Electric Power news briefs, October 5

AES Empresa Electrica de El Salvador Ltda. de CV, a subsidiary of AES Corp., has completed the previously reported purchase of Reliant Energy Inc.'s interest in El Salvador Energy Holdings, Reliant reported. Reliant Energy's Latin American subsidiary acquired an interest in the El Salvador companies, Compania de Alumbrado Electrico de San Salvador SA de CV (CAESS), Empresa Electrica de Oriente SA de CV (EEO), and Distribuidora Electrica de Usulutan SA de CV (DEUSEM), in 1998 for about $150 million. Terms of the sale were not disclosed.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI) said it intends to contribute about $300 million of assets to Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, including Kinder Morgan Texas Pipeline Inc., a 2,600-mile natural gas pipeline system that extends from south Texas to Houston along the Texas Gulf Coast. Other assets include the Casper and Douglas natural gas gathering and processing systems, KMI's 50% interest in Coyote Gas Treating LLC, and KMI's 25 percent interest in Thunder Creek Gas Services LLC. KMI will receive approximately $300 million, 50% in cash and 50% in KMP partnership units. The transaction will permit KMI to cut its debt by about $150 million, KMI Chairman Rich Kinder said.

NSTAR, Boston, reported it will offer $200 million principal amount of its notes, due Feb.15, 2010, bearing interest at 8.0%/year. These notes will be offered to the public at 99.549% of par to yield 8.067% when held to maturity. The closing of the sale of the notes is expected to occur Oct. 6. These notes form a single series and are fungible with NSTAR's 8% notes due Feb. 15, 2010 which were issued in February 2000 in the amount of $300 million, the compay reported. Net proceeds from the sale will be used to repay outstanding short-term debt balances.

Renewable energy producer Boralex Inc. reported it successfully completed a $33 million issue in conjunction with an underwriting syndicate lead by Newcrest Capital Inc., Toronto. This issue is for 6 million special warrants at a price of $5.50 (Can.) each of which 2,000,000 special warrants will be satisfied by the sale of 2 million shares of the corporation held by Cascades Inc. Boralex owns and operates 13 generating stations with installed capacity of !74 Mw.

SEB, Rumilly, France, an electrical household appliance company, has awarded Endesa Energia SA, a unit of Spain's Endesa SA, a 3-year contract to supply about 50 Gw-hr/year of electricity to SEB, Endesa reported. SEB sells its products in Spain under the Tefal and Rowenta brand names. Endesa said this is the first supply contract to an eligible customer in France, the last European country to adopt into law the European Union directive 96/92 that regulates the electricity market. In June, the French Regulatory Commission set up a minimum annual consumption limit of 16 Gw-hr to choose a electricity supplier.

Mitsubishi Corp. and Commerce One Inc. reported an agreement to establish an e-marketplace that will target Japanese gas, chemical, and utilities industries. The companies said the busines-to-business market is expected to generate transactions worth billions of dollars in the coming years. Commerce One will be the technology provider for Mitsubishi's e-marketplace solution. The Mitsubishi MarketSite will provide businesses with real-time buying and selling capabilities, they said.

Gasco SA, Trigas SA, and Compania de Petroleos de Chile SA have completed the purchase of TransCanada PipeLines Ltd. 10% interest in Metrogas SA for about $70 million, TransCanada reported. The three are existing shareholders of Metrogas, which distributes natural gas to residential, commercial, and industrial customers in Santiago, Chile.

Essential.com Inc. said small businesses and consumers can purchase propane pas products and services via the internet and a relationship formed with AmeriGas Partners LP, a 58%-owned affiliate of UGI Corp. According to the US Department of Energy, 96% of propane gas consumed in the 47 states is serviced by AmeriGas Partners, one of the nation's largest retail propane marketers Small businesses and households who sign up for services can save $25 on any new propane appliance purchased from AmeriGas, and customers can choose from a variety of payment options, according to Essential.com

NUI Corp., Bedminster, NJ, reported an agreement to transfer the operations of NUI Valley Cities Gas/Waverly Gas (VCW) to C&T Enterprises Inc. (C&T) and under which C&T will assume the assets of VCW's distribution operations. Under the agreement, C&T, a wholly owned, for-profit subsidiary of Tri-County Rural Electric Cooperative and Claverack Rural Electric Cooperative, will pay $15 million for the assets and customers of VCW. C&T has also agreed to pay an additional $3 million if certain revenue targets are achieved, NUI said. Simultaneously, the parties have entered into a letter of intent for NUI to provide certain management and support services, including gas supply management and gas control dispatching, engineering, billing, and telecommunication services to C&T. The transaction is subject to New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania regulatory approval.

Dominion Generation, a unit of Dominion Resources Inc. has awarded Environmental Elements Corp. a 3-year contract with a 2-year renewal option under which EEC will provide engineering services and maintenance solutions to the 16 electrostatic precipitators installed in Dominion's seven coal-fired power plants in Virginia and West Virginia, EEC reported. Services will be provided on an as needed basis. Electrostatic precipitators remove fly ash generated in the coal combustion process. EEC said it is expects to begin work immediately.