Reliant to Peddle Power in Nation's Capital

The District of Columbia Public Service Commission has granted Houston-based Reliant Energy Solutions East LLC a license to provide electric service to commercial, industrial and institutional clients in Washington, D.C. Reliant Energy Solutions East serves commercial and industrial customers, currently totaling more than 500 megawatts of load, in New Jersey and Maryland. Reliant Energy Solutions, an affiliate of Reliant Energy Solutions East, serves approximately 33 percent of the industrial and large commercial load in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas. Reliant Energy Solutions' headquarters for its East Coast operations is located in Edison, N.J.

AEP Sells Power Stakes

American Electric Power Co. plans to sell its stakes in four power plants in Florida and Colorado to Bear Stearns Cos. for $156 million. The Columbus-based energy giant is selling assets that don't fit with its core utility electricity business. Bear Stearns is an investment banking and securities trading firm based in New York.

SCANA Energy Buys Energy America Customers

SCANA Energy, an Atlanta-based subsidiary of SCANA Corporation, has acquired approximately 50,000 retail natural gas customers formerly served by Energy America in Georgia's deregulated natural gas market. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. The company also announced that the Georgia Public Service Commission has voted to retain SCANA Energy as the state's sole regulated natural gas provider, extending the two-year term of SCANA Energy's Regulated Division for at least another year, through August 2005.

Bellsouth to Test Wi-Fi in Charlotte

BellSouth Corp. has selected Charlotte, N.C., as the site of its first major deployment of public wireless fidelity (Wi-Fi) networking in the region. Wi-Fi provides high-speed Internet connectivity to a laptop computer or PDA. BellSouth Internet customers will soon have free access to high-speed wireless data at public locations concentrated in the Center City of Charlotte and the surrounding suburbs. Atlanta-based BellSouth wants to test business and consumer demand for public Wi-Fi, large-scale deployment of a public Wi-Fi service and technical support of a Wi-Fi network. BellSouth will deploy approximately 100 "hotspots" throughout Charlotte, mostly in the central business district. Other locations will include the hospital district and the South Park area. The hotspots will be in areas where people gather, including restaurants, waiting areas and parks.

Texas Central Sells Nuclear Stake

AEP subsidiary Texas Central Co. is selling off stakes in Texas. The company has signed an agreement to sell its 25.2 percent share of the South Texas Project nuclear plant to Cameco South Texas Project LP for about $332 million.

TXU Shutting 12 Power Plants

TXU Corp. is closing eight power plants permanently and will shut four others temporarily because of electric industry market conditions in Texas. About 55 workers will be affected, but may be able to transfer to other locations. The 12 power plants represent 1,471 megawatts, or more than 13 percent of TXU Energy's gas-fired generation capacity in the state. Rivercrest Steam Electric Station in Red River County; North Main Steam Electric Station in Tarrant County; three plants at Parkdale Steam Electric Station in Dallas County; and three plants at Morgan Creek Steam Electric Station in Mitchell County are closing in the cost-saving move.

Dynegy Tables Plans for Virginia Power Plant

Dynegy Inc. will not move forward with constuction plans in Virginia. The company cites depressed power prices and tougher economic conditions.