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

**Office of Energy Assurance**

**ENERGY ASSURANCE DAILY**

###### July 13, 2004

**Electricity**

**Tentative Labor Agreement Reached at Pilgrim Nuclear Station, Averting
a Strike** A union representing nearly 300 workers at the Pilgrim
Nuclear Station said Tuesday it had reached a tentative contract
agreement with the plant operator, averting the possibility of a strike
that could have led regulators to shut down the plant. Last week, the
union urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to shut down the plant in
the event of a strike. Entergy officials argued that the 32-year-old
plant could operate safely in the event of a strike. The Pilgrim Station
plant can produce 670 megawatts.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/040713/nuclear_labor_dispute_2.html>

**Petroleum**

**Valeros Corpus Christi, Texas refinery fixing leak**\
Tuesday July 13, 12:28 pm ET

NEW YORK, July 13 (Reuters) - Valero Energy Corp.
(NYSE:[VLO](http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=vlo) -
[News](http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=vlo)**;**
NYSE:[VLO](http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=vlo) -
[News](http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=vlo)) is fixing an \"effluent
line\" leak at its 148,000 barrels per day Corpus Christi, Texas
refinery, according to a filing with Texas regulators on Tuesday.

Cash oil products traders said there was a not a noticeable increase in
buying from the glitch.

Valero did not have an immediate comment about the leak.

The filing said the leak should be fixed by Thursday, but did not say
where in the plant the leak was found.
<http://biz.yahoo.com/rc/040713/energy_valero_2.html>

# 

# Natural Gas

**Kinder Morgan Begins Operating Two New Natural Gas Pipelines; Provides
Mid-Year Update on Expansion Projects**\
Tuesday July 13, 12:52 pm ET

HOUSTON, July 13 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ \-- Kinder Morgan Energy
Partners, L.P. (NYSE: [KMP](http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=kmp&d=t) -
[News](http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=kmp)) today announced that service
has begun on its \$30 million intrastate natural gas pipeline that runs
from Katy to Austin, Texas. The project involved converting a 130-mile
section of the pipeline that KMP acquired in December 2003 from crude
oil to natural gas service and constructing a 5-mile lateral to serve a
municipal power plant that is being expanded. The pipeline adds 170
million cubic feet per day of incremental natural gas capacity to the
growing Austin market and is supported by long- term contracts with
local utilities.

Additionally, Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:
[KMI](http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=kmi&d=t) -
[News](http://finance.yahoo.com/q/h?s=kmi)) completed and placed into
service a \$20 million, 58-mile natural gas pipeline to serve its retail
customers between Montrose and Ouray, Colo. The project will provide
many communities along the route with natural gas distribution service
for the first time. KMI\'s Retail business expects to add about 3,000
Western Slope customers via the new pipeline over the next five years to
its more than 240,000 customer base.

**Other**

**Energy Prices**

+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
|                               | **Latest  | **Week    | **Year     |
|                               | (7        | Ago**     | Ago**      |
|                               | /13/04)** |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **CRUDE OIL**                 |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **West Texas Intermediate     |           |           |            |
| US**                          |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| \$/Barrel                     |           |           |            |
+-------------------------------+-----------+-----------+------------+
| **NATURAL GAS**               |           |           |            |
|                               |           |           |            |
| **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

