![](media/image1.jpeg){width="8.5in" height="3.5027777777777778in"}U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

**December 28, 2004**

**Highlights / Major Developments**

# Thousands Still Without Power Across County

While a number of Licking County residents have regained power, 41,599
American Electric Power customers were still without electricity this
morning. Current outage figures from the Energy Cooperative were not
available Tuesday morning, but the organization reported 3,100 customers
were without power as of Monday afternoon. In all, the storm knocked out
power to more than 55,000 AEP and Energy Cooperative customers in
Licking County at the height of the outages. Energy Cooperative
Spokesman Brad Byrd expected 90 percent of customers who had originally
lost power Thursday to be restored by midnight Wednesday. Some customers
of both companies experienced a second power loss Monday due to a
problem affecting a 69,000-volt transmission line near Utica.

According to Lisa Hooker, director of communications for South Central
Power Co., about 18,000 of the company\'s customers were without power
Monday afternoon. At the height of the outage Thursday, Hooker said,
about 54,000 of the 105,000 customers South Central Power serves were
without power. \"It is our hope the bulk of these 18,000 people will
have their service restored before (this) evening,\" Hooker said. \"In
the meantime, people will (gradually) continue to have their power come
back on.\" Hooker estimates about 1,000 South Central customers in
Lancaster are without power and about 6,200 customers in Canal
Winchester and Pickerington combined do not have electricity. The rest
of South Central Power\'s customers are in the Circleville and Hillsboro
areas. American Electric Power also has electric customers in Fairfield
County. According to company spokeswoman Vikki Michalski, 83,000 of
AEP\'s 1.4 million customers in Ohio were without electricity Monday
morning.

<http://www.lancastereaglegazette.com/news/stories/20041228/localnews/1796792.html>\
<http://www.newarkadvocate.com/news/stories/20041228/localnews/1797655.html>

**Electricity\
**

**Storm Knocks Out Power in Southern California**\
The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) reports that
storm-related power outages have knocked out power for approximately
13,500 customers throughout Los Angeles, from San Pedro to the San
Fernando Valley.
<http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/altavista/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20041228005211&newsLang=en>

**East Coast Storm Delays Flights and Knocks Out Power\
**Tens of thousands of customers were left without power and at least
three traffic deaths were blamed on the weather, one in Massachusetts
and two in North Carolina. The storm\'s combination of wind, freezing
rain and snow snapped tree limbs and power lines Sunday in the
Carolinas. About 2,100 customers were still without electricity Monday
in North Carolina, down from a peak of 14,000. More than 16,000 homes
and businesses were blacked out Sunday in South Carolina, but that
number was down to less than 5,000 Monday morning. Traffic resumed early
Monday on Interstate 95 in eastern North Carolina after hundreds of
travelers spent the night in hotel lobbies and shelters.\
<http://www.insidebayarea.com/news/ci_2499466>

**Storm Knocks out 36,000 Dominion Virginia Power Customers**\
<http://www.wboc.com/Global/story.asp?S=2739483>

# Powerful Pacific Storm Wallops California **Winds gusting more than 60 mph knocked out power to more than 80,000 customers in the Salinas area and briefly interrupted water service to about 30,000 residents on Monday. In the southern San Joaquin Valley, downed power lines left about 3,000 homes in Kern County without power Monday, Pacific Gas & Electric said.** **<http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2004/12/28/news/top_stories/13_42_1612_28_04.txt> <http://www.newsday.com/news/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-california-storm,0,6919744.story?coll=sns-ap-nationworld-headlines>**  Sempra Calif. Elk Hills Power Plant Back

California-based energy company Sempra Energy\'s 549-megawatt Elk Hills
natural gas-fired power station in California returned to service by
early Tuesday, the California Independent System Operator said in a
report. The station shut by late Monday.

Reuters 0722 December 28, 2004

# FirstEnergy Ohio Perry Nuke Up to 60 Percent Power

Ohio-based FirstEnergy Corp.\'s 1,320-megawatt Perry nuclear station in
Ohio ramped up to 60 percent of capacity by early Tuesday, the U.S.
Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power reactor status report.
On Monday, the unit was operating at 25 percent of capacity after
exiting an outage begun on Dec. 23 following a downshift of both
recirculation pumps from fast to slow speed.

Reuters 1037 December 28, 2004

# TXU Texas Monticello Power Unit Shut, Seen Back Soon

Dallas-based TXU Corp. shut the 565-megawatt unit 2 at its Monticello
coal-fired station in Texas on Dec. 27 to repair a boiler tube leak, the
energy company told Texas regulators in a report.

