Trust And Antitrust
The New York Times, 06/24/01

Looking at E-Business From Both Sides Now
The New York Times, 06/24/01

Getting Serious About Earth-Friendly Energy
Los Angeles Times, 06/24/01

ENERGY CRUNCH / Power players lay blame / Deregulation creators defend their
actions
The San Francisco Chronicle, 06/24/01

USA: California power refund talks begin Monday at FERC.
Reuters English News Service, 06/24/01

PGE CRITICIZES ELECTRICITY PRICE LIMITS
Portland Oregonian, 06/24/01

India: Calcutta HC rejects EMC plea
Business Line (The Hindu), 06/24/01

India: DPC lenders unhappy with S&W report
Business Line (The Hindu), 06/23/01

Enron CEO gets pie in face
Press Trust of India Limited, 06/23/01

POWER POLLUTION NO LAUGHING MATTER
South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 06/23/01

San Francisco Tourists Just Roll with the Outages
Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek, California, 06/23/01

El Paso Awaits Decision as Generators Prepare to Face Lawsuits
Bloomberg, 06/23/01

Alleged Power Overcharges May Be Less Than Calif Argues
Dow Jones Energy Service, 06/22/01

Editorial Desk; Section 4
Reckonings
Trust And Antitrust
By PAUL KRUGMAN

06/24/2001
The New York Times
Page 13, Column 1
c. 2001 New York Times Company

When the European Commission indicated it was likely to block the proposed
merger between General Electric and Honeywell, American politicians from
George W. Bush on down cried foul, with some alleging that the decision was
politically motivated. They're almost certainly wrong about that, but it is
true that the E.C.'s case against the merger is far from watertight. Mario
Monti, Europe's competition referee, may have made a bad call on this play.
Nonetheless, our politicians should lower their voices. Mr. Monti is one of
the good guys in today's global economy. He should not be made the target of
attempts at political intimidation.
To put the G.E.-Honeywell affair in context, you need to realize that this
case is a triple switcheroo: it contradicts not one but three pieces of
conventional wisdom.
First, the conventional view is that globalization weakens governments,
because it forces them to compete for private investment. Broadly speaking,
this view is right. (Conventional wisdom usually is.) There are, however,
exceptions to the rule, and antitrust policy is one of those exceptions. In
today's world, no company can compete effectively unless it can operate
freely on both sides of the Atlantic -- which it can do only with a green
light from antitrust authorities in both the United States and Europe. The
result is that instead of eroding the power of those authorities,
globalization has extended their reach: American regulators can block
European mergers, and vice versa.
Second, this case inverts traditional roles. Until recently, only the U.S.
seemed to take antitrust policy seriously. Europeans might have U.S.-style
legislation on the books, but they often seemed to feel that cartels, like
extramarital affairs, were nothing to worry about as long as the participants
were discreet -- and they were scornful toward puritanical Americans who
insisted on enforcing the letter of the law. Lately, however, Europe has
gotten serious about antitrust, giving the competition commissioner broad
powers to block mergers and investigate allegations of anticompetitive
behavior. Mr. Monti, an American-trained university professor who assumed
that office in 1999, has used those powers aggressively. General Electric and
Honeywell are by no means the first companies to find Mr. Monti blocking what
they thought was a done deal.
Was Mr. Monti right to block this particular deal? It's a complicated issue.
Let's just say that the case against this merger is similar to the case for
breaking up Microsoft, though it seems a lot weaker. On the other hand, you
don't need as strong an argument to block a merger as you do to break up a
going concern. We're in a gray area, with the precise shade of gray a matter
of opinion.
Even if you disagree with Mr. Monti's opinion, however, his sincerity is not
in doubt. The best answer to those who claim that this is really a
protectionist ploy is Mr. Monti's track record: he has repeatedly shown
himself willing to oppose the demands of powerful European interest groups.
Why would he suddenly become a tool of protectionists?
And that leads us to the third switcheroo. Europeans are accustomed to cozy
cohabitation between politicians and businessmen; Americans tend to insist on
at least the appearance of an arms-length relationship. But just at the
moment when the Europeans have placed competition policy in the hands of a
sternly upright professor, the United States has acquired an administration
that seems oblivious to normal concerns about conflict of interest.
It's not yet clear whether the Bush administration really is a government of,
by and for big corporations to an extent not seen since Warren G. Harding was
president, or whether it just looks that way. But the stories keep
accumulating. Intel's chief lobbyist says that his highly inappropriate
meetings with Karl Rove were ''quite useful'' to its merger case -- and Mr.
Rove didn't even get a slap on the wrist. According to the outgoing chairman
of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, the head of Enron offered to
support him at the White House if he changed his policy positions. And it
took three months -- and a sharp prod from Jake Tapper at Salon -- before
Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill honored his promise to sell his Alcoa stock.
As a consumer, I'm not sure I trust these people to protect me from the
market power of giant corporations.
And so it's nice to know that Mr. Monti is out there, looking after my
interests.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Money and Business/Financial Desk; Section 3
BOOK VALUE
Looking at E-Business From Both Sides Now
By FRED ANDREWS