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| Electric utilities says lessons from 2003 Northeast blackout have   |   |
| been learned                                                        |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                     |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| *By Tatsha Robertson, The Boston Globe \-- July 12*                 |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                     |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| > From the control room of New York state\'s electrical grid,       |   |
| > dispatchers sitting in front of computer screens can for the      |   |
| > first time monitor the flow of current as far away as Florida and |   |
| > the Midwest. In Ohio, where the nation\'s worst blackout began    |   |
| > last August, officials have started sending out foot patrols in   |   |
| > search of untrimmed trees that could fall on power lines.         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > In New England, which was barely affected by the massive outage   |   |
| > that left 50 million people without electricity, power            |   |
| > dispatchers have begun collecting more-detailed information about |   |
| > what is happening with the grid beyond the region\'s borders,     |   |
| > rather than depending on other operators for alerts.              |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > As the summer heats up and power operators prepare for the        |   |
| > season\'s peak demand, efforts are intensifying across the        |   |
| > country to prevent another widespread blackout. Electricity grid  |   |
| > managers and utilities have been retraining control room          |   |
| > operators and overhauling computer monitoring systems. Poor       |   |
| > communication among regions, which left the Northeast in the dark |   |
| > about the impending blackout, has been rectified. In Ohio,        |   |
| > helicopters have been buzzing overhead to get a look at           |   |
| > transmission lines.                                               |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"We have set some aggressive goals to get a lot of this done     |   |
| > prior to the summer peak season, but many of these changes will   |   |
| > be ongoing,\" said Ellen Raines, spokeswoman for FirstEnergy      |   |
| > Corp., the northeastern Ohio utility that has taken most of the   |   |
| > blame for the outage last summer.                                 |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Electricity specialists in New England, New York, and the Midwest |   |
| > say they have enough power for the summer. More important, they   |   |
| > say they have spent the winter and recent months taking steps to  |   |
| > catch problems before they cascade across other parts of the      |   |
| > country. Many of the measures are in response to an investigation |   |
| > by a US-Canadian task force that examined what went wrong last    |   |
| > summer when eight states from Michigan to New York and parts of   |   |
| > Canada went dark.                                                 |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > While specialists say there is no guarantee that another major    |   |
| > blackout will not occur this year, many are optimistic that       |   |
| > enough improvements have been made to prevent an outage as large  |   |
| > as last summer\'s.                                                |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > This spring, the task force, made up of US Department of Energy   |   |
| > officials and their Canadian counterparts, released a report that |   |
| > faulted FirstEnergy and the Midwest Independent Transmission      |   |
| > System Operator, or MISO, which oversees a large swath of the     |   |
| > Midwest\'s power grid.                                            |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > The task force criticized the utility for shoddy tree-trimming,   |   |
| > which caused transmission lines in its territory to               |   |
| > short-circuit, and cited inadequate computer monitoring that led  |   |
| > to poor communication within the utility\'s control room and      |   |
| > inside MISO \-- allowing the outage to spread.                    |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Starting at 4:10 p.m. EDT on Aug. 14, power plants across the     |   |
| > Midwest and the East Coast began shutting down. The blackout      |   |
| > disrupted road traffic, subways, and commuter rail lines in New   |   |
| > York City, stranding thousands of people. Air traffic was         |   |
| > disrupted because there was no power to operate metal detectors   |   |
| > at security checkpoints. In New York alone, the blackout cost the |   |
| > city\'s economy \$1 billion. Nationally, losses were estimated as |   |
| > high as \$10 billion.                                             |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Despite optimism about improvements, some specialists said they   |   |
| > are not sure enough has been done to prevent another widespread   |   |
| > blackout.                                                         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"I am not entirely confident we can avoid last year,\" said      |   |
| > Gordon van Welie, president and CEO of New England\'s Independent |   |
| > System Operator. \"The issue becomes one of, are the              |   |
| > \[structural\] systems in place in the Midwest to prevent a       |   |
| > reoccurrence of last year and has the transmissions               |   |
| > infrastructure seen enough investment? Some of the \[structural\] |   |
| > core issues that came out of the DOE report are still a work in   |   |
| > progress.\"                                                       |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Van Welie called for uniform, mandatory national reliability      |   |
| > standards with penalties for noncompliance. Although US and       |   |
| > Canadian officials who issued the report also agreed that the US  |   |
| > power grid should be tightly regulated to prevent another outage, |   |
| > a proposal has stalled in Congress.                               |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Carol Murphy, spokeswoman for the New York Independent System     |   |
| > Operator, said the outage demonstrated how interconnected the     |   |
| > grid is.                                                          |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > The agency has widened its computer system\'s view to see what is |   |
| > happening elsewhere, she said, and will not be dependent on other |   |
| > sources for alerts. Soon, Murphy added, dispatchers will be able  |   |
| > to monitor activity as far away as the Rockies.                   |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"The Midwest was having problems last year, and we didn\'t have  |   |
| > a clue they were experiencing problems until the voltage surge    |   |
| > hit us and hit Canada and other folks,\" she said.                |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Officials in New York and New England also said they are sharing  |   |
| > more information about the condition of the power system with     |   |
| > other grid operators through regular conference calls and         |   |
| > e-mails.                                                          |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Bill Phillips, president of operations at MISO, said his          |   |
| > organization is completing a list of recommendations by the North |   |
| > American Electric Reliability Council, which sets operating       |   |
| > standards for the grid. He said MISO, which monitors electric     |   |
| > reliability along 97,000 miles of interconnected high-voltage     |   |
| > transmission lines in 15 states and parts of Canada, has worked   |   |
| > to improve everything from employee training to the way it        |   |
| > communicates with other regions.                                  |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > One major improvement, he said, was the launch of a state         |   |
| > estimator, a tool that allows engineers to evaluate the system by |   |
| > simulating the grid\'s response to hypothetical problems.         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"Much has been done in the Midwest . . . I think it is much less |   |
| > likely that any kind of event could occur now compared to last    |   |
| > year,\" Phillips said. \"Are there still things being done? Yes.  |   |
| > The industry as a whole still has a great deal of effort to make  |   |
| > in terms of revising and improving the standards by which the     |   |
| > entities operate.\"                                               |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Hoff Stauffer, an analyst with Cambridge Energy Research          |   |
| > Associates, said questions remain about how best to operate the   |   |
| > grid. Still, he said, he thinks the industry has made major       |   |
| > changes that will prevent such a widespread blackout.             |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"So many people have taken corrective measures, and people are   |   |
| > not just going to be careless the way they might have been in the |   |
| > past,\" Stauffer said. \"It\'s likely to happen in the next 20    |   |
| > years when people get relaxed, but not soon.\"                    |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \-\-\-\--                                                         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the           |   |
| > newspaper, go to http://www.boston.com/globe.                     |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \(c\) 2004, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight               |   |
| > Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing     |   |
| > this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 |   |
| > (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.  |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+