Reuters 0806 December 28, 2004

# Ontario Lennox 2 Power Unit Shut, Seen Back Soon

Ontario Power Generation\'s 535-megawatt unit 2 at the Lennox oil- and
natural gas-fired station in Ontario shut by early Tuesday for a
short-term planned outage, a company spokesman said. The unit was
available for service but not necessarily operating on Monday.

Reuters 0837 December 28, 2004

# Exelon PA Peach Bottom 2 Nuke Dips to 67 Percent Power

Chicago-based Exelon Corp.\'s 1,110-megawatt unit 2 at the Peach Bottom
nuclear station in Pennsylvania dipped to 67 percent of capacity by
early Tuesday for a rod pattern adjustment, a spokesman for the energy
company said.

Reuters 0940 December 28, 2004

# FPL St. Lucie 2 Nuke Back Soon

In Florida, FPL expects its St. Lucie 2 nuke to start to exit an outage
on Dec. 29. On Dec. 25, the company manually shut the unit due to an
overheating in the condensate pump motor. The company replaced the motor
and restarted the unit on Dec. 27. Later on Dec. 27, however, the
company had to shut the unit again after it reached 10 percent of
capacity due to a problem with a feedwater control system.\
Reuters 1414 December 28, 2004

# Calpine's 281 MW Gas-fired Delta Unit in CA Shutdown Dec 28 Reuters 1422 December 28, 2004 

**SCE's 200 MW Coal-fired Mohave Unit 2 in NV Shutdown Dec 28\
**Reuters 1422 December 28, 2004

**USBR's 202 MW Hydro-powered San Luis Unit in CA Shutdown Dec 28**

Reuters 1422 December 28, 2004

# FPL Fla. Turkey Point 4 Nuke Back at Full Power

Florida-based energy company FPL Group Inc.\'s 693-megawatt unit 4 at
the Turkey Point nuclear station in Florida returned to full power by
early Tuesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in its power
reactor status report. On Monday, the unit was operating at 59 percent
of capacity after exiting an outage begun on Dec. 25 due to lowering
condenser vacuum.

Reuters 0719 December 28, 2004

**New Jersey Orders 15-month Moratorium on Offshore Wind Projects\
**New Jersey Acting Gov Richard Codey (Democrat) has ordered a 15-month
freeze on offshore wind projects while a panel studies the issue. An
Executive Order dated Dec 23 acknowledges that wind could help relieve
the state\'s reliance on fossil fuels and improve air quality, but notes
that the \"marine and coastal environment is an important natural
resource \[and\]\...an important economic and recreational resource,\"
which must be protected. During the moratorium, the state will not
provide permits or funding for any projects. One company, Winergy, has
proposed a 350 MW project off New Jersey and Atlantic Renewable Energy
has mentioned an interest in building a windfarm, but there are no
operational projects..
[http://www.platts.com/Electric%20Power/News/4254676.xml?S=n](http://www.platts.com/Electric Power/News/4254676.xml?S=n)

**Petroleum**

# Shell Shuts Deer Park Unit

Royal Dutch/Shell's 334,000 b/d Deer Park, Texas, refinery shut its
olefins unit

Saturday, according to a report with the Texas Commission for
Environmental

Quality. A leak on the compression and treating part of the plant caused
the unit to shut.

Oil Daily, December 28, 2004

# Colonial Allocates Shipping 1st Cycle Mogas, Distillate

Colonial Pipeline on Tuesday announced allocations for shipping orders
on its first cycle of 2005 for its main gasoline and distillate lines
from Collins, Mississippi, to Greensboro, North Carolina, the company
said. It is the third straight 10-day cycle allocated for both
distillate and gasoline products. The distillate line has had shipping
limits since the 30th cycle, in late October. As with previous
allocations to shipping orders, demand to ship on the line outpaced
space on the lines, said Steve Baker, Colonial spokesman.

Reuters 1013 December 28, 2004

Briefs

### Cold Hits Texas Refineries Rare snow and freezing temperatures caused malfunctions at US Gulf Coast refineries in Texas over the long Christmas holiday weekend, according to reports filed on Monday with Texas environmental regulators.

