm Gish. “It will provideend-users in these market areas with a new supply conduit for thecleanest-burning hydrocarbon fuel. It will stimulate theexploration and producing sector in Western Canada resulting inenhanced business and employment opportunities in many communities.And, it will significantly contribute revenues to many governmentsdirectly in the form of taxes and indirectly in the form ofroyalties through increases in gas production.” COO Allan Edgeworthnoted that while the scale of the 2,300 mile system is significant,”it is only capable of transporting 10% of Alberta’s and BritishColumbia’s total gas production destined for export to eitherEastern Canada or the United States. The Alliance pipeline sponsorsinclude Coastal (14.4%), Enbridge (21.4%), Fort Chicago EnergyPartners LP (26.0%), Williams (14.6%) and Westcoast (23.6%).

The Nevada legislature this week is expected to pass a new comprehensive energy law that delays for at least two years state efforts to restructure the electricity industry and to provide assurances that the state’s two major power utilities can recover all of their future costs. The governor is expected to sign the bill (AB 369), effectively freezing any more deregulation efforts, including the utilities’ divestiture of nine power plants (see Daily GPI, April 9).

President Bush yesterday announced his intention to nominateVicky A. Bailey, who served as FERC Commissioner for seven years,to be assistant secretary of energy for international and domesticpolicy. She departed the Commission last February to becomepresident of PSI Energy Inc., Indiana’s largest electric utilityand a subsidiary of Cinergy Corp. Bailey, a Republican, was firstnominated to FERC by President Clinton in 1993 to serve a termthatexpired in 1996 and then was renominated for a five-year term. Sheleft the Commission before her full term was up. An Indiana native,Bailey served on the Indiana Utility Commission from 1986 to 1993.

Honeoye Storage is holding a open season for firm storage servicefor up to five years at its Ontario County, NY facility. Up to 1,471MDth is available, starting as early as April, with a maximuminjection rate of 20,000 Dth/d and a withdrawal rate of 12,500Dth/d. The open season runs through Feb. 16. The facility connectswith Tennessee Gas and New York State Electric & Gas. Customersmake their own transportation arrangements. Storage service firstbegan at Honeoye, just south of Rochester, NY, in 1975 and five of itsoriginal customers continue to receive 4,293 MDth of service. TheHoneoye facility is owned by affiliates of KeySpan Energy,Consolidated Edison of New York, and its three developers, DaveDonohue, Dick Norman and Jacek Makowski. Check www.honeoye-gas-storage.com or call Donohue at 617-536-0202.

Exxon Mobil Corp. said it will take “all legal steps” tochallenge a record $3.5 billion verdict announced last week by anAlabama jury, which found the oil company had defrauded the stateand underpaid royalties on natural gas well leases in state waters.The case centered on charges that the energy giant had underpaid upto $87.7 million in royalties on the Mobile Bay natural gas projectin the Gulf of Mexico.

While major pipeline capacity additions for the Californiamarket will take at least two years, Transwestern Pipelinecurrently is looking at modifications that could contribute about50 MMcf/d “as early as next fall,” according to Enron PipelineGroup President Stan Horton.

The lights will shine in the city of Columbus, OH, for at leastthe next five years if CMS Energy Corp. has anything to say aboutit. CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST) reported lastweek that it has been awarded a long term contract to providewholesale electricity and other energy services to the city’s13,000 residential and commercial customers.

The lights will shine in the city of Columbus, OH, for at leastthe next five years if CMS Energy Corp. has anything to say aboutit. CMS Marketing, Services and Trading (CMS-MST) reportedyesterday that it has been awarded a long term contract to providewholesale electricity and other energy services to the city’s13,000 residential and commercial customers.