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Cinergy Corp. said yesterday it expects to take a $57 millionafter-tax charge ($0.36 per share) on July earnings because it hadto pay exorbitant prices in the wholesale market to maintaindeliveries during a period of peak demand in late July. The chargealso includes $16 million to settle damage claims related toCinergy’s defaults on several power marketing agreements.

The proposed merger of Dominion Resources Inc. (DRI) withConsolidated Natural Gas Co. (CNG) is making a lot of energy peoplein and around Virginia very nervous. So much so they have askedFERC to either reject the combination of the two companies outrightor place “stringent” conditions on the marriage.

Not even the best financial quarter since the fourth quarter of1997 could prevent BP Amoco from following through with itsjob-cutting plan as the company said it will cut 2,000 morepredominantly US jobs before the year is over. The integratedenergy giant has already slashed 12,500 jobs from the pay roll. Itwould not elaborate on which US jobs would be eliminated.

Houston Street Exchange said its web-based wholesale powertrading floor, HoustonStreet.com, experienced a successful firstmonth of operations as users bought and sold more than 270,000 MWh.It also said that more than 60% (70 out of 110) of the activewholesale power trading companies in the United States have eitherfully registered to trade power on HoustonStreet.com or are in theregistration process.

Conoco Global Power, Conoco’s power subsidiary, announced plansto build a $250 million, 420 MW cogeneration plant at Dupont’sSabine River Works facility near Orange, TX. Conoco also announceda 10-year tolling agreement with PG&E Energy Trading in whichthe San Francisco-based company will provide the 80-90 MMcf/d ofgas for the plant while gaining the right to dispatch up to 250 MWof the project’s output. The value of the tolling agreement was notdisclosed. Conoco will be the project manager during construction,then give way to Dupont, which will operate the facility when it isfinished. Commercial operations are scheduled to begin in 2001.”This is the largest agreement of this kind PG&E Energy Tradinghas in Texas. What’s more, this energy will be sold into theEntergy power grid, making it even more valuable,” said TonyChovanec, vice president of PG&E Energy Trading’s marketingoperations.

Dynegy announced that Stephen W. Bergstrom has been namedpresident and chief operating officer of Dynegy Inc. Bergstrom wasformerly president and chief operating officer of Dynegy Marketingand Trade and senior vice president of Dynegy Inc. He has served asa member of Dynegy’s board of directors since 1995.

A lightning strike Monday night at PG&E GasTransmission-Northwest’s Station 13 (Chemult, OR) caused ashortfall in receipts, but PG&E GT-NW said it worked with NOVAto correct respective linepacks under an Operational BalancingAgreement and thus did not expect any impact on Tuesday’s scheduledvolumes. However, it was unable to schedule any increased receiptsat Kingsgate or additional deliveries through Station 13 Tuesday.

Georgia Natural Gas Services (GNGS) has equaled or even may haveovertaken Scana as Georgia’s leading marketer in terms of pipelinecapacity share, a GNGS executive said on Monday. With 30% of thepipeline capacity, GNGS is in line to be assigned another 120,000customers when the Georgia Public Service Commission (GPSC)determines random assignment tomorrow.

The Natural Gas Supply Association (NGSA) wasted little time inpicking successors to fill positions that were left vacant by thesudden departures of two staff members.