06/24/2001
The New York Times
Page 6, Column 1
c. 2001 New York Times Company

BOOKS about e-business have proliferated over the last year. Undeterred by
the dot-com crash and financial travails of many Internet companies, business
publishers have turned to churning out an ever-widening array of guides to
help well-established companies prosper on the Web.
The books range from simplified manuals to weighty analyses of the dynamics
of e-business ventures. Here are two examples at opposite ends of the
spectrum: ''D2D: Dinosaur to Dynamo'' by David Stauffer (John Wiley & Sons,
$27.95), and ''Place to Space: Migrating to E-Business Models'' by Peter
Weill and Michael R. Vitale (Harvard Business School Press, $35).
At first blush, ''D2D'' is a once-over-lightly account, a scissors-and-paste
recycling of other books and the business press, duly footnoted, to be sure.
The pages are salted with so many diverting lists, special boxes and
eye-catching headlines (''Why the Web Can Be Farmer-Friendly'') that the main
text is an annoying weave through an obstacle course. With short paragraphs
and lots of space between lines, the book cried out to be skimmed.
But Mr. Stauffer, who has written books about America Online and Cisco
Systems and many articles explaining how companies have adapted to the
Internet, has assembled a fascinating menagerie of 20 businesses that have
taken to e-business with great success. His brief histories include the
obligatory e-favorites -- Enron, General Electric, Charles Schwab -- as well
as peers like Ford Motor and Bertelsmann. But he also tells you about Snap-on
Inc., DoveBid industrial auctioneers, the Antevia Inc. relocation service and
Powell's Books of Portland, Ore., a thriving ''independent'' whose
68,000-square-foot flagship is one of the nation's largest bookstores.
Powell's began in 1970, buying lightly used textbooks for next to nothing and
reselling them at substantial mark-ups. Now a $36 million business, Powell's
has found its Web site ideal for matching a used, rare or out-of-print title
from its enormous holdings with someone, somewhere, who wants to buy it.
Unlike Amazon.com, its famous competitor, Powell's makes money online (and
has done so from Day 1). Its annual sales volume of $232,000 per online
employee is higher than Amazon's. And what happens to books that customers
return to Amazon? Powell's buys them, at nearly 80 percent off the cover
price.
Further afield, Tesco, the huge supermarket chain in Britain, has become a
leading Internet grocery by tying its Web delivery service to its local
stores. Snap-on, of Kenosha, Wis., sells high-quality tools for auto
mechanics through 6,000 franchisees who drive its distinctive white vans; the
company solved its ''channel conflicts'' by paying franchisees for Internet
sales as though they had made the sales themselves. DoveBid, an $80 million
appraiser and auctioneer of used business and industrial equipment, has
pioneered simultaneous live and Web auctions.
Like a baseball scout who prefers the honesty of minor league ball, Mr.
Stauffer pays these less prominent players refreshing respect. Though he
commonly relies on second-hand material, he is scrupulous with footnotes and
credits. His judgments are not bad, and in more than half the histories he
adds his own interviewing. Each chapter opens with a capsule company profile
and closes with ''Leader's Lessons,'' the author's observations.
A final chapter on ''what it takes to make it'' is nothing out of the
ordinary. Mr. Stauffer says the digital world requires a ''vocal and
unflagging'' chief executive. He also says a company needs ''bricks and
clicks that don't discriminate'' -- in other words, don't think of online and
offline as separate markets. His other advice: provide added services and
follow the rule that it's better ''to be fast than to be right.''
The book concludes with 60 offhand homilies on e-business success. No one
will accuse ''D2D'' of being profound.
But what's not to like about an all-star team that makes room for tiny
Quality Transmission Service, a $400,000, six-employee operation in Tempe,
Ariz.? Its founder, Bob Jones, built a shoestring Web site that has become a
model for local businesses. His ''Ask Bob'' feature attracts 10 or 12
questions a day. The Web site has lured customers from 35 miles away (the
shop's normal reach is 10 miles) and reliably brings in two or three new
customers a week -- a 15 to 20 percent increase for Mr. Jones's business.
''PLACE TO SPACE,'' more academic than other e-biz books, offers as clear an
explanation of the anatomy of e-business as one could expect. From extensive
study, the authors have concluded that all e-business can be reduced to one
or another of eight basic building blocks, which then combine into more
complex companies, like atoms forming a molecule.
Mr. Weill is director of the Center for Information Business Systems at
M.I.T.; Mr. Vitale is dean and director of the Australian School of
Management at Sydney. Their strength is not originality but the clarity and
thoroughness of their analysis.
Their eight building blocks, which they call ''atomic e-business models,''
are already part of the digital vocabulary. The array includes
direct-to-customer sales (Amazon, for instance); full-service providers (GE
Supply); shared infrastructure (reservation systems); virtual communities
(Motley Fool); portals, auctions and aggregators (Yahoo and eBay), and
content providers (AccuWeather and Morningstar).
The book devotes a methodical chapter to each, dissecting what each way of
doing e-business assumes, how it works, what holds it together. A tutorial
follows on infrastructure, distribution channels and market segments. The
authors cover core competencies, strategic objectives and sources of value.
Eventually, this extensive learning is distilled into seven pages of tables,
laying bare the logic of all eight models and enumerating, say, nine factors
critical to a direct-to-customer business like Amazon's or three core
competencies for running a virtual community like iVillage.
Some readers may like the crisp schematics that accompany the text. Others
may mistake the drawings for an attack plan for multiple-warhead nuclear
missiles. The schematic of an Internet-based investment business has six big
arrowheads on the left, three on the right, all menacing a big black
rectangle, along with smaller arrows and dotted lines.
No question, this book is homework. Thankfully, the authors leaven the
abstract, didactic parts of their work with abundant examples from a
half-dozen cogent case studies. Among the cases are Reuters, CDNow, GE Supply
and, especially interesting, Lonely Planet, the Australian publisher of
travel guides for vagabonds.
From one lone title 30 years ago (''Across Asia on the Cheap''), Lonely
Planet has prospered to about 600 titles, 400 employees and 65 million
Australian dollars (about $34 million) in revenue for 2000. Its Web site
draws three million daily hits, reflecting the attraction of the Thorn Tree
chat room, where travelers keep in touch and exchange tips by posting 1,500
messages a day. Lonely Planet also offers global voice mail and CitySync, a
digital download of guides to major cities. It has undertaken the ambitious
job of converting all its guides, maps and detailed research to accessible
digital form.
Even on this solid base, e-business raises tough questions for Lonely Planet.
How can it make money from the two million fans of its Web site? Should it
try? How should it handle ''channel conflict'' and balance sales from the
Internet with its traditional retailers' interests?
As its rule of thumb, Lonely Planet looks for some assurance that it will get
a 50 percent gross margin before embarking on a new guide. The authors ask
whether e-business ideas are ever firm enough to meet that hurdle. And most
intriguing, the authors write that Lonely Planet has ''a huge opportunity''
to reinvent the travel guide by customizing digital guides to a traveler's
itinerary and tastes, with digital updates delivered along the way.
THOUGH newly published, ''Place to Space'' is already dated. The authors
refer to the ''partial'' fall of dot-coms but not to the later convulsions.
The book continually describes (but does not necessarily praise) e-ventures
long since laid low. What reader would suspect that Motley Fool just
announced its second round of layoffs this year or that Hearst narrowly
rescued iVillage from Nasdaq delisting? The book notes that in four months,
Priceline.com signed up nearly 500,000 customers for its ultimately
disastrous Web-based grocery service. ''The approach seems popular,'' the
authors observe.
Though every book risks obsolescence from events, their study gives little
hint of the coming tempest. Reading ''Place to Space'' is like watching a
video visit to the zoo without knowing that the lion, the walrus and most of
the monkeys have died. The book's explanatory value still stands, but the
dot-com massacre does raise questions about what some examples actually
exemplify.
Still, the book has endearing touches. At one point, the authors explain the
remarkable success of Asian airlines in putting bickering aside and building
Abacus, a joint computer reservation system. The decision to cooperate rather
than compete, they say, ''was probably motivated by a combination of fear and
greed.'' How often do you find candor like that?

Photos

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Business; Financial Desk
JAMES FLANIGAN
Getting Serious About Earth-Friendly Energy
JAMES FLANIGAN

06/24/2001
Los Angeles Times
Home Edition
C-1
Copyright 2001 / The Times Mirror Company