[TOP](http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/#top)

<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=4980045>

Reg & PRO

# Native Load 

*Jul 12 - Richmond Times - Dispatch* By January 1, Dominion Virginia
Power and American Electric Power most likely will have turned over
their transmission lines to PJM Interconnection, the nation\'s largest
regional transmission entity. PJM insists it can work with states that
have fully restructured the generation, transmission, and distribution
of electricity and with states that have neither deregulated electric
utilities nor unbundled their electricity services. It says it plays
well with others, including those having ventured into retail
competition and those that haven\'t - e.g., states such as Virginia that
still cap rates. Critics have raised questions about Dominion and AEP
joining PJM - but have they raised the right one?

Most are focusing on the rate caps. PJM offers the state\'s two largest
electric utilities access to less costly electricity generated by
PJM-affiliated utilities in the Midwest, where coal- fired and nuclear
plants are prevalent. So some consumer groups suggest the \"caps\" may
actually prove financial windfalls specifically to Dominion. In other
words, Dominion could generate, transmit, and distribute electricity far
more cheaply than the rates consumers are locked into paying until 2011.

Another criticism faults legislators for allowing Dominion to collect
from its customers the costs associated with PJM. Some argue that
instead of passing off those costs, the utility ought to use the
foreseen rate-cap profits for starting up with PJM.

But the question mostly ignored is this: What control will the State
Corporation Commission - even Dominion and AEP - have regarding native
load, i.e., the electricity covering the customer base? If, as the
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission suggests, states can pull no
strings to protect their native load, then can PJM brown-out rate-paying
Virginians to avert a blackout elsewhere? Should Virginia generating
units be called into interstate duty when on certain hot and cold days
the Commonwealth needs nearly all its generating capacity to cool and
heat its own office buildings and houses?

The native-load question deserves a prompt response.
![](media/image2.png){width="4.1666666666666664e-2in"
height="4.1666666666666664e-2in"}

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4982260>

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| 2 Hurt As Explosion Cuts Power To Parts Of O\'Hare Airport         |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                    |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| *Dow Jones & Company, Inc. - Jul 12 -*                             |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                    |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| > An electrical explosion at O\'Hare International Airport Monday  |   |
| > afternoon knocked out power to two terminals, delaying some      |   |
| > flights and injuring two workers who had been upgrading the      |   |
| > airport\'s electrical system, city officials said.               |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > The explosion happened around noon when a subcontractor          |   |
| > performing maintenance on part of the airport\'s electrical      |   |
| > system inadvertently separated some wires, Roberson said. Two    |   |
| > workers were taken to a hospital with first- and second- degree  |   |
| > burns.                                                           |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Chicago Aviation Commissioner John Roberson said the outage did  |   |
| > not affect the air traffic control towers but some flights were  |   |
| > delayed because electricity was cut to many security             |   |
| > checkpoints, forcing security personnel to manually screen       |   |
| > passengers and baggage.                                          |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Transportation Security Administration screeners were using      |   |
| > explosive-sniffing dogs to check luggage at security checkpoints |   |
| > where explosive-scanning machines were out.                      |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > \"Security was never compromised in any way during this time,\"  |   |
| > Roberson said. He said he didn\'t know how many flights were     |   |
| > delayed.                                                         |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > ComEd spokeswoman Meg Amato said the electricity provider sent   |   |
| > emergency crews to help O\'Hare assess the damage and restore    |   |
| > power to the airport.                                            |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Backup generators restored some power, but Roberson said it      |   |
| > likely would take about five hours to get power fully restored.  |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > American Airlines (AMR) and U.S. Airways (UAIR) were the         |   |
| > carriers most affected. The outage affected parts of two         |   |
| > terminals, including escalators, elevators and ventilation.      |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Dow Jones Newswires 07-12-04 1704ET                              |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Copyright (C) 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights          |   |
| > Reserved.                                                        |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+

