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In response to the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities’ rulingthis week on rate increases for three utilities in the state,Public Service Electric and Gas Co. (PSE&G) releasedsuggestions for how its $1.6 million natural gas customers canconserve energy and manage bills.

Although price probably will be the most important factorinfluencing energy decisions after this winter, it is the otherthings, such as reliability and customer service, that so far havedetermined the winners and losers in the gas sales business,according to a new survey by RKS Research & Consulting.

Louis Dreyfus Natural Gas said yesterday it expects recordreserve additions this year and a rapid in crease in drillingduring the fourth quarter compared to the historical lull thatoccurs late in most years. Just in the last 45 days the company hasclosed five acquisitions, investing $35 million to purchase 45 Bcfof proved reserves.

Williams’ energy services business unit reported the closure of itspreviously announced acquisition of the natural gas liquids (NGL)portion of TransCanada’s midstream operations yesterday. The $540million deal was first announced on Aug. 3 (see Daily GPI, Aug. 4).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission yesterday handedload-serving entities (mostly electric utilities) that serve theNew York City power market a present — a targeted rebate of $3.75per kilowatt month.

FERC has rejected a complaint that called for the New YorkIndependent System Operator (NYISO) to change its market rules andsoftware by Aug. 1 to permit bidding by non-physical entities(power marketers) in the electric market there.

After agreeing to unload its electric subsidiary last week to OrionPower Holdings for about $200 million plus the assumption of debt,Columbia Energy Group announced that it has found a buyer for itselectric subsidiary’s interests in four power generation QualifyingFacilities (QF). The interests, which were excluded from the Oriondeal, will be sold to a partnership between Morristown, NJ,-basedDelta Power Co. and John Hancock Life Insurance for an undisclosedamount (see Daily GPI, Oct. 3).

FERC yesterday upheld its March decision on remand in which itdisclaimed jurisdiction over a four-mile, six-inch line of KNWattenberg Transmission LLC that serves two industrial customers inFort Morgan, CO. The Commission asserted jurisdiction over thelateral in a November 1997 ruling, but the U.S. Court of Appealsfor the Tenth Circuit remanded the decision two years later. LastMarch, FERC vacated its controversial decision upon acknowledgingthat the line met the qualifications for a Hinshaw exemption and,therefore, was subject to regulation by the Colorado PublicUtilities Commission.

Northwest is lifting today the Stage III Declared EntitlementPeriod for the northern half of its system that went into effect lastFriday (see Daily GPI, Oct. 9). However,the pipeline gave warning of the potential for subsequent entitlement,which allows it to impose a new entitlement after the close of theconfirmation process for the coming gas day. In addition, Northwestsaid effective today it will be necessary to limit the Kemmerer (WY)and possibly the Meacham (OR) and/or Green River (WY) Stations toprimary nominations only in order to make space for Northwest to moveClay Basin storage gas to the Jackson Prairie storage facility. Thepipeline explained the situation this way: “Throughout SeptemberNorthwest experienced continuous customer drafting. To compound theproblem, the price difference between Canadian and Rockies gassupplies has been significant, causing Kemmerer throughput to remainat or above capacity. The price difference threatens to continueindefinitely. If the drafting and unprecedented use of maximumKemmerer capacity persists, depleting Jackson Prairie and making ClayBasin unavailable for use in Northwest’s market areas, customersshould be advised that Northwest must continue to use the toolsavailable to maintain system integrity, including entitlement,alternate gas allocation and operational flow orders.”