The growing concern about global warming--even President Bush concedes the
need to reduce carbon dioxide emissions--promises a shift to nonpolluting
energy sources and new attitudes toward environmental investment in industry
in the years ahead.
Change will be more gradual than dramatic, perhaps a 20% rise in use of wind
and solar power to generate electricity and the beginnings of commercial use
of fuel cells to drive cars and trucks by 2010.
Nonpolluting, renewable energy will still make up less than 7% of total U.S.
energy consumption 10 years hence, predicts the Energy Department. But trends
will be established in this decade.
Business will base investment on environmental concerns as never before.
Reminders that the Earth's temperature will rise for the next 50 years no
matter what we do now will bolster development of energy-efficient machines
and industrial processes.
The chemical firm DuPont Co., for example, aims to reduce emissions of
greenhouse gases--carbon dioxide and methane--by 65% over this decade. Also
by 2010, DuPont hopes to rely on renewable sources for 10% of its energy use.
That 10% estimate may not sound heroic, but it's based on the expectation
that renewable energy will be cost-competitive with oil, natural gas and
coal, says Paul Tebo, DuPont's vice president for environmental and health
policies. "It's important that renewables become cost-competitive because
investing in them if they're uneconomic creates other problems," Tebo says.
Where does the business of renewable energy stand today? Wind power is
attracting a lot of investment and will grow rapidly in the next few years.
Solar power now boasts $2.7 billion in annual sales worldwide; only 25% of
those sales, however, are in the U.S.
Fuel-cell development is intense, with every major automotive company backing
research and testing pilot projects for on-board power plants in which
hydrogen energy drives the car and most of the exhaust is clean water. By
2008, vehicles propelled by fuel cells will be used by early adopters, as
hybrid cars are today, says Dan Sperling, head of the Institute for
Transportation Studies at UC Davis, a major center of fuel-cell research.
More than $1.5 billion will be invested this year in projects to generate
electricity from wind power, says Randy Swisher of the American Wind Power
Assn. in Washington. That's double the previous highest investment total.
Investment is growing because wind power has become efficient. A single
windmill generator today is capable of doing the work of 10 windmills of the
1970s, when wind-power experiments began.
Wind generation can deliver electricity at 3 cents to 6 cents a
kilowatt-hour, promising a $15 to $30 electric bill for the average home that
uses 500 kilowatt-hours per month.
In addition, wind-power projects are being encouraged by a federal tax credit
of 1.5 cents per kilowatt-hour to the investing companies.
FPL Energy, a subsidiary of Florida's FPL Group, and Enron Wind Corp., a
subsidiary of Enron Corp., are the largest companies in wind generation. But
mostly it is a business of small firms and investment partnerships.
Zilkha Renewable Energy, a privately held Houston firm, will be involved in
$100 million worth of wind-power projects this year in Iowa, Pennsylvania,
California and Britain, often in partnership with Denmark's EnXco Inc.
Denmark gets 15% of its electricity from wind power, a typical percentage for
European countries, which are more environmentally conscious than the U.S.
Solar energy is still comparatively expensive, producing electricity from
photovoltaic cells at 20 cents to 30 cents a kilowatt-hour. That would equate
to monthly electric bills of $100 to $150 for the average home.
Solar energy can be produced more cheaply by vast solar arrays in desert
areas. This method, called thermal, can produce power at 10 cents a
kilowatt-hour today, says Avi Brenmiller, chairman of Solel Solar Systems, an
Israeli firm that built a giant solar thermal plant in California's Mojave
Desert.
An irony is that Israel, a largely desert country, does not use a lot of
solar power to date--mostly because conventional fossil-fuel power has been
cheaper, Brenmiller says. Brenmiller looks for new solar projects to be
launched in the U.S. and abroad as a result of uncertain energy prices and
availability.
The main cost of solar energy is the capital needed to build panels of solar
cells on roofs of homes and buildings and on farms to run irrigation. "After
the plant is built, the cost of fuel--the sunlight--is essentially zero,"
observes Marwan Masri, director of renewable energy for the California Energy
Commission.
State and federal grants of up to half the capital cost encourage solar
projects. Masri is working with home builders to install solar cells in all
homes in new subdivisions, so the cost of providing energy can be amortized
over 30 years along with the home mortgages.
Meanwhile, solar energy powers buildings, traffic lights and irrigation
projects around the world, with Japan and Germany using more solar energy
than the U.S.
BP Solar, a division of BP; Kyocera Corp. of Japan; and Siemens of Germany,
which owns the former Westinghouse Electric Corp. in the U.S., are global
leaders in solar.
But the technology of solar cells, akin to that of semiconductors, is still
under development. Small firms, such as Evergreen Solar Inc. of Marlboro,
Mass., and AstroPower Inc. of Newark, Del., are working on cheaper and more
effective ways to make solar cells, reports analyst James LoGerfo of Banc of
America Securities.
In fuel cells, Xcellsis, a joint venture of DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Co.
and Ballard Power Systems Inc., has developed fuel-cell engines based on
methanol and gasoline for demonstration models being tested in Germany and
the U.S.
Fuel cells that derive hydrogen from gasoline, methanol or natural gas are
less environmentally ideal than improved models that will appear later in the
decade.
But, clearly, new industries that will change the way the world lives are
taking their first big steps. And concerns about global warming that are
giving these industries a push today won't diminish in the years ahead.
Climate change that will add 2.5 to 10 degrees to the Earth's temperature
over the next 50 years is already assured because of heat from past emissions
that is stored in the world's oceans, reports UC Irvine Chancellor Ralph J.
Cicerone, a renowned atmospheric scientist, who headed a recent study of
global warming for President Bush.
As temperatures mount, so will sentiment and pressure for new thinking on
energy, environment and the world economy.
*
James Flanigan can be reached at jim.flanigan@latimes.com.

PHOTO: More than $1.5 billion is expected to be invested this year in
wind-power projects.; ; PHOTOGRAPHER: Zilkha Renewable Energy Co.; PHOTO:
Zilkha Renewable Energy of Houston is at work on this wind-power project in
California's Altamont Pass area.; ; PHOTOGRAPHER: Zilkha Renewable Energy Co.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

NEWS
ENERGY CRUNCH / Power players lay blame / Deregulation creators defend their
actions
Robert Salladay
Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

06/24/2001
The San Francisco Chronicle
FINAL
A.1
(Copyright 2001)

