PNM Resources Inc., Albuquerque, NM, said it terminated the proposed acquisition of Western Resources Inc., Topeka, Kan. The November 2000 agreement called for PNM to acquire Western's electric utility operations in Kansas in a stock transaction initially valued at more than $4 billion. The agreement provided for termination of the deal if the parties had not made satisfactory progress toward completing the transaction by Dec. 31, 2001, PNM said. Both parties have filed suits in New York state court.
PJM Interconnection LLC submitted a preliminary request to be considered as independent system administrator (ISA) of SeTrans -- a proposed Southeast RTO. The SeTrans Owners Group has proposed the development of a RTO to provide system operations, market administration, and regional system planning for nine utilities and public power companies operating in eight southeastern and Gulf states. I
The Idaho Public Utilities Commission opened an investigation into the reasonableness of a buy-back letter agreement between Idaho Power Co. and Astaris LLC. Under a March agreement, Idaho Power pays Astaris $159/Mw-hr for electricity the company doesn't use. Since then, market prices have declined to less than $50/Mw-hr. The commission said Idaho Power is incurring substantial costs and because these costs may be passed on to ratepayers, it is essential to speed up its investigation.
A unit of Williams Cos. Inc., Tulsa, Okla., completed the addition of a third cryogenic gas processing unit at its Echo Springs natural gas plant near Wamsutter, Wyo. The project boosts processing capacity to 390 MMcfd from 250 million MMcfd and liquids extraction to 28,000 bpd from 18,000 bpd. Total cost for the entire upgrade at the Echo Springs complex was $45 million.
Reliant Energy Choctaw County LLC, a unit of Reliant Resources Inc., Houston, has selected Kansas City, Mo.'s Black & Veatch Corp. and H.B. Zachry Co., San Antonio, Tex., to design, engineer, and build the 800 Mw gas-fired plant in Choctaw County, Miss. Commercial operation for the plant is scheduled for June 2003.
Duke Energy International's subsidiary Grupo Generador de Guatemala y Cia SCA has begun construction of a $150 million, 165 Mw power project in San Jose, Guatemala. The project is scheduled for completion by November. The new plant will initially use heavy fuel oil and is capable of using advanced emulsified fuel. Duke Energy International is a unit of Duke Energy Corp., Charlotte, NC.
The Andersons Inc., Maumee, Ohio, and FirstEnergy Solutions Corp., a unit of FirstEnergy Corp., Akron, Ohio, have signed a multiyear agreement for various energy services. FirstEnergy Solutions will help Andersons secure electricity and natural gas for facilities in Ohio, Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Alabama, and Pennsylvania.