USA: UPDATE 1-PG&E opens bids to add 1.2 bcf of natgas in Calif.
Reuters English News Service, 05/30/01

US FERC Plans Technical Conference On RTO 'Seams' Issue
Dow Jones Energy Service, 05/30/01

UK Wind Pwr Co Appeals Proj Rejection In Landmark Case
Dow Jones Energy Service, 05/30/01

India Govt Looks To Other States To Purchase Enron Power
Dow Jones International News, 05/30/01

Official: Enron plant stops producing power after power pact canceled
Associated Press Newswires, 05/30/01

INDIA: India says committed to resolve Enron dispute.
Reuters English News Service, 05/30/01



USA: UPDATE 1-PG&E opens bids to add 1.2 bcf of natgas in Calif.

05/30/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

SAN FRANCISCO, May 30 (Reuters) - Pacific Gas & Electric Co., in an effort to 
determine interest in expanding its California natural gas pipeline system, 
said it was accepting bids for up to 1.2 billion cubic feet a day (bcfd) of 
gas transport capacity. 
The move by the company, a subsidiary of San Francisco-based PG&E Corp. , 
responds to California's growing demand for natural gas to run new power 
plants.
Gas suppliers and big industrial customers participating in the bidding 
round, called an open season, have until July 31 to submit offers stating how 
much pipeline capacity they are willing to purchase and the price they are 
willing to pay. 
Based on the results of this round, PG&E will decide whether to proceed with 
the planned 1.2 bcf expansion - enough to run seven 1,000 megawatt gas-fired 
power plants - or modify it to accommodate an even bigger volume of gas. 
As it stands, PG&E's open season is offering firm capacity on its its 
Redwood, Baja, and Silverado pipelines. 
These lines transport gas from Malin, Oregon; Topock, Arizona, and California 
gas production to the company's local transmission system and other 
pipelines. 
PG&E's current intrastate pipeline system can transport more than 3 bcf of 
gas a day throughout Northern and Central California. 
Over the past year, utilization rates on many California pipelines have 
jumped from 75 percent to near full capacity, limiting deliveries into the 
state needed to drive gas-fired power plants. 
Demand for gas, which already accounts for more than a third of California's 
power generation, is expected to jump. 
Since April 1999, California has approved 14 major gas-fired projects with a 
combined generation capacity of more than 9,500 megawatts. Ten gas-fired 
plants, with a total generation capacity of more than 6,000 megawatts, are 
already under construction. 
Over the past three months plans to build or expand interstate lines carrying 
gas to California have been announced by Sempra Energy unit Southern 
California Gas Co., Enron unit Transwestern, Williams Cos' unit Kern River 
Transmission, El Paso Corp. units El Paso Natural Gas Co. and Mohave Pipeline 
Co., Questar Corp. , Calpine Corp. and Kinder Morgan .