Five years after dismantling California's energy markets, former Gov. Pete
Wilson says he's proud of his role in deregulation and is "stunned and
outraged" that his successor tries to pin the blame on him.
Former state Senate President pro tem Bill Lockyer, now the state attorney
general, is both contrite and vengeful, recently saying he wanted to put a
powerful energy executive -- and friend of President Bush -- in prison with
an amorous cellmate named Spike.
Former Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle, presently a lobbyist, now forwards
e-mail jokes to fellow Republicans with Davis re-election slogans, including:
"Davis in 2002: Your bridge to the 18th century."
These were the leaders who brought deregulation to California. As they engage
in deflections and defenses one year after the state plunged into crisis,
their comments also highlight a newer debate over unintended consequences,
the role of the federal government in making things worse, and the
neglectfulness of subsequent politicians.
For his part, Wilson has become increasingly angry at the Davis
administration's "offensive and unfair" claims that Wilson and the
Legislature got the state into this mess.
"I'm afraid they have reached the conclusion that the response has been too
little, too late to avoid what will be hundreds of hours of blackouts, and
that they better find a way to blame somebody else," Wilson said.
Davis, he said, has blamed "the new administration in Washington, the old
administration in Sacramento, power providers. It's interesting, because
there was not a peep out of the lieutenant governor (Davis) at the time
during what I thought was a fairly active and public debate. He was hardly
without a voice, but he certainly was without comment."
Wilson said Davis' performance over the past year called into question Davis'
1998 campaign slogan. "I used to laugh when he talked about being the
best-trained, best-prepared candidate in history," Wilson said. "But what the
hell."
DEREGULATION BILL
A tiny legislative committee that was dominated by state Sen. Steve Peace,
D-El Cajon, and then Assemblyman James Brulte, R-Rancho Cucamonga, wrote the
deregulation bill in 1996. Corporate lobbyists and utilities also had
tremendous sway over the legislation. Pringle, Lockyer and Wilson steered the
legislation their way.
The bill was a reaction to movements under way at the California Public
Utilities Commission and in the federal government. The bill essentially
unbundled the big utilities' monopoly over power, separating control of
selling, marketing and producing energy.
It also was supposed to cut rates 10 percent and pay utilities hundreds of
millions of dollars for investments they'd made in nuclear power and other
energy plants.
Wilson said Davis should, in fact, be grateful that the 1996 deregulation
bill encouraged power companies to expand into California. He contends that
without the measure, the state would be faced with a regulated market and
10,000 fewer megawatts of power -- and more blackouts.
DAVIS' COMPLAINTS
Davis has continually said that California failed to build power plants in
the 12 years before his administration. In truth, seven smaller power plants
were built during Wilson's eight years, and deregulation started the process
on a host of others that are now being approved more quickly by the Davis
administration.
"We wanted to entice investors," Wilson said. "You can't do that if they're
not allowed to compete."
Wilson acknowledges that the state misread exactly how quickly California
would grow. During the high-tech boom, Silicon Valley built acres of "server
farms" to supply the Internet that accounted for a large amount of the
increase in new power usage in California.
Peace has point-blank blamed executives at Cisco Systems. He has said they
should be thrown in jail for simultaneously supplying the server-farm boom
and opposing the building of a power plant in Santa Clara County. Cisco
opposed the 600-megawatt plant, it said, to protect the health and welfare of
its employees nearby.
Wilson doesn't go as far as Peace in wanting to jail people. And he's not
willing to accuse out-of-state generators of price-gouging, in part because
"blanket condemnation" may scare away further investment in California -- and
it ignores that some municipal utilities in California charge high prices as
well.
"If they find that people have in fact manipulated the market," Wilson said,
"then they ought to come down hard on them."
LOCKYER'S HARDER LINE
As attorney general, Lockyer has opened an investigation into whether power
companies have conspired to push up electricity prices and gouge consumers.
Unlike Peace and Wilson, Lockyer is unwilling to defend the 1996 legislation
and deregulation.
"If I could repeal it and start all over again, I think that I would," he
said.
But even Lockyer acknowledges that the Legislature needed to do something in
1996. That's because it appeared inevitable that the utilities and corporate
interests would get some form of deregulation through the state PUC and the
federal government, which had already opened up the natural gas market.
"Our energy experts thought the PUC was doing it in a way that was overly
friendly to big business and would have ended up having residential customers
subsidizing big business," Lockyer said. "The efforts were made to try to
figure out how to make the market competitive without tilting toward big
business."
The real killer in deregulation, Lockyer contends, is that neither the
Legislature (himself included) nor the governor paid enough attention to the
supply end. That allowed a handful of firms to have near-total control over
power output, Lockyer said. Peace has called this the "domestic equivalent of
OPEC in the West."
Lockyer has been busy demonizing power firms as well. He still faces
criticism for telling the Wall Street Journal his plans for Kenneth Lay,
chairman of the Texas energy trader Enron Corp.: "I'd love to personally
escort Lay to an 8-by-10 cell that he could share with a tattooed dude who
says, 'Hi, my name is Spike, honey.' "
Lockyer, who told The Chronicle he was directing his comments to the East
Coast financial establishment, toned down a bit in a more recent interview.
"The system works well. It doesn't work when there is illegal activity and a
handful of companies that control the whole market," Lockyer said.
And then there is Pringle, who generally has escaped questioning for his role
in getting the 1996 measure passed.
Pringle said he had little impact on the legislation, relying instead on
Brulte.
But he puts some blame on consumer groups that offered Proposition 9 in 1998,
which set out to roll back much of the deregulation measure.
Wilson has charts from the state energy commission showing the application to
build plants spiked up after the measure was defeated. "At the most critical
moment," Pringle said, "when we were trying to suck development into the
state, you had trepidation."
Wilson, Lockyer and Pringle have been relatively silent on the matter when
compared with Peace.
Peace has been waging his own relentless war, both defending the 1996
legislation and accusing the federal government of "creating a flawed
national model of electricity deregulation and then (failing) to confront the
consequences."
The real culprit is far more complicated than just Proposition 9, Peace
contended in a recent letter to Bush.
The state PUC, he said, ordered utilities in the early 1990s to build more
plants, but the utilities got federal regulators to overrule the order.
Among other things, he said, the federal government uncritically adopted a
flawed plan separating the West's transmission system from the generation of
electricity. That allows generators to extort the grid operator by
threatening to withhold power, he added.
Pringle said he can't even attempt to get as detailed as Peace when it comes
to explaining what went wrong.
"Everyone has a degree in which they need to stand up, but the people in
charge today are in charge of fixing it," Pringle said. "If you want to go
around the rosy and say did Republicans blow something? Yeah. Did Wilson?
Yeah. Lockyer, Brulte, Peace? Yeah. The consumer associations? We're all
tagged."

PHOTO (5); Caption: (1) Bill Lockyer, state attorney general, raked energy
CEOs., (2) James Brulte, assemblyman, helped craft deregulation., (3) Curt
Pringle, ex-Assembly speaker, scorned Davis., (4) Steve Peace, state senator,
wants Cisco Systems execs., (5) Pete Wilson, ex- governor, rapped Gov. Gray
Davis.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

