Laclede Gas, a unit of LaCledge Group Inc., said consumer bills will be 35% lower this winter than last, based on normal weather. Laclede said has been able to fill its own storage capacity in preparation for the winter at prices that are one-third lower than last year. Laclede Gas, the largest natural gas distribution company in Missouri, serves 633,000 customers in St. Louis and surrounding counties in eastern Missouri.
Adair International Oil & Gas Inc., Houston, said its Adair Power LLC unit has a site development agreement with Calpine Corp., San Jose, Calif., to develop a 600 Mw power plant on a 41.5-acre parcel of tribal trust land in Riverside County, Calif. Electricity produced by the plant would be connected to transmission lines owned by the Imperial Irrigation District, the company said.
General Electric Co. reported receiving a $12 million grant from the US Department of Energy to support the development of technology for high-efficiency generators. GE has proposed a 3.5 year program to move high-temperature superconducting (HTS) technology toward full commercialization. The proposed program will include the production and testing of proof-of-concept model for the rotor, cryorefrigeration, and HTS subsystems.
China's Huaneng Power International Inc. said it received board approval to expand two 135 Mw generating units at the Huaneng Jining power plant. A preliminary feasibility study of the project has been completed, the company said. The project will use cycled fluidized bed combustion boilers.
Construction of the proposed $271 million, 31-mile Valley-Rainbow Interconnect transmission line project in southwest Riverside County remains critical to the state's future electric reliability, San Diego Gas & Electric Co. said in testimony with the California Public Utilities Commission. The Valley-Rainbow project would provide a third pathway, making SDG&E customers less vulnerable to outages or blackouts, it said.
The Ohio Power Siting Board approved construction of a new electric generation facility in Hamilton Township, Lawrence County, Ohio. Duke Energy Hanging Rock LLC, a unit of Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte, NC, was given approval to construct a 1,240 Mw natural gas combined-cycle generating facility. The plant will connect to the American Electric Power Co. Inc. 765 kv Hanging Rock substation.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said it is sending a team to Millstone Unit 1, Waterford, Conn., to evaluate the comprehensiveness of Northeast Utilites' investigation into the circumstances surrounding the loss of two nuclear fuel rods. The four-member team will spend about 2 weeks on site and also will evaluate the company's root cause analysis. The NRC team will issue an inspection report about 30 days of the completion of the inspection.
Hydro-Qu�c CapiTech Inc., a unit of Hydro-Quebec, Montreal, reported acquiring a $1 million interest worth in Solicore Inc., Lakeland, Fla. The US maker of rechargeable batteries has now completed a first round of financing for $ 3 million, the company reported.
Thermal Energy International Inc., Ottawa, Ont., said it has cut operating costs by 30% mainly through the lay-off of noncore personnel. In addition, the maker of air pollution control equipment said management and the core technology personnel teams have agreed to defer receipt of a 25% portion of salary, pending improved business growth.
TXU Corp., Dallas, Tex., said it intends to issue $750 million of securities consisting of two unsecured $25 notes automatically convertible into shares. The contract will specify two settlement dates and a range of prices related to the common stock purchase. TXU said it will use the net proceeds of the issuance to pay down debt and for general corporate purposes.
Japan's Sanix Inc. said its Sanix Energy Inc.will operate the Tomakomai power plant in Hokkaido, which will be powered by fuel created from recycled plastic waste. The plant is expected to begin operating in August 2002. The recycled plastic will be supplied by Sanix's11 plastic recycling plants.
