A recommended decision by a California Public Utilities Commission administrative law judge would replace the controversial Residual Load Service (RLS) tariff on Southern California Gas mainlines with a cost-based peaking service (D.00-04-060).
NGI The Weekly Gas Market Report
Articles from NGI The Weekly Gas Market Report
IPAA Says Domestic Supply Struggle Should Continue
U.S. natural gas production and the nation’s vociferous demand could make it a little more dependent on imported gas if a recent long term forecast by a committee of the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) holds up. Natural gas demand is expected to increase to 30.7 Tcf by 2015, while U.S. production is only expected to get up to 24.8 Tcf over the same time period.
SPOT GAS MARKET Prices
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Prices Crash on Light Demand, High Storage
The complete lack of demand and flood of supply on the market late last week left many considering the possibility of a return to historical price levels, particularly in the Rockies where prices Friday dropped to near $1. The $5-$6 dollar crash in prices at the Southern California border into SoCalGas and the recent declines in western power prices were enough to prompt California Governor Gray Davis to declare the “war” on energy prices officially “won.”
NJ Regulators Urge GPU-FirstEnergy Merger Rejection
Staff at the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU) has urged state regulators to reject the pending merger between FirstEnergy Corp. and GPU Inc. on the grounds that the two companies have failed to back up claims that the merger will not harm ratepayers in the Garden State, among other things.
BP, Shell Discover WWII German Sub in Gulf
Who knows what you will find these days when developing a new pipeline route? BP and Shell Gas Transmission reported late last week that while surveying a route for the proposed Okeanos Gas Pipeline, the companies stumbled across the long-sought wreckage of the German World War II submarine U-166 at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico. The U-166 was reportedly the only submarine sunk in the Gulf during the war.
Customers Rank Ozark Gas As #1 North American Pipe
According to those who matter most — the customers — the top interstate pipeline in North America is Ozark Gas Transmission and the number one Canadian pipeline is Nova Gas Transmission, say the results of the fifth annual Mastio Natural Gas Pipeline Customer Satisfaction Study released last week. The study covered 48 interstate, 14 intrastate and 10 Canadian pipelines, with 90% of the North American transporters represented.
Action On Price Caps Looms Larger As Senate Changes Hands
As the balance of power shifted in the Senate last week from Republicans to Democrats, members from both sides of the aisle offered up plenty of hints that the contentious issue of reining in California’s runaway wholesale energy prices will be in play over the next couple of weeks. Democrats said they may take action on legislation that would direct FERC to set cost-based rates to ensure just and reasonable wholesale energy prices in the state, while Sen. Frank Murkowski (R-AK), the outgoing Senate Energy and Natural Resources chairman, indicated flexibility on the subject, but not if such open-mindedness means sacrificing additional generation in California.
GPU Bid For PA Electric Rate Cap Exception Stirs Controversy
A bid by GPU to raise rates by approximately $316 million in Pennsylvania is quickly turning into a larger debate over whether the utility should be allowed to avoid electricity rate caps already in place in the state. As the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission prepares to consider GPU’s rate increase request later this week, the plan has received criticism from a number of fronts, including PUC Commissioner Nora Mead Brownell and Pennsylvania’s consumer advocate.
CA Power Prices Dropping; Long-Term Contracts Increase
As gas prices plummeted more than $5/MMBtu last week at the Southern California border, conservation, cool temperatures and more long-term contracts pressured power prices lower in the state to the point where generators “are having to compete for first time in months to sell us energy,” Ray Hart, deputy director of the California Department of Water Resources (DWR) said last Thursday.