USA: California power refund talks begin Monday at FERC.
By Chris Baltimore

06/24/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - California officials looking to win some
payback from power generators who have reaped huge profits from selling
electricity to the state and its utilities get an opportunity this week to
prove their case and push for up to $9 billion in refunds.
A Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) administrative law judge
overseeing refund settlement talks in California's power market said Friday
the energy firms that sold electricity in the state will probably have to pay
back overcharges of "several billion dollars."
In an interview with Reuters, Judge Curtis Wagner, the head FERC
administrative law judge who will preside over the 15-day conference starting
Monday, said California Gov. Gray Davis' claim the state was owed $9 billion
was excessive.
"I think that's high," Wagner said when asked about Davis' figure.
"I'm hoping to come up with a settlement of the issue of a refund of
overcharges - if there are overcharges. My sense is that there probably are,"
he said.
FERC clarified late on Friday that the settlement talks are not limited to
possible California refunds, but may also focus on settling past accounts
related to other power sales in the Pacific Northwest.
Enron Corp. , Mirant Corp. , Duke Energy Corp. , Williams Cos. , Reliant
Energy Inc. and Dynegy Inc. are among the producers that FERC could compel to
make refunds. The companies have said they did nothing wrong.
Davis, the California Public Utilities Commission and the state's
investor-owned utilities will join in the negotiations at FERC headquarters
in Washington. If no agreement is reached, Wagner will have seven days to
make a recommendation to the five FERC commissioners on the refund issue.
The chasm of opinions between the two sides is huge. Davis says power
companies like Duke and Enron collectively owe his state $9 billion in
refunds for overcharges, a far cry from the $130 million in refunds FERC has
so far approved.
Reliant is one of the energy companies that bought power plants divested by
California utilities as a condition of the state's ill-fated deregulation
plan. Along with firms like Dynegy and Enron, it sold power from those plants
to the state for rates at up to $1,000 a megawatt hour.
ENERGY FIRMS BALK AT REFUND DEMAND
Energy producers have balked at Davis' $9 billion figure.
"Obviously we don't agree with figure," said a spokeswoman for Reliant
Energy. "We don't think it's anywhere close to that magnitude."
A Dynegy spokesman said $9 billion was excessive, and Dynegy was "willing to
discuss any reasonable proposals that will lead to a long-term solution."
Davis has painted the energy companies as modern-day robber barons looking to
"bilk" his state out of millions of dollars.
"California has been a cash cow to a lot of energy companies ... that have
done extraordinarily well," the California governor said last week during
Senate testimony.
Davis said he based his figure on a study by the California Independent
System Operator's Department of Market Analysis, which said wholesale prices
exceeded "reasonable competitive market levels" by about $6.7 billion between
May 2000 and February 2001. Extended through May 2001, that amount is closer
to $8.9 billion.
"Refunds are ... a primary vehicle to provide relief" to high energy prices,
Davis said at a Senate hearing Wednesday. "They should be repaid."
Davis accused FERC commissioners of being "asleep at the switch" for not
taking prompt action on refunds.
As part of FERC's price mitigation plan adopted last week to rein in rampant
prices in the California wholesale power market, the agency required all
public utility buyers and sellers to participate in the conference.
All California generators, investor-owned utilities, some municipal utilities
and state officials from the Public Utility Commission and Davis' office will
attend, Wagner said.
The administrative law judge said reaching an agreement in the 15-day period
scheduled for the conference was "going to be tight."
"But it's something we need quick action on," he added. "Sometimes it's best
to have a short time period to do something."
Wagner is also separately hearing the California Public Utilities
Commission's complaint accusing El Paso Corp. of improperly sharing
information with its natural gas marketing arm to boost the price of natural
gas deliveries to California.
The judge has found himself at the center of a political whirlwind over the
role U.S. regulators should take to head off the California energy crisis.
The White House has repeatedly rejected price caps, while Democrats insist
they are the only way to shield rate payers from prices ten times higher than
usual.
"The political arena is not making it any easier," Wagner said, though he
said no lawmaker had contacted him directly on the issue.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

BUSINESS
PGE CRITICIZES ELECTRICITY PRICE LIMITS
GAIL KINSEY HILL of the Oregonian Staff

06/24/2001
Portland Oregonian
SUNRISE
F01
(Copyright (c) The Oregonian 2001)

Summary: The utility says the federal action could make Oregonians the losers
this winter
When federal regulators set price limits last week on wholesale electricity
in the West, they intended to buffer rate increases for consumers and ease
energy shortages in the region.
They may have failed on both counts, at least in the Northwest, according to
Oregon's largest utility.
"Oregonians could well be losers," said Fred Miller, executive vice president
of Portland General Electric, which serves 728,000 residential and business
customers in the state.
PGE officials were so disturbed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's
order that on Friday they faxed a letter to Oregon's congressional delegates
warning that the provisions could increase the likelihood of shortages in the
Northwest this winter, hamper conservation efforts and discourage developers
from building new power plants.
PGE may be the commission's harshest critic in the Northwest. By late last
week other utility officials were still sorting through the 50-page order the
commission posted Tuesday, trying to figure out whether the order bore good,
bad or inconsequential news.
PacifiCorp, Oregon's second-largest utility, declined to comment until
officials had thoroughly reviewed the order.
Some hoped for relief from high-cost power purchases. Others fretted over a
bad situation made worse. But none of the utility officials interviewed by
The Oregonian embraced the order as a sure- fire antidote to energy shortages
and rising retail rates.
PGE serves about 40 percent of the state's electricity customers, primarily
in the populous northern Willamette Valley. The utility, a subsidiary of
power marketer Enron Corp., has opposed price caps ever since policy-makers
began bandying about the idea some months ago.
Under the commission's order, price limits move up or down based on the
operating costs of the least efficient gas-fired power plant called into
service in California during a declared power emergency.
The floating cap is a relatively tame approach to price controls, but PGE
still doesn't like it.
"If you freeze prices, you're going to get more demand and less supply," the
very responses utilities have been trying to counter, Miller said.
During the past year, PGE benefited from high-priced markets. It bought more
power than it needed to serve customers, then sold the excess at a profit.
The strategy is not s sure thing. PGE could have lost money. But it came out
ahead, and it used the proceeds to waylay rate increases.
While utilities throughout the Northwest were raising rates by double digits,
PGE was holding steady.
"We bought long," Miller said. "That's how we avoided rate increases."
Miller has another big worry. This winter. The regulatory commision's order
links the price caps to the operating costs of the least efficient gas-fired
plant operating in California during electric emergencies. In nonemergency
times, the limit falls to 85 percent of that price.
That means the lower price likely will prevail in winter, when demand
slackens in California but rises in the Northwest. Miller maintains the lower
price could discourage suppliers from selling into the region, which
increases the likelihood of shortages in the Northwest.
"Maybe what's most irksome," said Miller, "is that we essentially have turned
over our future this winter to the Californians."
Then, there's B.C. Hydro, a power provider that often sells large amounts of
power to the Northwest in the winter. The price controls may not apply to the
Canadian utility, and Northwest buyers may be forced to pay top dollar for
the imports they often need in winter months.
In its letter to congressional delegates, PGE says it will contact FERC "and
suggest ideas on how the Western energy scenario can be improved but without
unfairly transferring these problems to PGE's customers."
In addition, Miller expects developers who have announced plans to build
power plants may pull away because prices no longer justify the investment.
PGE, Miller said, may scrap two small projects capable of adding about 70
megawatts to the electricity grid.
Debating benefits
When federal regulators issued their order, they said the entire West would
soon feel the benefits of more stable prices.
"The commission's goal remains to fix dysfunctional markets and to ensure
that markets regain their competitive footing as quickly as possible," said
Curt Hebert Jr., chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission'
Responses from other utility officials in the Northwest varied, but none
predicted an easing of rates for consumers.
"We have a mixed reaction to it," said Mark Crisson, Tacoma Power's director
of utilities. "At least they finally did something, but, at this point, it's
too little too late."
Tacoma Power, a municipal utility, was among the first to feel the hit of
high electricity prices, which began their infamous rise in May 2000. Caught
short of electricity as dry weather depleted water needed for hydro-powered
generators, Tacoma rushed to the short term, or "spot" market to cover
customer demand. On one memorable December day, after colder temperatures set
in, it paid almost $3,000 a megawatt-hour, 100 times the usual rate.
Six months ago, the utility raised rates by 50 percent on average, said Mike
Crisson, Tacoma Power's director of utilities. At the same time, it pushed
for price caps but got nowhere.
"We needed them right away," Crisson said. "Here we are, six months later and
they're half-measures."
In the meantime, Tacoma Power, reduced its dependence on the spot market by
locking in long-term contracts, Crisson said.
Other utilities in the region took similar action.
"We're pretty much protected," said Neil Neroutsos, a spokesman for Snohomish
County People's Utility District, Washington's second largest utility.
Seattle City Light, governed and operated by the city, is Washington's
largest utility.
Snohomish raised its rates by 35 percent Jan. 1.
Eugene Water and Electric Board locked in some longer-term contracts to
reduce its reliance on the wholesale market and could actually lose money on
the strategy. If the utility ends up with a surplus and has to sell the extra
power on the market, the caps could make the transactions money-losers, said
Scott Spettel, the utility's power and planning manager.
Even so, Spettel expects the price controls to help more than hurt.
"All in all, lower prices are good for consumers," he said.
Waiting on BPA
Many Northwest utilities, particularly ones that are government-. or
member-owned, rely heavily on Bonneville Power Administration for electricity
and haven't yet heard whether the federal caps will affect new BPA rates to
take effect Oct. 1.
BPA, a federal agency based in Portland, markets almost half the electricity
consumed in the Northwest. It will announce its new rates, which could jump
by more than 75 percent, late this week.
"The order's fairly complex," said Steve Oliver, vice president of bulk power
for BPA. "We're still taking a look."
This summer, BPA will neither buy nor sell much power on the spot market and,
therefore, rarely will deal with the price limits.
Another factor dulling the effect of the regulatory action is the market
itself. Earlier this year, spot prices routinely hit $200 to $300 a
megawatt-hour. They recently dropped to below $100 a megawatt- hour and have
stayed below triple-digit territory.
The weeks ahead likely will put the caps to the test. When hot summer days
sweep through California, spot prices are expected to rise as rapidly as the
mercury.
Energy experts project that Federal Energy Regulatory Commission'sprice
limits will hold prices to about $130 to $150 a megawatt hour. The
projections assume natural gas prices don't spike again.
You can reach Gail Kinsey Hill at 503-221-8590 or by e-mail at
gailhill@news.oregonian.com.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

