Williams took a bigger jump into the energy marketing businessyesterday by announcing it has acquired full ownership ofEnergyVision by purchasing the 50% interest in the company that washeld by BEC Energy. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Prior to the deal, Williams and BEC Energy, parent of BostonEdison, owned the Burlington, MA-based marketer jointly.EnergyVision is now a wholly owned subsidiary of Williams, which isheadquartered in Tulsa, OK.

EnergyVision currently markets natural gas and energy servicesto small commercial and industrial customers throughout the NewEngland region. “For the time being” those two customer classeswill remain the company’s “target base,” a Williams spokeswomansaid. It has a total of about 700 customers and provides them with16,000 MMBtu/d of gas, said Tom Lawson, director of retail salesfor Williams.

He noted that EnergyVision is staying out of the power marketingbusiness for now, but will probably enter it in 1999-2000. “Theregulatory environmental is not quite right yet” on the electricside in New England, he told NGI. “The stranded-cost situationreally prevents the marketer from being able to compete in thatmarket.” EnergyVision also hopes to eventually get into theresidential gas market “when that becomes a viable option.”

Williams hopes the acquisition will position it to become aleading energy marketer. “Certainly, that’s our long-term goal tobecome a major player on the retail side,” Lawson said. Accordingto the company, a recent record-breaking agreement to provide andmarket power in the Los Angeles basin boosted it to the top tenpower marketing status nationwide. That agreement involved anotherWilliams’ subsidiary, not EnergyVision. Williams also noted that ithas established a retail marketing presence in the Mid-Atlanticregion.

A shift in BEC Energy’s corporate focus to energy delivery wasbehind its decision to sell its interest in EnergyVision toWilliams, said President and CEO Thomas J. May. “In 1998, we soldour oil- and gas-fired power plants and are now selling our nuclearplant. Since we will no longer be an energy producer, we decided toexit the energy marketing business which requires specializedtalent in managing commodity risks.”

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