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If the new route variation that Millennium Pipeline Co. L.P. hasproposed for its facilities in Westchester, NY, were a Broadwayshow, it probably would open and close on the same night, criticscontend.

The Williams Companies Inc. made clear its plans to be a seriouscontender in the Canadian midstream market with an announcementlast week that it has reached an agreement to buy most ofTransCanada PipeLines Ltd.’s remaining ownership interests innatural gas liquids (NGL) and extraction facilities and oneprocessing plant, as well as a one-third interest in a keyAlberta-to-U.S. gas liquids pipeline from Dow Chemical Co.

FERC has issued a preliminary determination (PD) for TennesseeGas Pipeline to replace and expand an existing lateral’s facilitiesto provide up to 130,000 Dth/d of firm transportation service to anew power generation facility planned in New Hampshire.

Florida-based FPL Group Inc., the largest power company in one of the fastest growing states, agreed last week to buy New Orleans-based Entergy Corp. for $13.9 billion in stock and assumed debt to form the largest utility in the United States. When the deal is done, the new company will serve 6.3 million customers and have a combined generating capacity of more than 48,000 MW.

As the western states generally, and California in particular,faced another blast of power-draining summer heat, Duke EnergyNorth America (DENA) last week proposed to California Gov. GrayDavis a combination of long- and short-term new generation and afive-year, fixed-price electricity option to buffer mass consumersfrom electric price volatility.

Although energy e-commerce is a burgeoning industry, there areonly a few electronic exchanges so far that can be used for servingaggregated retail energy customer loads, and even those that are upand running still may need to be customized, according to AvistaAdvantage, an Avista Corp. subsidiary.

The bullishness that had been a feature of the cash market sincemidweek slowed down considerably Friday. Most eastern points rangedfrom flat to about a nickel higher, while several Northeastcitygates joined the Rockies and Southern California border insmall declines.

In an effort to streamline its online trading process andstrengthen energy trading efficiency, HoustonStreet Exchange hasjoined the independent and not-for-profit Organizaton for theAdvancement of Structured Information Standards (OASIS). Theexchange says its decision to join marks the industry’s firstmaneuver to bring open standards to wholesale energy trading.

The speed at which energy companies embrace the Internet isexpected to accelerate for at least two more years, after whichcompanies that have aggressively invested in eBusiness will moveahead of competitors because of expanded revenue growthopportunities and reduced cost structures. At least that’s what anindustry survey by energy adviser Cap Gemini Ernst & Young U.S.LLC suggests.