<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=4982235>

both PRO & regulara

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| Hoover Dam output down about 15 percent                             |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                     |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| *By John G. Edwards, Las Vegas Review-Journal \-- July 10*          |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                     |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| > Hydroelectric production from Hoover Dam has fallen 15 percent    |   |
| > below peak levels produced when Lake Mead is full, according to a |   |
| > state agency that provides the low-cost electricity to Southern   |   |
| > Nevada.                                                           |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Lake Mead\'s water level started declining in December 1999 as    |   |
| > drought reduced snow and rainfall in the Rocky Mountains, which   |   |
| > feeds the Colorado River. Since that time, the lake level has     |   |
| > dropped 87 feet to about 1,126 feet above sea level. As the lake  |   |
| > level falls, so does energy production at Hoover Dam.             |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Officials, however, are not concerned at this point about the     |   |
| > reduced output, in part because hydropower doesn\'t represent a   |   |
| > large portion of electricity consumed in the Las Vegas area. That |   |
| > makes it easier to replace the lost hydroelectric production with |   |
| > other sources of power, although none are as cheap as hydropower. |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Nevada Power Co. gets about 4 percent of its electricity, or      |   |
| > about 235 megawatts of power generation capacity, from Hoover     |   |
| > Dam, said George Caan, executive director of the Colorado River   |   |
| > Commission. The river commission, a state agency, is responsible  |   |
| > for delivering power from Hoover Dam to Nevada communities.       |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > The decline in hydropower does force the utility to generate more |   |
| > power from its own plants or to buy more power wholesale, which   |   |
| > is more expensive, Caan said. Yet, the overall increase in power  |   |
| > costs isn\'t large, because hydropower accounts for such a small  |   |
| > portion of the utility\'s total supply, Caan said.                |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Sonya Headen, a spokeswoman for Nevada Power, agreed. The utility |   |
| > receives \"such a small amount of power from Hoover Dam\" that it |   |
| > hasn\'t had a significant effect on power costs, Headen said.     |   |
| > \"At this point, it has not been an issue for the company.\"      |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"If the drought continues for a long period of time, of course,  |   |
| > there will be trouble,\" Caan said.                               |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Boulder City gets a larger portion of its power from Hoover Dam,  |   |
| > and its rates will be affected more by the need to purchase extra |   |
| > expensive electricity from other sources, Caan said.              |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Other organizations benefiting from low-cost hydropower include   |   |
| > Valley Electric Association, Overton Power District No. 5, which  |   |
| > serves Mesquite, industries at the Black Mountain Industrial Park |   |
| > and Lincoln County.                                               |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Nevada shares in Hoover Dam\'s hydroelectricity with California   |   |
| > and Arizona, and the dam produces a maximum of 2,000 megawatts    |   |
| > when the reservoir is full, said Bob Walsh, a spokesman for the   |   |
| > federal Bureau of Reclamation. Hoover Dam only generates 1,731    |   |
| > megawatts, or about 15 percent less than the maximum, according   |   |
| > to the bureau.                                                    |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > The bureau generates electricity by releasing water, but it       |   |
| > releases water only to deliver water downstream or for flood      |   |
| > control \-- not just to increase power generation.                |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Upriver from Hoover Dam, Glen Canyon Dam\'s power production is   |   |
| > off 30 percent from 10 years ago, Caan said. Nevada, however,     |   |
| > gets only 5 percent of the power produced at Glen Canyon Dam,     |   |
| > which created Lake Powell.                                        |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \-\-\-\--                                                         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > To see more of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, or to subscribe to   |   |
| > the newspaper, go to http://www.lvrj.com.                         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \(c\) 2004, Las Vegas Review-Journal. Distributed by Knight       |   |
| > Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing     |   |
| > this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 |   |
| > (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.  |   |
| > SRP,                                                              |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+

[T](http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/#top)

