General Interest 2001 P

12/28/2001 -- TXU and PUC staff proposes $1.3 billion settlement for stranded cost issue
TXU Electric and the staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas agreed that TXU could collect $1.3 billion for so-called stranded costs or costs incurred under regulation considered uncompetitive once the market opens in January 2002
12/28/2001 -- Market watch: US energy prices soften Thursday prior to rebound
US energy futures prices softened Thursday but bumped up in after-hours electronic trading with a production quota cut by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and a bullish report on domestic inventories.
12/27/2001 -- Indiana utility seeks return of merchant plants to regulation
PSI Energy petitioned state regulators to bring two merchant peaking plants into rate base and under regulation.
12/27/2001 -- Delta Petroleum to acquire privately held Piper Petroleum
Delta Petroleum Corp., Denver, agreed to buy Piper Petroleum Co., a privately owned oil and gas company based in Fort Worth, Tex. Delta will issue stock to Piper shareholders and pay off $1.2 million in Piper debt.
12/26/2001 -- No need to panic about energy merchant credit, S&P says
Standard & Poor's said even though bond values suggest a credit collapse of the energy merchant sector, the agency has not reached that conclusion and is holding current company ratings steady.
12/26/2001 -- Market watch: Energy futures prices improved prior to holiday
Energy futures prices got a boost in international markets prior to the Christmas holidays. The February contact for benchmark US light, sweet crudes bumped up 34¢ to $19.62/bbl Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
12/26/2001 -- New England ISO forecasts record winter demand
The grid operator of New England forecast that demand for electricity will reach an all time winter season high of 21,500 Mw at peak sometime this season. But the ISO New England said there is sufficient installed capacity to meet the region's energy needs.
12/26/2001 -- Alert fatigue
The White House wants to develop a national system that ranks the severity of a terrorism threat, US Homeland Security Director Tom Ridge told Reuters in a Dec. 14 interview. That's comforting to energy trade associations that represent their members' interests in Washington, DC.
12/26/2001 -- Oil markets teetering on brink of oil price spike or collapse in 2002
Part 1 of 2: The oil industry at the outset of 2002 stands poised on a dual precipice: an oil price spike or collapse. Either or both could happen in the coming year.
12/21/2001 -- Exelon to buy two power plants from TXU for $443 million
A unit of Exelon Corp. said it agreed to buy two Texas power plants with combined generating capacity of 2,334 Mw from TXU Corp. for $443 million. Included in the purchase are the 893 Mw Mountain Creek steam electric station in Dallas and the 1,441-Mw Handley Steam electric station in Fort Worth.
12/21/2001 -- Wisconsin Energy lowers 2001 outlook on mild weather
Citing mild fall and winter weather, Wisconsin Energy Corp. Friday lowered its 2001 earnings forecast to $1.90-$2/share. The previous earnings forecast was $2-$2.10. The Milwaukee, based holding company said warm temperatures have hurt the heating revenues of its regulated natural gas and electric businesses. The company reaffirmed its 2002 earnings projection of $2.20-$2.40/share.
12/21/2001 -- Conoco and Holly settle alleged clean air refinery violations
The US Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency Thursday announced settlements with refiners Conoco Inc. and Holly Corp. over alleged federal clean air violations. Under the action, the refiners also reached agreements with 4 states.
12/20/2001 -- Fitch puts five energy firms on credit watch negative
In a new blow to the beleaguered energy industry, credit rating agency Fitch IBCA Thursday put five energy -related companies, including AES Corp., UtiliCorp United Inc., Teco Energy Inc., Mirant Corp., and Xcel Energy Inc., on credit watch negative. A spokesman for Minneapolis-based Xcel Energy said the action came as a 'surprise.'
12/20/2001 -- Mirant lays out plan to boost liquidity, restore Moody's credit rating
A credit downgrade to junk bond status by Moody's Investors Service helped accelerate a sell off in the stock of independent power producer Mirant Corp. Thursday, despite the overnight plan to boost the company's balance sheet. At midafternoon the stock was down $2.46/share to $13.61 on volume of more than 25 million shares. Average volume is about 3 million shares.
12/20/2001 -- FERC gives Cove Point LNG terminal green light to reopen
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday affirmed an earlier decision to allow the Cove Point, Md., liquefied natural gas terminal to reopen next year. Williams Cos. Inc. had received FERC approval in October to restart the terminal in May 2002 and expand storage capacity to 7.8 bcf from 5 bcf.
12/20/2001 -- Market watch: Futures prices rise on OPEC quota cut anticipation
Futures prices for oil and refined products continued to climb Wednesday on the possibility that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries may proceed with its proposed 1.5 million b/d reduction of production quotas in January.
12/20/2001 -- FERC gives green light to Cove Point LNG terminal
The US Federal Energy Regulatory Commission Wednesday affirmed an earlier decision to allow the Cove Point, Md., liquefied natural gas terminal to reopen next year. Williams Cos. Inc. had received FERC approval in October to restart the terminal in May 2002 and expand storage capacity to 7.8 bcf from 5 bcf.
12/19/2001 -- FERC finds Exelon didn't manipulate market
Federal regulators Wednesday terminated an investigation into alleged market manipulation by Exelon Corp. and its utility unit Peco Energy Co. and trading affiliates in the Northeast in 1999. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it found no proof the company and its affiliates improperly shared information about unit outages in the PJM Interconnection LLC.
12/19/2001 -- FERC gives Midwest ISO the go-ahead as single RTO
In five key orders Wednesday, federal regulators moved to create a single regional transmission organization in the Midwest. The orders approved the Midwest Independent System Operator as the first official RTO in the country, but denied the same status to the Alliance RTO, finding that Alliance lacked sufficient scope to exist as a stand-alone RTO.
12/19/2001 -- GE foresees turbine order slowdown in 2003
Electric turbine orders could decline a 'little' next year, said General Electric Co. CEO Jeff Immelt, but he said earnings from the Power Systems division still are expected to grow 20% in 2002. However, the economic slowdown and weak power prices could begin to have an effect on future orders.

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General Interest 2001 P