Piedmont Natural Gas

Why hedging can make sense, even for companies covered by weather-normalized rates.

Weather risk management is growing, but utilities may be losing out.

A recent survey suggests that the number of transactions involving financial derivatives to hedge weather-related risks grew by 43 percent against the prior year for the twelve months ended March 31.¹ Yet regulated utilities continue to show reluctance to embrace weather derivatives.

Mergers & Acquisitions

NSP + New Century. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission OK'd the merger of Northern States Power Co. (NSP) and New Century Energies Inc. (NCE), to form Xcel Energy Inc., on condition that the new company would join the Midwest Independent System Operator. FERC Docket No. EC99-101- 000, Jan. 12, 2000, 90 FERC ¶61,020.

* Rate Pancaking. The FERC found no problem with transmission rate pancaking with the MISO condition, even though NCE subsidiary Southwestern Public Service Co. (SPS) belongs to the rival Southwest Power Pool.

Federal Agencies

NOX EMISSIONS. Generating heavy criticism from industry, on September 24 the Environmental Protection Agency released its long-awaited final rules on nitrogen oxide emissions, outlining a plan to reduce NOx by 28 percent by year 2007 in some 22 states and the District of Columbia, with state implementation plans due by September 1999 and controls in place by 2003, to be carried out through a "cap and trade" program to buy and sell NOx emissions credits.

CMS Energy Corp.'s energy marketing unit, CMS Marketing, Services and Trading, hired David B. Geyer as v.p., risk management. Geyer's responsibilities include hedging, arbitrage and trading. CMS Generation Co.'s contract with Thailand's AMATA-EGCO Power Ltd., prompted the promotion of W. David Carni from operations superintendent to operations and maintenance plant manager.

Walter J. Gilbert, Volunteer Energy Corp. v.p., will head the company's newly opened office. Gilbert's added duties include special projects relating to gas acquisition, gas purchasing and marketing.

While authorizing Nashville Gas Co. to increase rates by $4.417 million, the Tennessee Regulatory Authority has modified its existing policy on the treatment of advertising expenses in gas rate cases.

The authority abandoned a past policy limiting advertising recovery to 0.5 percent of the company's gross revenues. It also ordered a 50-50 sharing between ratepayers and shareholders. It granted, however, the LDC's request for full recovery of both payroll and nonpayroll "sales promotion" costs, rejecting allegations the costs should be treated as advertising expenses.

Sound bites from state and federal regulators. Gas Load Building. Finding no protest from electric utilities, North Carolina waives requirements for preliminary cost-benefit analysis and approves incentive programs for Piedmont Natural Gas Co. Inc., designed to boots gas load by installing commercial gas cooking equipment at community colleges for use in culinary degree programs. Commission tells company to conduct a cost-effectiveness analysis as soon as it can gather the necessary data from actual operating experience. Docket No. G-9, Sub 377, Jan. 31, 1997 (N.C.U.C.).

The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) has granted a final certificate to Frontier Utilities of North Carolina, Inc., to provide natural gas local distribution service to four previously unserved counties. It found Frontier's proposed rates reasonable when compared to alternate energy sources in the four-county area, though somewhat higher than those proposed by Piedmont Natural Gas Co., Inc., an established LDC that had also applied for the franchise.

Frontier is a new company formed specifically to serve the four counties.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) has adopted a new set of guidelines to help settle disputes between electric and gas utilities over utility-sponsored promotional programs. It also established a rule for evaluating proposed incentive programs, approving a new food-service rate program designed by Duke Power Co. to encourage the installation of electric food preparation equipment in commercial kitchens.

The North Carolina Utilities Commission (UC)has granted authority to Frontier Utilities of North Carolina, Inc., to construct and operate a new natural gas pipeline and distribution system to provide service to four counties in the state.