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


US FERC Plans Technical Conference On RTO 'Seams' Issue

05/30/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will 
hold a technical conference in June or July on the coordination of wholesale 
power transactions among regional transmission organizations, or RTOs, FERC 
Chairman Curt Hebert announced Wednesday. 
FERC is in the midst of implementing a sweeping order that directs the 
utilities it regulates to turn over their transmission assets to independent 
control by RTOs, which are slated to begin operating at the end of this year.
The order aims to promote more liquid regional wholesale power markets by 
creating independent power-grid operators, removing the remaining ability of 
vertically integrated utilities to use control of transmission to competitive 
benefit in power markets. 
In December, competitive power suppliers and industrial consumers petitioned 
the commission to convene a technical conference on what was termed the 
"seams" issue involving wholesale power transactions from one 
RTO-administered grid area to another. 
Unless the "seams" issue is addressed, "RTOs could soon resemble huge speed 
bumps which could not just slow down, but do permanent harm to the vehicle of 
competition," the petitioners warned. 
Addressing the "seams" issue is "absolutely crucial to the RTO process," 
Hebert said Wednesday, expressing the hope that the conference can be 
scheduled before July and allow FERC to "figure out the right way to do it." 
The groups that petitioned for the technical conference welcomed the decision 
to hold the technical conference. 
"It's overdue, but we appreciate the fact that it's coming about," said John 
Hughes, technical director at the Electricity Consumers Resource Council. 
ELCON represents large industrial electricity users. 
"Looking at the seams issues and addressing the seams issues successfully 
will address an awful lot of problems we see in terms of balkanized, 
dysfunctional markets," Hughes said. 
ELCON was joined in the petition by Enron Power Marketing Inc. (ENE), Reliant 
Energy Power Generation (REI) and Dynegy Inc. (DYN), and the Electric Power 
Supply Association. 
EPSA, which represents competitive power producers and marketers, is 
"thrilled" that FERC will address the issue, said spokesman Mark Stultz. 
Addressing the seams issue is "critical with regard to allowing RTOs to 
function and to enhance the movement of electricity across the country," 
Stultz said. 
"If you're moving toward a national grid, as the administration has proposed 
in its national energy policy, you want to make sure you don't have 
disconnects at the seams of these RTOs," he said. 
"The more standardized the business practices for the grid the better," said 
Stultz. 
In March, the commission sought comment on whether to hold the technical 
conference. At the time, Commissioner William Massey welcomed the move, 
noting that the lack of standardized procedures could pose "an impediment to 
trade." 
Massey called for FERC to shepherd an industrywide effort to develop 
consistent standards for information and terminology regarding scheduling and 
reservation of transmission capacity among RTOs - including the development 
of "generic interface procedures." 
FERC spurred a similar standardization process in the natural gas industry, 
which resulted in creation of a Gas Industry Standards Board, or GISB. 
GISB produced uniform communications protocols for reserving pipeline 
capacity and standardized business practices, Massey noted, expressing the 
desire for the electric industry to do the same. By Bryan Lee, Dow Jones 
Newswires, 202-862-6647, bryan.lee@dowjones.com


Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


UK Wind Pwr Co Appeals Proj Rejection In Landmark Case
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

05/30/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Germana Canzi 
LONDON -(Dow Jones)- U.K. wind-power developer Ecogen Developments Ltd. said 
Wednesday it will challenge the legality of a government decision to reject 
its Humble Hill project after the Ministry of Defense said the turbines would 
interfere with surveillance radar.
The case could be an important precedent in determining the viability of a 
wave of offshore wind projects sponsored by companies such as Royal/Dutch 
Shell (RD), Enron Corp. (ENE), Powergen PLC (PWG) and TXU Corp (TXU). 
In April, the Crown Estates granted an option for the building of up to 13 
offshore power projects, which together could produce up to 1,500 megawatts 
of electricity to around one million households. 
The decision to halt the Humble Hill project took the wind power industry by 
surprise, given the strong support of wind energy by the U.K. government, 
which aims to achieve 10% of power generation from renewable sources by 2010. 
Also, in February, Energy Minister Peter Hain announced plans to cut red tape 
for wind-energy projects. The results of a consultation with the industry for 
the creation of a one-stop-shop to facilitate speedy approval of the new 
wind-farm projects is due within days. 
However, the Ministry of Defense said the objections brought against Humble 
Hill could apply potentially to other projects, including some of the 
offshore wind projects. 
"We will assess wind farms on a case-by-case basis," a Ministry of Defense 
spokesman told Dow Jones Newswires. 
In addition to wind farms located within reach of surveillance radars, 
projects within a Tactical Training Area, where aircraft can be flown at 100 
feet above ground level, may also face opposition from the Ministry of 
Defense. 
However, the Ministry said there was no "blanket ban" and that wind projects 
located close to a radar had been given the go-ahead in the past. 
Companies that may be affected by these developments include Scottish Power 
PLC (SPW), Royal/Dutch Shell and Elsam AS, which together plan to place up to 
90 wind turbines seven kilometers offshore Cleveleys in Lancashire. 
Although the Ministry of Defense hasn't raised formal objections so far, it 
has notified developers that the project is located within scope of a 
military radar, a Scottish Power spokesman said. 
"The news from the Ministry of Defense is quite disquieting," a spokeswoman 
for the British Wind Energy Association said. 
-By Germana Canzi, Dow Jones Newswires; 44-20-7842-9283; 
germana.canzi@dowjones.com

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


India Govt Looks To Other States To Purchase Enron Power

05/30/2001
Dow Jones International News
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