India: Calcutta HC rejects EMC plea

06/24/2001
Business Line (The Hindu)
Copyright (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL); Source: World Reporter (TM) -
Asia Intelligence Wire

KOLKATA: Mr Justice Prabir Kumar Samanta of the Calcutta High Court rejected
the petition of Electrical Manufacturing Co Ltd (EMC) seeking a directive
from the court to strike down an order of the lower court.
A Civil Judge (Senior Division) of the Sealdah Court vacated an ad-interim
order relating to repayment of loan granted by Enron India Pvt Ltd to EMC to
the tune of Rs 6 crore for constructing a transmission line under the
Maharashtra State Electricity Board.
- Our Bureaus

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

India: DPC lenders unhappy with S&W report

06/23/2001
Business Line (The Hindu)
Copyright (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL); Source: World Reporter (TM) -
Asia Intelligence Wire

MUMBAI, June 22. LENDERS to Dabhol Power Company have asked the engineering
consultant, Stone and Webster (S&W), to rework its report on the cost
implications of mothballing the Dabhol power project.
The lenders were not happy with the consultants for having delayed the
report, it is learnt. Also, the costs were not ratified by Enron.
They have reportedly written to S&W asking it to have a relook at the options
available and rework the figures.
According to sources, the lenders were not satisfied with the costs of
various options worked out by the consultant. Lenders are still deliberating
on a remedy that could be best in the current situation.
According to some reports, S&W had estimated the cost of completing the
project at around $400 million. However, the figure could not be confirmed.
The consultant was mandated to compute the cost of three alternatives -
suspend the project as it stands now without any penalties, mothball the
incomplete project, or complete the project with lenders' funds and then
mothball it. At present, 92 per cent of the project is complete.
The termination of the agreements by construction contractors had almost
ruled out the first option. However, the lenders reportedly were not happy
with Enron too for "contributing" to the delay.
The sources say there is also a possibility that Enron may try to persuade
the contractors to reconsider their decision as the lenders are open to all
options.
Lenders feel that if the consultant had given a thorough report on time, some
arrangement could have been chalked out. S&W was supposed to complete the
report in a week from June 7. That would have enabled the lenders to reach a
concrete decision on funding the rest of the project. Indian lenders have not
met or formally discussed the issue after the Singapore meeting on June 5 and
6.
- Dinesh Narayanan

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Enron CEO gets pie in face

06/23/2001
Press Trust of India Limited
(c) 2001 PTI Ltd.

Washington, June 22 (PTI) Enron Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Skilling was
hit on the head with a pie as he defended energy companies against the
criticism that they created an energy shortage and profiteered from it during
a speech at the Commonwealth Club of California.
Skilling wiped the pie, which had been heaved by activist Francine Cavanaugh,
and carried on with the speech. Cavanaugh was detained but not arrested.
US Senate candidate and consumer activist Medea Benjamin said Cavanaugh was
from an international pie-throwing group called the Biotic Baking Brigade.
The group has thrown pies at several notable figures, including Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates and Mayor Willie Brown.
Enron has come under fire after accusations from Californian Governor Gray
Davis and State officials for allegedly forcing electricity prices skyward by
holding back supply.
Enron and other companies have denied such charges. They claim that the State
and State-based utilities owe them billions in unpaid bills.
(THROUGH ASIA PULSE) 23-06 2001

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

EDITORIAL
POWER POLLUTION NO LAUGHING MATTER

06/23/2001
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Broward Metro
14A
(Copyright 2001 by the Sun-Sentinel)

Mr. Lowe's cartoon on the very important issue of power plants was very
irresponsible and played only for laughs.
Anyone in his right mind would not place three power plants, two of which
will burn dirty diesel fuel (Enron's), in an urban area, within two miles of
each other.
There are hospitals, schools, homes, community centers, nursing homes, etc.,
under the shadow of a combined seven 80-foot smokestacks spewing out their
poison.
There are much better options: such as cleaner plants spread out over a much
larger area. Florida Power & Light and the Broward County Commission have
stated that Florida has enough power for the next 10 years. A moratorium
hopefully will be put in place for one year to wait for the 20/20 study. What
is the rush? Is it because Enron, a megabusiness along with their strong
political presence (the White House and governor's mansions) has a complete
disregard for the people?
Maybe the next very funny cartoon by Lowe will be a few babies choking while
the smokestacks are burning. Humor is important, but let him know the facts
before he uses his barbs.
Ann Mantell
Coconut Creek

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

San Francisco Tourists Just Roll with the Outages
Jasmine Kripalani

06/23/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: Contra Costa Times - Walnut Creek,
California
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World
Reporter (TM)

