License Briefs

Start-up Veteran Energy Seeks Texas REP Certificate
Veteran Energy LLC applied for a Texas REP certificate. Veteran Energy, a start-up, was founded by Kevin Barber, a 17-year gas and power industry veteran who was most recently a regional trading team leader at Integrys Energy Services for wholesale gas in the Midwest and Mid-Continent. Barber has also held senior positions at Duke Energy Marketing and Trading, in power and gas, at gas marketer Southwest Energy, and several other gas marketers. Ista North America is to handle EDI services for Veteran Energy, and Veteran Energy has retained Competitive Assets for regulatory support.

PUCT Approves RetailOPCO of Texas Name Change to Entrust Energy
The PUCT granted a REP certificate amendment to RetailOPCO of Texas, Inc. under which the certificated name of the REP is changed to Entrust Energy, Inc. Entrust Energy is a start-up led by several veterans of the Australian power market (see 8/26).

Viridian Energy Receives Ohio Electric License
Viridian Energy PA LLC received an Ohio electric supplier license to serve all customer classes, including residential customers, in all service areas (12/6).

Unified Energy Services Seeks D.C. Broker License
Unified Energy Services LLC applied for a District of Columbia electric broker license to serve all customer classes, including residential customers.

DPUC Schedules Technical Meeting on Gulf Oil Supplier Application
The Connecticut DPUC has scheduled a technical meeting on February 3 to discuss the electric supplier license application of Gulf Oil Limited Partnership. Although not unprecedented, such technical meetings are not typical in the licensing process. The DPUC's notice of the meeting states that Gulf Oil Limited Partnership's application is incomplete for failure to file a Connecticut tax ID number, but the notice does not indicate if the technical meeting is solely to address this matter or other issues. As only noted in Matters (10/13), Gulf Oil Limited Partnership intends to conduct a year-long pilot by self-supplying certain affiliates and employees prior to deciding whether to enter the general retail electric market, and as such, its marketing plans are somewhat fluid, as Gulf Oil Limited Partnership intends to develop more detailed marketing plans and materials as a result of its experience during the pilot. Since the license would already have been granted when the pilot is complete and when Gulf Oil Limited Partnership revises its marketing plans in response to the pilot, the DPUC would not necessarily have the ability to approve any subsequent marketing plans (though such plans may filed under routine license maintenance obligations, it would not be analogous to the filing of initial plans where the DPUC can withhold licensing until comfortable with such plans). It's unclear if the technical meeting reflects any concern about approving a five-year license with only information regarding the pilot program in the record. In a December 3 interrogatory response, Gulf Oil said it is also considering filing an electric supplier application in Massachusetts, but had not done so as of that date.