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4980153>

<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=4980153>

PRO & Regular

+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| Dallas-area residents angered by utility\'s tree trimming, but have |   |
| few options                                                         |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                     |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| *By Jay Parsons, The Dallas Morning News \-- July 10*               |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                     |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| > Bridget Stedman was shocked when she walked outside her Lake      |   |
| > Highlands home and saw the large pile of tree branches lying on   |   |
| > the side of her lawn. She marched over to the tree-trimming crew  |   |
| > and demanded they put down their saws.                            |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"The whole side of the oak is gone. Look at that tree limb,\"    |   |
| > she protested, pointing to a severed 6-inch-wide branch.          |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Across Dallas, similar scenes are being played out as many        |   |
| > homeowners react angrily to the work of hundreds of crews         |   |
| > deployed by TXU Electric Delivery in recent weeks to trim back    |   |
| > thousands of trees growing around its power lines.                |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > But residents such as Ms. Stedman have discovered that they have  |   |
| > little recourse if they don\'t like the way crews are pruning     |   |
| > their trees.                                                      |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > They can stop the cutting temporarily by signing a protest form   |   |
| > provided by the crews. A certified arborist then is dispatched to |   |
| > explain the reason for the cuts.                                  |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Even if the homeowner disagrees with the need to prune, TXU       |   |
| > Electric has wide discretion in how it trims vegetation extending |   |
| > into utility easements.                                           |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > And safety always trumps aesthetics, TXU spokeswoman Gailee       |   |
| > Cardwell said.                                                    |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"We try to balance the concerns of homeowners with the           |   |
| > responsibility that falls on our shoulders, and that is           |   |
| > delivering power safely and reliably, which people have come to   |   |
| > expect,\" Ms. Cardwell said.                                      |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > She pointed out that the National Arbor Day Foundation has        |   |
| > honored TXU four years in a row for pruning practices that        |   |
| > protect trees. But homeowners said this year\'s cuts are far more |   |
| > drastic than trimming in past years.                              |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Earlier this week, Ms. Stedman complained to foreman Greg Barrera |   |
| > about how his crew had trimmed her oak tree.                      |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"I was told the shape of the tree isn\'t going to change,\" Ms.  |   |
| > Stedman said. \"I was told you would cut 4 to 6 feet from the     |   |
| > line.\"                                                           |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"I mean, the shape of the tree is always going to change,\" Mr.  |   |
| > Barrera told her.                                                 |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"This is a major change,\" Ms. Stedman replied. \"This is        |   |
| > ridiculous. Isn\'t that crazy? Half the tree is gone.\"           |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Later, she said she regretted having to leave the task of cutting |   |
| > her trees to crews hired by TXU.                                  |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"If I would have known they were going to mutilate the tree, I   |   |
| > would have hired a professional to shape the tree,\" she said.    |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > But state law says that only professionals authorized by the      |   |
| > local utility are allowed to prune or remove trees within 10 feet |   |
| > of power lines.                                                   |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Don Elder, who lives in north Oak Cliff, said a neighbor halted   |   |
| > crews earlier this week as they were about to start pruning both  |   |
| > men\'s trees. He said he was dreading his own encounter with the  |   |
| > tree cutters.                                                     |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"The sad part about it is I don\'t know any course of action     |   |
| > that a homeowner can take,\" Mr. Elder said.                      |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"I understand the need for it,\" he added. \"It\'s the method    |   |
| > and the results that are far and away past what they should be.\" |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > As evidence, he pointed across the street at a 50-foot pecan tree |   |
| > that had been cut in half lengthwise.                             |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"It was symmetrical and now it\'s not symmetrical,\" Mr. Elder   |   |
| > said. \"It looked like a tree before.\"                           |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > Mr. Elder called to schedule an appointment with a TXU            |   |
| > tree-trimming contractor after he found a notice on his door      |   |
| > earlier this week.                                                |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \"I told him not to cut anything until he shows me what\'s he     |   |
| > going to do because I\'ve seen what they\'ve done down the        |   |
| > street, and I\'m not having it,\" he said.                        |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \-\-\-\--                                                         |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > To see more of The Dallas Morning News, or to subscribe to the    |   |
| > newspaper, go to http://www.dallasnews.com.                       |   |
| >                                                                   |   |
| > \(c\) 2004, The Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight        |   |
| > Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing     |   |
| > this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 |   |
| > (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.  |   |
| > TXU,                                                              |   |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------+---+

[TOP](http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/#top)

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4979993>

<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/power/news_article.cfm?id=4979993>

