A stable of some of the leading energy companies have partneredup to form TradeSpark, an electronic marketplace powered bydeveloper eSpeed Inc., that will offer natural gas, electricity,coal, weather derivatives and emissions credits through theInternet, private enterprise or via voice brokers beginning Oct. 2.

Several energy company trading subsidiaries, including TXUEnergy Trading, Shell affiliate Coral Energy, Dominion ResourcesInc., Koch Energy Trading Inc. and Williams Energy Marketing andTrading Co., along with Cantor Fitzgerald, a voice brokerage,announced the agreement yesterday. Dynegy Inc. and Entergy Corp.said they would also become partners when the marketplace beginsoperations in October.

In the past 12 months, TradeSpark’s new and future partnersestimate they have traded approximately 34.5 Bcf/d and 467 MW ofelectricity. In the second quarter of 2000, the partners and Dynegyand Entergy estimate that together they’ve traded about 20% of allgas and power in North America.

The announcement comes three months after eSpeed, Dynegy andWilliams Energy Services, a unit of Williams, agreed to developelectronic marketplaces. As part of that deal, Dynegy and Williamseach purchased a $25 million equity stake in eSpeed (see Daily GPI, April 28).

TradeSpark spokesman Harry Fry said that the venture will”revolutionize” energy trading. “The TradeSpark partnership isinclusive and draws on the experience of all participants to bringspeed, neutrality, efficiency and technological leadership” to themarket.

eSpeed, headquartered in New York City, uses a networkdistribution system to provide market information and instant tradeexecution. Its systems currently trade $150 billion a day intransactions, using about 12% of the system’s capacity. It nowsells U.S. Treasury securities, municipals and other debt productsthrough a propriety electronic trading platform.

“If it can be traded, it can be traded on eSpeed,” said HowardLutnick, eSpeed’s CEO. “If there isn’t a market for it, then we’lldevelop the marketplace for it. The possibilities are endless.” Hesaid that TradeSpark would launch eSpeed’s technology “intomassive, non-financial marketplaces.”

“Joining this exchange accelerates TXU’s commitment to step upits presence in the energy trading industry,” said V.J. Horgan,president of TXU Energy Trading. “It’s critical for key industryplayers to accelerate an electronic exchange because efficiency isvital to expanding the market.”

Bill Hobbs, president of Williams Energy Marketing and Trading,said that his company’s role in TradeSpark “confirms Williams’commitment to maximize the efficiency that e-business represents tothe energy industry.”

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