BOMBAY -(Dow Jones)- India's federal government said Wednesday that it is 
approaching other states besides Maharashtra to see if they can buy power 
from the Dabhol Power Co., an Enron Corp. (ENE) subsidiary, in a bid to 
overcome the long-standing power supply dispute between DPC and the local 
power utility. 
"The Minister of Power has issued directions to the Central Electricity 
Authority for discussions with states that are short of power, the quantity 
of power they can absorb, and the tariff at which the power can be sold to 
them," a statement from the federal Ministry of Power said.
The statement follows the second round of talks of a negotiating panel, made 
up of officials from the federal and state governments and the Maharashtra 
State Electricity Board, that met DPC executives Tuesday in a bid to resolve 
their differences. 
The government statement said both the DPC and the MSEB have agreed to look 
at the options available for reducing the cost of power. 
Power tariffs, deemed "unaffordable" by the state government, are at the core 
of this dispute. 
The $3 billion Dabhol power plant, located 335 kilometers south of Bombay, 
will have a capacity of 2,184 megawatts of power when the second phase is 
completed later this year. 
The federal government also said in its statement that it is "committed to 
make all possible efforts to resolve the issues concerning the project in 
consultation with all stakeholders." 
On Tuesday, the MSEB stopped buying power from the two-year-old Dabhol plant. 
This move came five days after the MSEB told DPC that it was canceling the 
1995 Power Purchasing Agreement between the two parties that sets electricity 
prices. 
MSEB officials said Wednesday that the Dabhol plant has stopped producing 
electricity. 
"We can surmise it (the plant) is closed, for Maharashtra state is the only 
purchaser of power," said a senior MSEB official. 
He added, "The (negotiation panel) meetings are going on and when it (the 
plant) will reopen will depend on this." 
The DPC maintains that it hasn't shut down its plant. "The plant continues to 
be operational as required by the Power Purchase Agreement," said a company 
statement. 
"We will continue to follow the PPA and meet our contractual obligations, 
enforcing our rights under contracts and taking various disputes to the 
resolution process," it added. 
-By Steve Percy, Dow Jones Newswires, 91 22 2884211; steve.percy@dowjones.com

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 





Official: Enron plant stops producing power after power pact canceled
By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM
Associated Press Writer

05/30/2001
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

BOMBAY, India (AP) - A power plant run by Houston-based Enron Corp. has 
stopped producing electricity in western India following a state utility's 
decision to stop buying power from the U.S. power giant, a state official 
said Wednesday. 
A top official from the Maharashtra State Electricity Board told The 
Associated Press on condition of anonymity that the plant is probably closed, 
since the state is the plant's only customer.
The official said the plant could begin generating electricity once talks 
between the government and Enron officials resolve a dispute over a 1995 
power purchasing agreement. 
The state board stopped buying power from the 2-year-old naphtha plant 
Tuesday, amid accusations of exorbitant prices charged by Dabhol Power 
Company, Enron's Indian unit. This came five days after the MSEB notified the 
company it was canceling an agreement to buy power. 
The western Indian state of Maharashtra would not suffer a power shortage 
following the state utility's decision to stop buying Dabhol electricity, the 
board official said. 
However, a Dabhol Power Company spokesman declined to comment on the status 
of the plant, located 210 miles south of Bombay. 
The company had earlier said the state-run utility had no legal right to 
cancel the purchase agreement. 
Federal and state officials are currently negotiating with the state utility 
and Enron officials about the power purchasing agreement.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 



INDIA: India says committed to resolve Enron dispute.

05/30/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

NEW DELHI, May 30 (Reuters) - Indian Power Minister Suresh Prabhu said on 
Wednesday the federal government was committed to help resolve the dispute 
between U.S. energy giant Enron Corp and a local utility over a $2.9-billion 
power plant. 
"The government of India remains committed to make all possible efforts to 
resolve the issues concerning the project in consultation with all 
stakeholders," a government statement quoted Prabhu as saying.
Enron and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) have been locked in 
a wrangle over payment for power purchased by the utility. 
Earlier on Wednesday, the chairman of MSEB, the sole buyer of Enron's Dabhol 
Power Co, said the utility had stopped purchasing power from Enron. MSEB 
officials said Dabhol had stopped producing power since noon on Tuesday. 
The statement said the government had asked officials to ask power-deficient 
states about their requirement of electricity and the cost they were willing 
to pay. (New Delhi Newsroom +91-11-3012024 Fax +91-11-3014043 
himangshu.watts@reuters.com).

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.