+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| Total Lifts Force Majeure On Nigeria Oil, Gas Production           |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                    |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| *Dow Jones & Company, Inc. - Jul 12 -*                             |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
|                                                                    |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+
| > Total SA (TOT) lifted its force majeure on oil and natural gas   |   |
| > production in Nigeria and has resumed deliveries, a spokeswoman  |   |
| > said Monday.                                                     |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > After checking that production was stable, the company lifted    |   |
| > the force majeure Friday afternoon, spokeswoman Patricia Marie   |   |
| > said.                                                            |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Total suspended oil and gas production last Friday as a safety   |   |
| > precaution, saying worker unrest over a restructuring plan       |   |
| > threatened plant and employees\' safety and declared the force   |   |
| > majeure Tuesday.                                                 |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Total produces roughly 10% of Nigeria\'s 2.3 million barrels of  |   |
| > oil a day. The OPEC member has a capacity to pump around 2.8     |   |
| > million b/d of crude oil and is the world\'s seventh-largest oil |   |
| > exporter and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.       |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Though it contributes only a fraction of the world\'s oil        |   |
| > production, Nigerian crude is a highly sought-after,             |   |
| > gasoline-rich variety.                                           |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Labor problems have bedeviled many of Nigeria\'s producers.      |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > On July 6 , unions delivered a 21-day ultimatum to ExxonMobil    |   |
| > Corp. (XOM) and workers are holding talks with Royal Dutch/Shell |   |
| > Group of Cos .\' (RD, SC) Nigeria subsidiary as well.            |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > State-owned Nigerian National Petroleum Corp. (NNP.YY) Friday    |   |
| > unveiled plans to expand operations abroad and restructure jobs  |   |
| > domestically. It promised no job cuts.                           |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > -By Shai Oster, Dow Jones Newswires; +44-20-7842-9357;           |   |
| > shai.oster@dowjones.com                                          |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Dow Jones Newswires 07-12-04 0547ET                              |   |
| >                                                                  |   |
| > Copyright (C) 2004 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved |   |
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+---+

<http://pro.energycentral.com/professional/news/gas/news_article.cfm?id=4982224>

ECN regular

# AmerenUE will build generators in Venice 

*By Jack Naudi, St. Louis Post-Dispatch \-- July 12* AmerenUE soon will
begin construction of two natural-gas-fired generators in Venice. They
will replace two units destroyed August 2000 in a fire and explosion.

The utility is expected to complete the addition of twin 170-megawatt
generators in the latter half of 2005. The project requires approval
from a variety of state and federal agencies. It has received permits
from the city of Venice and the Army Corps of Engineers.

A company spokesman said the cost has not been determined. Construction
is expected to begin by the end of September.

The generators will be able to provide power to about 300,000 homes, but
they will be used only in peak-demand periods, typically during the
summer.

\"On hot summer days, units like these come in handy,\" said Tim Fox, an
AmerenUE spokesman. \"We can bring them on line very quickly and make
sure we have sufficient power for our customers.\"

Though the plant is in Illinois, the electricity from the generators
will be dedicated to AmerenUE customers in Missouri, he said.

\"We need to make sure we are maintaining an adequate reserve margin of
power,\" Fox said, adding that demand in Missouri is increasing about
1.2 percent a year.

AmerenUE is under orders by the Missouri Public Service Commission to
add 700 megawatts of power generation for Missouri customers by June 30,
2006. The operation in Venice will be counted toward that total, Fox
said.

Construction will require about 115 workers. Once the plant is
operational, a four-person crew will report to the site each day.
Because the generators can be operated by remote control, the crew will
not have to be there throughout the day.

The new generators will replace 343 megawatts of power lost in the
spectacular fire and explosion. The site, spanning 100 acres along the
Mississippi River, has just two small generators with a combined output
of 83 megawatts.

The site opened in 1942 with a coal-fired plant that was the largest in
AmerenUE\'s system from 1947 to 1957.

\-\-\-\--

To see more of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, or to subscribe to the
newspaper, go to http://www.stltoday.com.

\(c\) 2004, St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Distributed by Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this
content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914
(worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com. AEE,

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4982354>

regular

# Electric utilities says lessons from 2003 Northeast blackout have been learned 

*By Tatsha Robertson, The Boston Globe \-- July 12* From the control
room of New York state\'s electrical grid, dispatchers sitting in front
of computer screens can for the first time monitor the flow of current
as far away as Florida and the Midwest. In Ohio, where the nation\'s
worst blackout began last August, officials have started sending out
foot patrols in search of untrimmed trees that could fall on power
lines.

