NGI All News Access

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.

Stacey L. Gerard has been named associate administrator for theDepartment of Transportation’s Office of Pipeline Safety (OPS). Shepreviously was director of the Office of Policy, Regulations andTraining in the OPS.

KeySpan filed an application with the New York State PublicService Commission to expand the generating capacity of itsRavenswood power plant in Long Island City by 250 MW. Whencompleted in 2003, the expanded power plant, which will beprimarily fueled by natural gas, will be the cleanest and mostefficient generating station in New York City. Today, Ravenswood isthe city’s largest power plant with a capacity of 2,168 MW, or 28%of the electric generation located in New York City. “New York Cityhas a critical need for electric power,” said Chairman Robert B.Catell. “An expanded Ravenswood power plant would help ensure thatthe city has adequate capacity to meet the ever-increasing demandfor electricity.” This year, New York City is 300 MW short ofmeeting its reliability requirement for in-city electric-generationcapacity, and the city’s demand for electricity continues to growat the rate of 150 MW per year, the company said.

Sonat reported being notified Tuesday morning that beginningtoday, Ocean Energy will be performing maintenance that requiresshut-in of the Main Pass 153 receipt point until further notice.Sonat declared a force majeure and said it will not schedule anynominations at the point during the outage.

Most of the East was flat to slightly higher Tuesday, although afew points registered gains of more than a nickel. But westernprices softened by as much as a dime despite a continuation ofpower shortages in California.

Following the lead of both the over-the-counter and cashmarkets, natural gas futures erupted higher yesterday morning astraders covered shorts on the outside possibility that a tropicalstorm might develop in the Gulf of Mexico. The September contractwas the biggest mover, posting an impressive 21.3-cent gain tofinish at $3.987.

The August aftermarket began Monday with prices down a dime ormore from the last day of July in most cases, except for slightgains at a few western points. In comparison to where they expectedAugust indexes to be, several sources said swing gas for today wasflat in general but slightly lower at some eastern points.

It was only fitting yesterday that the futures market groundlower amid lack of strong fundamentals. After all, Monday was theconclusion of just the second July in the last 100 years in whichNew York City did not reach 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Even WashingtonD.C., which is known for its mostly intolerable summer heat andhumidity was limited to just one day of 90-plus mercury during themonth.

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