SAN FRANCISCO--Tourists are constantly asking the gift shop manager at Coit
Tower if a blackout could occur while they ride the elevator to the top of
the 210-foot fire hose nozzle-shaped landmark.
"They're serious when they ask it. I always tell 'em, `We got the last guy
out in only three days,'" said Walt Lo.
Tour guides, hotel managers and gift shop clerks in the Bay Area have
developed a sense of humor about the California energy crisis. But for many
visitors the perception of blackouts conjures up images of streets without
traffic lights and people trapped in elevators.
Before leaving their Indiana suburb for vacation, Mike and Lisa Bonahoom
worried about what was ahead, but not enough to stop them from booking a
three-night stay at the room designed by former Grateful Dead frontman Jerry
Garcia in the Hotel Triton.
"The perception in the Midwest is that (Californians) don't have lights,"
said Mike Bonahoom.
Lisa, added: "We heard news reports that they shut the lights off every day
(at a set time) in order to save electricity, and people would plan their day
around that I worried about getting stuck in an elevator for hours, but I
didn't mention any of this to the kids."
It's a fear California's travel and tourism commission is taking so seriously
that it has handed a public relations firm about a half-million dollars to
plan an advertising campaign that will convince the rest of the world that
it's still safe to travel to the Golden State.
Communications director Fred Sater blames visitors' fears on the media's use
of the term "rolling blackout."
"`Planned outage' or `power interruption' -- that's the correct phrase," he
said. Sater believes "rolling blackout" inaccurately implies long periods of
darkness across the state.
The San Francisco visitors bureau has taken a less expensive approach. It has
posted a letter and Frequently Asked Questions list on its Web site
(www.sfvisitor.org) that assures potential visitors that emergency services
are still available and that they won't get stuck on an amusement park ride.
But all the warnings in the world wouldn't have done much good on Thursday at
about 1:10 p.m. when the lights in parts of San Francisco flickered, then
went out for about an hour.
Pacific Gas & Electric said 7,000 of its customers were without power and
attributed it to a bad cable between Broadway and Vallejo on Mason Street.
One of those customers included a souvenir shop near Fisherman's Wharf.
Kathy Joy had to wait several minutes before she could complete a sweatshirt
purchase. The cashier rushed to the front of the store with her solar-powered
calculator in hand and returned with a total.
"That'll be $19.90," Sharon Stevenson told Joy and added that she could only
accept cash. Joy had the cash.
Other stores, many of which mistook the outage for a blackout, were forced to
shut down their businesses.
Sean Farber, a sales manager at Studio 39, a video-making business in which a
person's body is transposed on a backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge, took
advantage of the power outage to express his political viewpoint by posting a
sign that read: "Thanks to PG&E, Enron, and George W Bush We will be closed
until 3:00."
Others saw the outage as an entrepreneurial opportunity.
"Hey, folks, there's a rolling blackout. You might as well go on a Bay
cruise," a tour operator loudly offered.
Many didn't even notice the hourlong power outage.
Two visitors from Naples, Fla., who were in town for the NASCAR races,
noticed the darkened businesses only after a reporter pointed it out.
"Well, if this means I can't get into the pub, I will be very upset," said
Craig Barrero, who was clad in shorts and toting a video recorder.
Other tourists said the only time the energy crisis has affected them is when
they're ready to check out of their hotel room.
When Robyn and Ben Reeve from Australia walked into their room at the Hilton
on Fisherman's Wharf, they found the usual amenities: tightly tucked linens
between mattresses and the bathroom towels symmetrically draped over a brass
bar.
The Reeves also found a letter from the general manager informing them that
they would have to pay a $2.85 energy tax per night.

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

El Paso Awaits Decision as Generators Prepare to Face Lawsuits
2001-06-23 11:56 (New York)

El Paso Awaits Decision as Generators Prepare to Face Lawsuits

     (For more on California's energy crisis, see {EXTRA <GO>}

     Washington, June 23 (Bloomberg) -- El Paso Corp., the owner
of the biggest network of interstate natural-gas pipelines, is the
first company to face a public hearing on charges of manipulating
California energy prices. It likely won't be the last.
     U.S. Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner is to decide by
Sept. 24 on allegations that El Paso held natural gas off the
California market to boost prices. The U.S. Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission can accept or reject Wagoner's ruling.
     The case was brought by the state's two biggest utilities and
the California Public Utilities Commission, which also is working
with state Attorney General Bill Lockyer on a civil lawsuit
against power producers. Lockyer plans to convene a grand jury
next month to investigate claims that the generators withheld
electricity to drive up prices.
     ``You're getting the attorney general and the CPUC looking at
potentially going into court,'' said Mark Easterbrook, an analyst
with Dain Rauscher Wessels. ``Investors just don't want to deal
with this uncertainty.''
     The Standard & Poor's Utilities Index, whose members include
generators Mirant Corp., Duke Energy Corp. and Reliant Energy
Inc., has fallen 8 percent in the past month. The S&P Natural Gas
Distributors & Pipe Lines Index has dropped 17 percent. It
includes El Paso and energy traders Enron Corp., Dynegy Inc. and
Williams Cos.
     California's electricity prices rose more than ninefold in
the first quarter from a year earlier, and state officials
forecast that shortages during hot weather may bring as many as 30
days of blackouts through August.
     Generators have repeatedly said they didn't break the law,
blaming high prices on rising demand and a lack of new supply. No
major power plants have been built for a decade in California.
     ``These investigations are built around some sort of odd
theory of market manipulation, and we did absolutely no such
thing,'' Mirant spokesman Chuck Griffin said. ``Our dealings have
been above-board and according to the rules that were established
before we were even in the market.''

                           Common Theme

     Both El Paso and the generators are accused of withholding
supplies to drive up prices. Lockyer says power companies held
back electricity under the guise of routine plant maintenance,
forcing utilities to pay soaring prices for megawatts that
remained on the market.
     The El Paso case stems from the Houston-based company's sale
of California-bound pipeline capacity to its merchant-energy unit.
Plaintiffs allege the El Paso unit withheld the billion cubic feet
of space to drive up natural-gas prices in California. Gas is used
to fuel many of the state's power plants.
     FERC economists testified on behalf of the CPUC and the
utilities, PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric and Edison
International's Southern California Edison. California gas prices
ranged from $11.79 to $18.80 per thousand cubic feet by December,
compared to $4 to $7 elsewhere in the U.S., a FERC study showed.
     ``At least part of the FERC staff took seriously the idea
that a firm could establish market power and raise prices,'' said
Severin Borenstein, director of the University of California's
Energy Institute, who isn't involved in the El Paso trial.

                            Gas Prices

     El Paso argues that gas prices surged because the state's
electricity shortage spurred generators to run their plants almost
nonstop, and utilities' credit risk increased as they ran out of
cash buying power at soaring prices.
     Judge Wagner finished hearing testimony this week on the
market-manipulation charge. He is now investigating claims that El
Paso's merchant-energy unit unfairly won the 15-month pipeline
contract.
     Whatever the outcome, the hearings may educate California
investigators about energy trading. State deregulation of energy
markets has boosted profits for trading companies that buy and
sell electricity and natural gas.
     ``California is learning how to understand the energy
markets,'' said Michael Aguirre, a former prosecutor handling two
lawsuits against power companies, one for California Lieutenant
Governor Cruz Bustamante. ``The learning curve has been a very
steep one.''

