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

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

###### August 30, 2004

**Electricity**

**Over 178,500 knocked out of Power in Carolinas by Gaston\
**Gaston came ashore Sunday in South Carolina with 70 mph sustained
wind, flooding streets and littering them with tree limbs, and toppling
utility poles in Charleston. At least 172,000 customers were without
power at the height of the storm Sunday in South Carolina. Some 82,000
customers remained without power Monday morning, most in and around
Charleston. About 35,000 were still out of power by Monday afternoon.
More than 6,500 customers were without also without power Monday in
North Carolina.
<http://www.cnn.com/2004/WEATHER/08/29/weather.tropical.ap/index.html>
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040830/utilities_scana_outages_3.html>\
[www.scana.com](http://www.scana.com/)

**Entergy's Arkansas 2 Nuke Ramping up after Outage**\
Entergy Corp.'s 858 megawatt Arkansas 2 nuclear unit in Arkansas was at
28 percent power early Monday as it increased output following a planned
outage, a plant spokesman said. The unit, in Russellville, Arkansas, was
taken off-line on Sunday morning to repair a cooling water strainer.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040830/utilities_entergy_arkansas_2.html>

**Dukes S.C. Catawba 1 Nuke Back at Full Power**\
Duke Energy Corp.'s 1,129 megawatt Catawba 1 nuclear unit in South
Carolina was back at full power early Monday, up from 40 percent of
capacity early Friday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in
its power reactor status report. The unit, in Lake Wylie, South
Carolina, was reduced to repair a feedwater heater relief valve, the
company said previously.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040830/utilities_duke_catawba_1.html>

**Storms Cause Outages in Michigan\
**Thunderstorms caused fires in Benzie County and power outages from
Manistee to Northport. Around 10,000 to 12,000 Cherryland Electric
Cooperative customers lost power early Friday, mostly within 10 miles of
the Lake Michigan shore from Manistee County to Leelanau County, a
company spokesman said.   All but five customers had power restored by
Friday afternoon, the spokesman said. Cherryland Electric has around
33,000 customers.\
<http://www.record-eagle.com/2004/aug/28storm.htm>

     

**Turkey Point 4 Nuclear-Power Plant at Full Power, Company Says\
**Florida Power & Light's 693 Megawatt Turkey Point 4 nuclear unit was
back up to 100% power, up from 80% from the previous report. The plant
reduced power over the weekend to clean turbine cooler water heat
exchangers.\
Bloomberg News, 1435 August 30, 2004

**New Mexico Starts Planning for Solar Plant\
**New Mexico plans to develop a solar plant to help the state contribute
to a regional goal set recently by the Western Governors Association of
building 1,000 MW of solar power generation. A solar energy task force
has been established by Gov. Bill Richardson to develop a commercial
scale solar project by the end of 2004. The department has budgeted up
to \$190,000 to award a consulting contract to find the best combination
of technology, financing and operating arrangement for a solar plant.
The study will also look at increasing state tax incentives to help make
solar power more competitive with electricity from fossil- fuel plants.
Solar power producers can presently receive a 1 cent/ kWh state tax
incentive. The state wants a solar project capable of generating at
least 50 MW.
<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=5084309>

**Nebraska Regulator OKs Up To 60 MW Wind Power For NPPD**

The Nebraska Power Review Board granted utility Nebraska Public Power
District approval Thursday to build up to 60 megawatts of wind-
generated power in the state, NPPD said in a press release.
<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=5084191>

**Petroleum**

**US Refinery Maintenance Seen Light This Fall-Experts**\
U.S. oil refiners aren't expected to slow down their fuel production
much for repair work this autumn, as last winters equipment upgrades and
current healthy profits leave them in good shape to keep pumping, energy
experts said on Monday. Continued strong production rates, now zipping
along near 96 percent of capacity, could help stave off perennial fears
of a winter heating oil supply crunch and keep a lid on U.S. prices when
the cold hits. This fall, planned maintenance shutdowns are expected to
cut less than five percent of the nations 16.9 million barrel per day
(bpd) refining capacity, with the outages seen heaviest in September and
October, according to a Reuters survey of oil companies and market
players. Last winter's refinery maintenance helped push down processing
rates close to 14 million bpd, about 17 percent below capacity,
according to government
figures.<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040830/energy_refinery_maintenance_2.html>