Oil Daily, December 28, 2004

# Exxon Cuts Cat Cracker Feed at Beaumont, Texas Refinery

Exxon Mobil Corp. reduced the feed rate to the fluid catalytic converter
at its 363,100 barrel per day refinery in Beaumont, Texas, on Monday,
according to a company filing with state regulators. The company reduced
feed to the FCC because the refinery\'s High Pressure Carrier compressor
shut due to the unexpected shutdown of steam producing boilers at the
refinery\'s Power Plant 3.

Reuters 0854 December 28, 2004

**El Paso Reaches Settlement with Arizona on Energy Crisis Lawsuits**

El Paso Corp has reached a \$46.4-mil settlement with Arizona over the
state\'s pending litigation from the western energy crisis of 2000-2001,
the company said Monday. The settlement has received final approval from
the Maricopa County Superior Court, it added in a statement. As part of
the settlement, El Paso is required to invest \$43-mil in capital
projects designed to improve

interstate pipeline service in Arizona, and accelerate \$30-mil in
already-planned pipeline integrity expenditures.\
[http://www.platts.com/Electric%20Power/News/7626946.xml?S=n](http://www.platts.com/Electric Power/News/7626946.xml?S=n)

**Saudi Oil Reserves May Increase**

Saudi Arabia\'s oil reserves, the world\'s largest, could increase by
almost 77 percent to top 461 billion barrels in a few years, the
nation\'s oil minister said Sunday, December 26**.** \" There are big
chances

to increase the kingdom\'s producible oil reserves by 200 billion
barrels,\" Ali Naimi said in a

statement issued after he inaugurated new oil fields in eastern Saudi
Arabia. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp−dyn/articles/A28101−2004Dec
26.html

# Rosneft Target Yugansk\'s Oil Output May Drop 40% on Power Cut

OAO Yuganskneftegaz, which accounts for 11 percent of Russia\'s oil
production, may have to slash output because it faces power cuts after
accumulating debt for

electricity supplies from a Siberia-based utility.

Bloomberg News, 0519 December 28, 2004

# Natural Gas

**El Paso Plans \$76M in Spending As Part of Arizona Settlement Deal**\
El Paso Corp. will pay the state of Arizona \$3.4 million, invest
another \$43 million in capital improvement projects in the state and
accelerate \$30 million in already-planned pipeline integrity
expenditures as part of a settlement that received final approval from
the Maricopa County Superior Court on Monday. The settlement covers
pending litigation against the company from the western energy crisis in
2000 and 2001. Natural Gas Intelligence, December 27, 2004

[http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZkrsspjoYUmiw11rbfej%5B%21](http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZkrsspjoYUmiw11rbfej%5B!)

**FERC Clears Remaining Portion of Cheyenne Plains Pipeline for
Service**\
FERC on Thursday gave Cheyenne Plains Gas Pipeline Co., a subsidiary of
El Paso Corp., the green light to begin service on the \"remaining
portion\" of its 380-mile pipeline that transports natural gas from the
prolific Rocky Mountain region to markets in the Mid-continent and
Midwest.

Natural Gas Intelligence, December 27, 2004

[http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZkrsspjoYUmiw11rbfej%5B%21](http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZkrsspjoYUmiw11rbfej%5B!)

**Most Cold-Related Pipe Constraints Fading; Freeze-Offs Reported**\
With warming trends developing, several pipelines either had already
canceled holiday restrictions that had been in effect over the long
holiday weekend due to cold weather or were in the process of doing so.
However, a few constraints were still in place Monday. Wellhead
freeze-offs were reported in a couple of areas but did not affect
deliveries.

Natural Gas Intelligence, December 27, 2004

[http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZkrsspjoYUmiw11rbfej%5B%21](http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZkrsspjoYUmiw11rbfej%5B!)

Nothing to report

**Other News**

Nothing to report.

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (12       | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /28/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 41.78     | 45.76     | 32.99      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 6.27      | 6.83      | 5.50       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **Henry Hub**                 |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Million Btu                |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+

> Source: Reuters

**This Week in Petroleum** from the Energy Information Administration
(EIA)

[*http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp*](http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/twip/twip.asp)

Updated on Wednesdays

**Weekly Petroleum Status Report** from EIA**\
**[*http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/wpsr.html*](http://www.eia.doe.gov/oil_gas/petroleum/data_publications/weekly_petroleum_status_report/wpsr.html)

Updated after 1:00pm (Eastern Time) on Wednesdays

**Natural Gas Weekly Update** from EIA

[*http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp*](http://tonto.eia.doe.gov/oog/info/ngw/ngupdate.asp)

Updated after 2:00 pm (Eastern Time) on Thursdays