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

**Office of Electricity and\
Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

**April 5, 2005**

**Electricity\
**

**Amtrak Power Outage Delays Trains**

A power outage on an electrified rail near Union Station in Washington,
DC today delayed train service on Amtrak's Penn Line and northeast
corridor serving Boston, Philadelphia and New York. Most trains were
delayed 30 to 45 minutes while some trains were cancelled. Electricity
was restored and normal train service resumed by early afternoon.

Washington Post,
<http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A27861-2005Apr5.html>

**Failed Circuit Breaker Causes Power Outage, CA**

A PG&E circuit breaker in San Francisco failed over the weekend and
caused a power outage that affected over 22,000 customers. The outage
occurred Saturday night and lasted approximately five hours.

NBC11.com, <http://www.nbc11.com/news/4324570/detail.html>

**TXU's 560MW Big Brown 2 Coal Fired Unit to Shut For Repairs**

The unit will be shut to replace a boiler feed pump element.

Reuters 1353, April 5, 2005

**Canadian Govt Has No Plan to Deal with Major Blackout\
**In her latest report to Parliament, Sheila Fraser, Canada's Auditor
General says that Canada has no plans to deal with a major blackout like
the one that hit the eastern United State and Ontario, Canada two years
ago. She also felt Canada was ill-prepared to deal with terrorism.\
<http://www.cbc.ca/story/canada/national/2005/04/05/fraser-security050405.html?ref=rss>

**Petroleum**

**BP Accident Raises Questions for Old Refineries**

The recent explosion at a BP oil refinery that caused 25 deaths has put
new focus on the reliability and safety of aging US refineries. Analysts
note that a breakdown of any refinery under current market conditions
could send prices soaring. The last refinery in the US was built in
1976.

Energy Intelligence, Oil Daily, April 5, 2005

**Amuay Refinery Restart Begins**

One of four crude processing units at Venezuela's Amuay Refinery was
restarted and the plant is expected to operating normally by the end of
the week. The refinery normally runs at about 450,000 barrels per day.

Newsobserver.com,
<http://newsobserver.com/24hour/business/story/2282517p-10471683c.html>

**Houston Ship Channel Traffic Suspended After Tugboat Overturns**

Traffic through the Houston Shipping Channel remains closed today as
rescuers searched for a crewmember missing from an overturned tugboat. A
three mile section of the channel remains closed to continue the search.

Reuters 1244, April 5, 2005

**Natural Gas**

Nothing to report.

**Other News**

**FPL to Build Wind Farm in Texas**

The 220.5 MW Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center will include 147 1.5MW wind
turbines on 22,500 acres in Taylor County, TX. The project is expected
to be completed late this year.

Business Wire, <http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/050405/55566.html?.v=32>

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (04       | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /05/05)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 55.96     | 54.26     | 34.29      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 7.44      | 6.93      | 5.81       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **Henry Hub**                 |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Million Btu                |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+

> Source: Reuters
>
> \*\*\*Note: Beginning on Wednesday of last week (March 23), the
> Reuters spot price for WTI was much less than what other sources
> reported. Although it is clear that the price of crude dropped on
> Wednesday following the release by EIA of larger than expected
> petroleum stock numbers, other sources put the drop in the range of
> \$2.00 to \$5.25 whereas Reuters reported a price drop for WTI crude
> oil of about \$6.50. On March 29^th^ the price differential appears to
> have closed with respect to the spot prices by Reuters and Bloomberg
> (\$54.26 and \$54.30 respectively).

**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

**ENSEC threat awareness blog site** from Energy Assurance

[*http://ensec.blogspot.com*](http://ensec.blogspot.com/)