In New England, which was barely affected by the massive outage that
left 50 million people without electricity, power dispatchers have begun
collecting more-detailed information about what is happening with the
grid beyond the region\'s borders, rather than depending on other
operators for alerts.

As the summer heats up and power operators prepare for the season\'s
peak demand, efforts are intensifying across the country to prevent
another widespread blackout. Electricity grid managers and utilities
have been retraining control room operators and overhauling computer
monitoring systems. Poor communication among regions, which left the
Northeast in the dark about the impending blackout, has been rectified.
In Ohio, helicopters have been buzzing overhead to get a look at
transmission lines.

\"We have set some aggressive goals to get a lot of this done prior to
the summer peak season, but many of these changes will be ongoing,\"
said Ellen Raines, spokeswoman for FirstEnergy Corp., the northeastern
Ohio utility that has taken most of the blame for the outage last
summer.

Electricity specialists in New England, New York, and the Midwest say
they have enough power for the summer. More important, they say they
have spent the winter and recent months taking steps to catch problems
before they cascade across other parts of the country. Many of the
measures are in response to an investigation by a US-Canadian task force
that examined what went wrong last summer when eight states from
Michigan to New York and parts of Canada went dark.

While specialists say there is no guarantee that another major blackout
will not occur this year, many are optimistic that enough improvements
have been made to prevent an outage as large as last summer\'s.

This spring, the task force, made up of US Department of Energy
officials and their Canadian counterparts, released a report that
faulted FirstEnergy and the Midwest Independent Transmission System
Operator, or MISO, which oversees a large swath of the Midwest\'s power
grid.

The task force criticized the utility for shoddy tree-trimming, which
caused transmission lines in its territory to short-circuit, and cited
inadequate computer monitoring that led to poor communication within the
utility\'s control room and inside MISO \-- allowing the outage to
spread.

Starting at 4:10 p.m. EDT on Aug. 14, power plants across the Midwest
and the East Coast began shutting down. The blackout disrupted road
traffic, subways, and commuter rail lines in New York City, stranding
thousands of people. Air traffic was disrupted because there was no
power to operate metal detectors at security checkpoints. In New York
alone, the blackout cost the city\'s economy \$1 billion. Nationally,
losses were estimated as high as \$10 billion.

Despite optimism about improvements, some specialists said they are not
sure enough has been done to prevent another widespread blackout.

\"I am not entirely confident we can avoid last year,\" said Gordon van
Welie, president and CEO of New England\'s Independent System Operator.
\"The issue becomes one of, are the \[structural\] systems in place in
the Midwest to prevent a reoccurrence of last year and has the
transmissions infrastructure seen enough investment? Some of the
\[structural\] core issues that came out of the DOE report are still a
work in progress.\"

Van Welie called for uniform, mandatory national reliability standards
with penalties for noncompliance. Although US and Canadian officials who
issued the report also agreed that the US power grid should be tightly
regulated to prevent another outage, a proposal has stalled in Congress.

Carol Murphy, spokeswoman for the New York Independent System Operator,
said the outage demonstrated how interconnected the grid is.

The agency has widened its computer system\'s view to see what is
happening elsewhere, she said, and will not be dependent on other
sources for alerts. Soon, Murphy added, dispatchers will be able to
monitor activity as far away as the Rockies.

\"The Midwest was having problems last year, and we didn\'t have a clue
they were experiencing problems until the voltage surge hit us and hit
Canada and other folks,\" she said.

Officials in New York and New England also said they are sharing more
information about the condition of the power system with other grid
operators through regular conference calls and e-mails.

Bill Phillips, president of operations at MISO, said his organization is
completing a list of recommendations by the North American Electric
Reliability Council, which sets operating standards for the grid. He
said MISO, which monitors electric reliability along 97,000 miles of
interconnected high-voltage transmission lines in 15 states and parts of
Canada, has worked to improve everything from employee training to the
way it communicates with other regions.

One major improvement, he said, was the launch of a state estimator, a
tool that allows engineers to evaluate the system by simulating the
grid\'s response to hypothetical problems.

\"Much has been done in the Midwest . . . I think it is much less likely
that any kind of event could occur now compared to last year,\" Phillips
said. \"Are there still things being done? Yes. The industry as a whole
still has a great deal of effort to make in terms of revising and
improving the standards by which the entities operate.\"

Hoff Stauffer, an analyst with Cambridge Energy Research Associates,
said questions remain about how best to operate the grid. Still, he
said, he thinks the industry has made major changes that will prevent
such a widespread blackout.

