York

New York State Electric and Gas’ indirect subsidiary XENERGYInc. has won a contract to provide gas and power supply procurementand management services for 3,000 state facilities of theCommonwealth of Massachusetts. The first phase of the three-phasecontract begins immediately, and is worth almost $500,000. Thecommonwealth spends $80 million/year on gas and electricity for allits facilities.

Central Maine Power Co. and New York State Electric & Gas(NYSEG), have received conditional authorization to develop a planto settle one of the last frontiers of gas distribution, Maine, butBangor Gas, a joint venture between Energy Pacific and BangorHydro, may beat them to it. CMP Natural, the joint venture betweenCMP and NYSEG, received preliminary approval from the Maine PublicUtility Commission (MPUC) to serve 60 Maine communities withnatural gas but the PUC staff still has to review the details ofits business plan application and issue a draft order. That hasbeen done already for the Bangor Gas project, a smaller projectthat would serve the greater Bangor area. Bangor Gas partner BangorHydro has some concerns of its own, however.

Volatility at the New York Mercantile Exchange has become so low the April contract was only able to trade within a narrow 3.5 centrange Tuesday, from $2.14-$2.175. The contract settled unchangedat $2.155.

For a change, fundamentals actually seemed to be behind pricemovements at the New York Mercantile Exchange on Monday. The spotApril contract gained 4.0 cents to $2.169 yesterday, as a blast ofwinter temperatures propelled cash market prices up 5-10 centsacross much of the country.

“Total Energy” may be an “unforgettable” brand name in this ageof energy convergence, as the small New York energy services firmTotal Energy Corp. claims, but would someone actually buy the nameand make it their own? Total Energy’s consultant R.J. RuddenAssociates thinks so, though Richard J. Rudden, president of thefirm, admits he’s never heard of a company buying another’s brandname. “I can’t say I’ve heard of that. But I know it’s nothing fora large national energy company to spend tens of millions ofdollars on brand imaging.”

Expiration week is supposed to be about extreme volatility atthe New York Mercantile Exchange, but the March natural gascontract exhibited anything but that on Monday. The spot monthinched 1.9 cents lower to $2.179 yesterday, amid a session bound bya tight 4-cent trading range