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Atlanta-based Southern Co. upped its service agreements withGeneral Electric Co. to more than $1 billion yesterday aftersigning a multi-year service agreement with its GE Power Systemsunit for $575 million for its new combined-cycle power plants.

The Gas Industry Standards board (GISB) has offered up a planfor a combined natural gas and electric industry standards boardfor discussion among GISB’s own members and electric industryrepresentatives.

Texas Eastern Transmission (TETCO) has come up with a novel wayof solving its capacity turnback problem with a service providingfirm hourly flexibility, but customers, particularly New EnglandLDCs, aren’t buying it.

The Pennsylvania Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA) announced thatTitan Energy, which was purchased by AES Power Direct, LLC for $6million in cash at the end of July, will be returning an estimated$281,000 in uncashed deposit checks to approximately 6,300 of itsPennsylvania customers in the Columbia Gas and Peoples Natural Gasservice territories (see Daily GPI, July,26).

California’s three principal gas distributors are gearing up fora major customer education program this fall in the face ofincreased wholesale gas prices ranging from 35% to 50%. It hascaused the companies to dust off conservation and low-incomeassistance programs from previous years.

Canada’s National Energy Board has shaved about $2.2 million offof Maritimes & Northeast Pipeline’s requested cost of serviceand cut about $11.6 million out of the pipeline’s requested ratebase. The NEB also altered Maritimes’ plans regarding discounts.

Texaco Inc. has agreed to pay $43 million to settle charges byseveral whistleblowers that the firm underpaid royalties due oncrude oil drilled from federal and Indian leases, The U.S. JusticeDepartment said Wednesday. The settlement covers underpayments fromJanuary 1980 to through December 1998. Two former AtlanticRichfield Co. marketing managers brought the lawsuit in the U.S.District Court in Lufkin, TX, and will receive part of the Texacosettlement. The settlement agreement was signed by representativesof several Indian tribes, as well as the federal government. Thegovernment has reached similar settlements on royalty underpaymentswith Mobil, Occidental Petroleum, Chevron, BP Amoco, Conoco, DevonEnergy, Union Pacific Resources and Sunoco.

Northwest notified shippers of a Declared Stage I OverrunEntitlement Period (Overrun Entitlement) that began Thursday andwill continue through the Oct. 2 gas day or until further notice.The entitlement applies to delivery points north of Kemmerer (WY)Station and subjects a Receiving Party to penalties for overtakesmore than 3% greater than its confirmed nominations. Northwestnoted it has experienced continuous drafting throughout September,resulting in low Jackson Prairie storage levels and low systemlinepack. Additionally, the large unit at Soda Springs Stationimmediately north of Kemmerer went off-line Wednesday due tomechanical problems, reducing station capacity from 470,000 Dth/dto about 430,000 Dth/d. Repairs are expected to take three to fivedays. To avoid cutting primary gas at Soda Springs, Northwest mustrely on Jackson Prairie withdrawals, necessitating the entitlement.

A crash-and-burn Nymex session in both the natural gas and crudeoil pits depressed both September and October cash prices Thursday.Only western swing quotes managed to avoid declines that weregenerally around a dime or greater.