Southern to enter natural gas business with New Power customers

ATLANTA - Southern Company has agreed to purchase 210,000 Georgia customer accounts from bankrupt natural gas marketer The New Power Company for nearly $60 million in a deal that puts electric giant Southern in the retail gas business. <br> <br> New Power Company is the fourth-largest marketer in Georgia&#39;s deregulated natural gas market. The company and its New York-based parent, NewPower Holdings Incorporated, a spinoff of failed Enron Corporation, declared bankruptcy Tuesday. <br> <br> Atlanta-based Southern said Wednesday it would pay $28 million for New Power&#39;s customers and $32 million for gas inventory and accounts receivables. The company will form a new subsidiary, Southern Company Gas LLC, for the venture. <br> <br> Southern spokesman Todd Terrell said the company expects the venture to be profitable within only a few months. He said the company does not want to expand beyond its Southeast base and New Power had not sought to sell the company additional assets. <br> <br> New Power serves about 115,000 power customers and about 465,000 gas customers in nine states. Its biggest market is Georgia. <br> <br> The announcement came after a hearing on NewPower Holdings&#39; bankruptcy petition held in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Newnan, south of Atlanta.