\"So many people have taken corrective measures, and people are not just
going to be careless the way they might have been in the past,\"
Stauffer said. \"It\'s likely to happen in the next 20 years when people
get relaxed, but not soon.\"

\-\-\-\--

To see more of The Boston Globe, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to
http://www.boston.com/globe.

\(c\) 2004, The Boston Globe. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune
Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us
at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213)
237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

<http://www.energycentral.com/centers/news/daily/article.cfm?aid=4980045>

**Securing African oil**\
![](media/image3.png){width="0.10416666666666667in" height="6.25e-2in"}\
![](media/image4.png){width="2.6041666666666665in"
height="1.0416666666666666e-2in"}\
By Gilbert Da Costa\
**ASSOCIATED PRESS**\
![](media/image4.png){width="2.6041666666666665in"
height="1.0416666666666666e-2in"}

ABUJA, Nigeria --- A top U.S. military commander proposed American help
yesterday in monitoring West Africa\'s Gulf of Guinea to secure an
unstable region that holds as much as 10 percent of the world\'s oil
reserves.\
    Gen. Charles Wald, the deputy commander of the U.S. military\'s
European Command for Europe and Africa, said he raised the offer in
talks with West African and national officials in Nigeria --- Africa\'s
biggest oil producer and most populous nation.\
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height="0.15625in"}![](media/image6.png){width="0.20833333333333334in"
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height="2.6041666666666665in"}Click
Here](http://oascentral.washtimes.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/new.washtimes.com/business/1519247020/Middle/washtimes/lowerMyBills_box_2004.07/lowerMyBills_box_2004.05_250x250.html/63646665393330383430663331323830?http://ad.doubleclick.net/jump/N32 )\
    Britain\'s Jane\'s Weekly defense publication has said the United
States was readying a proposed African Coastal Security Program to block
pirates, smugglers and other criminals in the Gulf of Guinea and around
Africa.\
    The issue is being studied in preliminary feasibility surveys,
European Command officials have told the Associated Press.\
    In Abuja, Nigeria\'s capital, Gen. Wald said he and Nigerian
officials, including Deputy Defense Minister Roland Oritsejafor,
discussed finding \"a way that we can cooperate together in monitoring
the waters off the Gulf of Guinea.\"\
    Gen. Wald called it a \"hugely important\" issue to nations
bordering the Gulf.\
    \"It is up to the political leaders, if they decide it is in their
common interests to protect the area, we will support that,\" he said.\
    He gave no immediate details of what assistance might be involved.
Jane\'s has suggested U.S. help could include naval vessels,
communications equipment and training, as well as a counterterrorism
base in the Gulf of Guinea.\
    Earlier this year, the United States funded a feasibility study on
the creation of a possible deep-water port at the island nation of Sao
Tome and Principe, off Nigeria.\
    Nigeria, Africa\'s largest oil exporter, is the world\'s No. 7 oil
exporter and the fifth-biggest source of U.S. oil imports.\
    Surrounding nations in the Gulf of Guinea likewise are increasing
production amid a West Africa oil boom, as the United States, Europe and
Asia look for alternatives to oil from the politically volatile Middle
East.\
    Asked whether the United States was willing to help stem attacks
against Nigeria\'s oil industry, Gen. Wald said, \"Wherever there\'s
evil, we want to get there and fight it.\"\
    Nigeria\'s oil industry has been beset by armed attacks from
militants --- many seeking a share of the country\'s oil wealth --- that
at times in the past year shut down 10 percent to 40 percent of
Nigeria\'s daily production of 2.5 million barrels of crude.\
    \"Where you have wealth, if you don\'t protect it, you are
vulnerable to terrorists and illegal arms dealers and so you are not
safe,\" he said.\
    The West and Central African regions produce 15 percent of U.S. oil
imports, a figure that could rise to 20 percent in the next decade \"if
it remains attractive to investment,\" according to a U.S.
Congress-commissioned report last week by the Washington-based Center
for Strategic and International Studies.\
    The study urged Washington to increase intelligence and
counter-terrorism efforts in Africa. It also should increase funding for
training of African armies from \$10 million to \$100 million, with an
equal amount devoted to African peace initiatives, the analysts said.\
    Gen. Wald said the United States was interested in expanding
training and \"potentially\" helping equip regional peacekeepers to stem
conflicts themselves.\
    Three African nations were singled out by the Congress-commissioned
report as facing the most dire terrorism threats in Africa --- Sudan,
Somalia and Nigeria. They each have large Muslim populations and the
authors recommended \"expanding engagement\" with them.