**Nymex Gasoline Falls on Ample Fuel, End of U.S. Driving Season\
**Gasoline futures plunged to a two-month low as ample fuel supplies in
the U.S. overshadowed concern that violence will disrupt oil shipments
from Iraq.\
Bloomberg News, 1535 August 30, 2004

**Oil Hits Lowest Prices Since July 26**\
U.S. oil prices hit their lowest in more than a month on Monday on
continued profit-taking as producer group OPEC sought to increase its
tight spare capacity and the U.S. summer driving season approached its
end. U.S. light crude settled down 90 cents to \$42.28 a barrel after
falling to \$41.30 a barrel midday, the lowest level since July 26. Oil
has dropped more than \$7 from the record highs near \$50 a barrel
earlier in the month as hedge funds, responsible for part of the recent
price surge, take profits.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/040830/markets_oil_6.html>

**Venezuela May Reopen Mothballed Refinery in Bahamas**

Petroleos de Venezuela SA, the state oil company, may reactivate its
mothballed refinery in the

Bahamas, taking advantage of strong demand for refined products, a
minister from the island country said.

Bloomberg News, 1242 August 30, 2004

**Oil Pipeline Attacks Hinder Iraq\'s Rebuilding, Allawi Tells CNN**

Attacks by terrorists on pipelines in Iraq are hindering the country\'s
reconstruction following the

U.S.-led invasion to oust dictator Saddam Hussein, Prime Minister Ayad
Allawi told Cable News Network in an interview.

Bloomberg News, 1408 August 30, 2004

**Oil Prices Tumble, Iraq Exports Continue After Pipeline Blast**

Crude oil futures in New York fell for the sixth session in seven amid
reports that exports from

Iraq, the Middle East\'s fifth-largest oil producer, was unaffected
after an explosion damaged a pipeline.

Bloomberg News, 1330 August 30, 2004

**OPEC Aims to Add 1 Million bpd of Capacity by End-2004**

OPEC is doing all it can to stabilize the world oil market and will
increase spare output capacity by about one million barrels per day
(bpd) in the next few months, the president of the producer group said
on Monday. In a written statement Purnomo handed to reporters, he said
the group continued to hold spare production capacity of one million to
1.5 million bpd, which would allow for an immediate increase in
production. In addition, plans for additional capacity expansions are
available and could be enacted soon. However, this capacity would,
typically, become available around 18 months after commencement of this
process,\" the statement said.

Reuters, 0253 August 30, 2004

**Ohio Law to Ease Restrictions on Oil, Natural Gas Drilling**

With the price of crude oil climbing near record highs, oil companies
are working overtime to find new places to drill for black gold. Soon,
they will have an easier time setting up drilling equipment on fields,
farms and even upscale neighborhoods across Ohio.
<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/gas/news_article.cfm?id=5081357>

# Natural Gas

**Texas Reports Record-High Gas Well Completions**\
The Texas Railroad Commission reported this week that a record-high 830
natural gas wells were completed during July, breaking the previous
all-time high set in March of this year. The numbers are the highest on
record in more than 30 years. Natural Gas Intelligence, August 27, 2004.
[http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZjomloty%5BUokt%3EEvbfej%5B%21](http://powermarketers.netcontentinc.net/newsreader.asp?ppa=8kowu%5DZjomloty%5BUokt>Evbfej%5B!)

**[High Crude Prices Alter LNG, Fuel-Switching Dynamics in
US](http://www.energyintel.com/DocumentDetail.asp?document_id=129174)\
**Soaring crude oil prices are starting to play more than just a
technical role in supporting US natural gas markets: Liquefied natural
gas (LNG) cargoes are being diverted to regions with more favorable
oil-based pricing terms, while gas prices have fallen to the point that
markets could begin picking up demand lost to competing residual fuel
(resid) for power generation.

Natural Gas Week, August 30, 2004

**Florida Gas Transmission Issues Overage Alert Day**

The alert was issued at 20 percent tolerance due to rising temperatures
in the state.\
Reuters, 1407 August 30, 2004

**U.S. Henry Hub Gas Still at 9 Month Low, Other Pipes Rise**

Benchmark Henry Hub natural gas remained at its lowest level since
December 2003 amid continued healthy nuclear generation and rising
inventories despite higher prices at most other price points due to some
early week heat, traders said.\
Reuters, 1407 August 30, 2004

**Other**

Nothing to report.

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (8        | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /30/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 | 42.32     | 46.00     | 31.76      |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               | 5.05      | 5.34      | 4.86       |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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