Daily GPI

California regulators are expected to begin taking a much closerlook next week at proposals to curb market power in the state’s gasindustry, and their decisions could rapidly accelerate convergenceof the gas and electric industries. Included among the proposals isa plan to force the state’s major utilities to divest gastransmission and storage assets and form an independent gastransmission system operator, replicating part of what was done inthe state’s power industry. California natural gas industryrestructuring proceedings are scheduled to move into overdriveduring four day-long hearings starting April 6 in San Francisco.

In upholding the rolled-in rate settlement of PG&E GasTransmission Northwest Corp., the Federal Energy RegulatoryCommission ruled last week that replacement shippers who receivedpermanent releases of older, pre-expansion capacity were similarlysituated to the system’s expansion shippers and, therefore, shouldbe charged similar rates.

Despite the growing interest by foreign markets and potentialinvestors in the proposed LNG portion of the Trans-Alaska GasSystem (TAGS), the May 22 deadline set by FERC for start-up of theconstruction of the export project will not be met, says thesponsor of the proposed facility. Yukon Pacific Co. L.P. has askedthe Commission to extend the deadline, which was set back in 1995,until May 2001, saying that a refusal by FERC would be a “serioussetback” and might cause it to abandon the LNG project altogether.

Subject to certain conditions and a pending a technicalconference, FERC has approved a plan (RP98-140-000) allowingTennessee Gas Pipeline to reserve unused pipeline capacity, sellingit under short-term contracts, up to one year if the capacity canbe used to support a proposed expansion project. The tariff changewas made effective by the Commission on March 25

Transcontinental Gas Pipe Line has not proven its case forrolled-in rates for a series of expansions of its Leidy Line andits southern system dating back to 1984, according to anadministrative law judge who found there wouldbe “substantial”cost shifting.

Tengasco, Inc. of Knoxville, TN, completed its $10 million,28-mile pipeline in Eastern Tennessee. The pipeline originates atthe company’s Swan Creek Natural Gas Field into Rogersville, TN.Hawkins County Utilities District has connected Swan Creek to itsdistribution network. Three small tie-ins and testing of facilitiesremain before Tengasco furnishes gas to East Tennessee bymid-April.

Most cash trading points were down 2-5 cents Thursday, bowing tothe mild temperatures prevalent east of the Rockies and to thescreen’s retreat of nearly 3 cents. Declines at several pointsmatched the amounts by which they had risen on Wednesday. Thesmallest drops tended to be in the West

The April Nymex contract slipped 2.7 cents to $2.338 onThursday, as traders continue to limit trading to small rangesahead of the expiration of the April contract at 3:10 EST latertoday. April remains several cents above $2.30 despite Henry Hubcash prices that are currently a nickel cheaper

California regulators have approved the $6.6 billion merger ofPacific Enterprises and Enova Corp., allowing the formation of acompany that will serve 21 million gas and electric consumers inSouthern California. But the merger partners did not get all theyrequested. The CPUC ruled merger savings of $174.9 million must bereturned to ratepayers and savings of $161.5 million returned toshareholders over the five years following completion of the mergerrather than over 10 years