NGI The Weekly Gas Market Report

“Our charge was to go out on the attack and learn about operations ina deregulated setting. We were funded as a pilot and we operated that way.We did very little advertising. Our goal was not to become a rapid expansion-typecompany,” said Jean Redfield, president of DTE Edison America.

Canadians are being told — by American investors on the prowlfor pieces of the action — that the North American natural gasmarket is headed for a spell of very tight supplies and they standto be prime beneficiaries. The projection emerged as a consensus ata Calgary conference billed as the mightiest assembly of financialmuscle ever held in the Canadian gas capital.

LG&E Energy said it plans to reduce its 5,500-employeeworkforce by 250 positions (5%) over the next few months in aneffort to streamline and further integrate its two utilityoperations, Louisville Gas and Electric and Kentucky Utilities.Enhanced early retirement and severance programs will be offered tocompany employees to achieve the reduction. The company hopes toachieve these reductions through voluntary means and will useinvoluntary separation only as a last resort.

DTE Energy Technologies, an unregulated subsidiary of DTE EnergyCo., reached a distribution agreement with Waukesha, WI- basedGENERAC Power Systems, a manufacturer of prepackaged standby powersystems for homes and small businesses.

Amid a flurry of protests from existing storage customers, FERClast week accepted and suspended Natural Gas Pipeline Co. ofAmerica’s tariff proposal to provide a new storage service forpower generation customers, but it made it subject to refund,conditions and the outcome of a technical conference.

In the wake of spiraling heating oil prices, Commissioner CurtHebert Jr. last week challenged his FERC colleagues to follow inthe Clinton administration’s footsteps to help reduce theNortheast’s dependence on the higher-priced fuel. ATranscontinental Gas Pipe Line official made a similar pitch toremove regulatory roadblocks to new natural gas pipelineconstruction last week at a Senate hearing.

“The fact that Dynegy and Amoco are parties to this protest is not surprisingbecause both have a long-standing practice of raising affiliate abuse issuesevery time an opportunity presents itself. The mantra of affiliate abuseby these parties has become very tiresome,” the pipeline told FERC, addingits answer would prove them wrong.

The deal advances Houston-based Reliant’s strategy of owning generationin key U.S. regions where it can leverage its trading and marketing. Withthe Sithe PJM assets, Reliant will have total net domestic generating capacityof more than 23,000 MW operating in seven states.

Initial reaction to the idea of consolidating the majorWashington D.C.-based energy trade groups under one umbrella seemsto be running from cold to warm, with some outright opposed to itand others at least willing to discuss it.