Alleged Power Overcharges May Be Less Than Calif Argues
By Jason Leopold

06/22/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- Nearly every energy company, including municipal
utilities, that has the ability to supply California with electricity has
allegedly overcharged the state tens millions of dollars over the course of a
year, according to the state's power grid operator.
But the $9 billion total in alleged overcharges detailed by Gov. Gray Davis
to the U.S. Congress this week may have been overstated by more than $2
billion, according to documents obtained by Dow Jones Newswires.
Generators whose wholesale power prices are regulated by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission, or FERC, allegedly overcharged the state $2.1 billion
from May to September 2000 and $2.6 billion between October and February,
according to the ISO. FERC can order refunds only from October onward because
of a federal law that requires a filing for refunds to be made within 60 days
of the purchases, according to FERC. The ISO began appealing for refunds in
December, claiming the alleged overcharges were a result of market power, or
the ability to boost wholesale prices above competitive levels.
However, a $1 billion alleged overcharge by Sempra Energy Trading Corp. and
San Diego Gas & Electric, both units of Sempra Energy (SRE), was deleted by
the ISO, according to the documents. The ISO wouldn't explain the reason it
erased the company's alleged overcharge.
Generators said Davis's numbers "didn't add up" and maintained that they
didn't overcharge the state.
The ISO said it planned to recalculate the figures but the agency didn't
discredit Davis's refund estimate.
Some of the numbers calculated by the ISO are much higher than the companies'
entire earnings for 2000, according to earnings statements.
Energy companies with the largest overcharges between May 2000 and February,
as alleged by the ISO:
British Columbia Power Exchange Corp.: $439 million
Aquila Inc. (ILA): $48 million
Automated Power Exchange: $16 million
Calpine Corp. (CPN): $236 million
Coral Power LLC: $27 million
Duke Energy Corp. (DUK): $804 million
Electric Clearinghouse Inc. (DYN): $530 million
Enron Corp. (ENE): $39 million
El Paso Corp. (EPG) : $29 million
Idaho Power (IDA): $28 million
Portland General Electric: $44 million
Puget Sound Energy: $24 million
Reliant Energy Inc. (REI) $750 million
Mirant Corp. (MIR), formerly Southern Co., $753 million
Sempra Energy Trading Corp. (SRE): $82 million (this number has been
eliminated by the ISO)
Williams Cos. (WMB) $860 million
-By Jason Leopold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874;
jason.leopold@dowjones.com

Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.


Jeff:
To explain the P&L of -349,000  :
We executed the trade when you gave the order (the delta anyway), first thing
in the morning.  The market rallied 8 cents from the morning, with the back
rallying about 2.5 cents.  On 904 PV contracts, curve shift was -226,000.
The balance, $123,000,  is almost exactly $.01 bid/mid, which I think is
pretty fair considering the tenor of the deal and that it included price and
vol.  Cal 3 straddles, for instance, are $1.39 / $1.45.

Looking out for you bubbeh:
John


Don't worry

Dale Neuner on 06/30/99 07:57:09 AM
To: Tanya Rohauer/HOU/ECT@ECT, Sara Shackleton/HOU/ECT@ECT, Jeff
Harbert/HOU/ECT@ECT, Chris H Foster/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: Performanace Review

Just a friendly reminder, please make every effort to complete my review
today. Jeff Sorenson (my Manager) will be giving me my review tomorrow, as I
will be out of the office for the next two weeks.

Thanks in advance, and I appreciate your time and effort.

Dale
3-9746


--

__________________________________________________________________
Your favorite stores, helpful shopping tools and great gift ideas. Experience the convenience of buying online with Shop@Netscape! http://shopnow.netscape.com/

Get your own FREE, personal Netscape Mail account today at http://webmail.netscape.com/

--------- Inline attachment follows ---------

From:  <LAdams5799@aol.com>
To: AdamsHolly@netscape.net
CC: NurseRatchett94@cs.com
Date: Thursday, February 14, 2002 9:21:15 GMT
Subject:


That's fine.  They probably want the original.

Marie

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Templeton, Kelly
Sent:	Tuesday, October 23, 2001 3:00 PM
To:	Heard, Marie
Subject:	Morgan Stanley

Sheila now says that Morgan Stanley may require the original because of the signatures.  I will let you know.

Thanks,
Kelly Templeton
Administrative Assistant
Financial Trading Risk Management
Ph:   713-853-9945
Fax:  713-646-2196


????
Delainey
---------------------- Forwarded by David W Delainey/HOU/ECT on 06/08/2000
08:51 AM ---------------------------

	Enron North America Corp.

	From:  Scott Healy                           06/07/2000 05:31 PM

To: Don Miller/HOU/ECT@ECT, David W Delainey/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: W David Duran/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: Gleason

Bob Virgo has informed me that the desk wants to convert Gleason to combined
cycle.  Bob told me this in the context of asking me whether Calpine would
sell us any additional combined cycle equipment (i.e., steam turbines).  My
guess is they won't.

If 1) it was of interest to us and 2) we are really going to convert Gleason,
I think I could get Calpine to execute a purchase/short term tolling
transaction on Gleason on favorable terms.  I say this for the following
reasons:

1.  Calpine is typically a strong bid for combined cycle installations.
2.  Calpine has been trying unsuccessfully to get a combined cycle project in
TVA (due to their rank in the cue) and thinks that it will take them a year
to get through TVA.  We actually think that their project is blocked.
3.  Calpine would likely take the incremental construction cost risk on the
transaction.
4.  I believe that Calpine would undertake the permitting and interconnection
work at their cost  and risk, if needed.  Given the cost of preparing a
combined cycle permit along with the potential fight that ENA might face from
TVA in such an effort, this risk sharing scenario could be attractive to ENA.
5.  Calpine would likely accept a short term tolling arrangement.  On their
eastern assets, Calpine is generally executing 1-2 year deals.
6.  Calpine particularly in the east has been aggressively purchasing
projects.
7.  If feasible, Calpine would probably be willing to further increase the
size of Gleason.  Calpine's current plants announcements are generally in the
700-1,000 MW range.

I know that Dave Delainey has not previously supported selling Gleason
individually.  However, you may want to investigate if anything has changed
in this circumstance, particularly since we are not generally a strong bid
for combined cycle projects.  Please let me know.

FYI--Dave Duran and I are meeting with Bob Kelly of Calpine on next Tuesday
to discuss the use of Enron NOLs in Calpine's PG&E contract buyouts.


As we discussed on the phone, Mike Garred with CES is requesting a copy of
the CES demand charge sheet.  Please let me know if you approve.


BammelYoungFamilies

--------------------------- ListBot Sponsor --------------------------
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----------------------------------------------------------------------

-----Original Message-----
From: Koscinski, Chris J
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2001 2:31 PM
To: Pettit, James D; Pettit, Jared L; Neely, Chad A; Mccalister, Mike
Subject: FW: Center of the Bible

-----Original Message-----
From: 	Wayne Sheppard [mailto:wsheppard@houston.rr.com]
Sent:	Wednesday, April 18, 2001 10:27 PM
To:	Chris Koscinski; Louis Booth; David Schraudt; Catherine Frank; Diane
Miller; Bell (work); Mike Schmulbach; Patricia Escobar; Cheryl Saiz; Paul
Fruia; Sheryl Nolan; Julie Rodriguez; Zack Saiz; Jeff Showers; Phil
Sparkman; Rey Organo; Rod & Tanya Chapman; Patricia Hines; Jennifer Hughey;
Paula Sheppard; Kim Trent; Bob Messer; Lori W(work); James and Ethel Nimene;
Lisa Hackett; Dennis(home); Richard Haines; Fred Hackett; Johnna Thompson;
Suresh Chainani; Alan Woods; Jeremy Goodell; David Lacey; Nicole Thompson;
Michael Thompson; Joe Karraker; Raymond  and Shirley Budewig; Ed & Robin
Rogers; James & Shirley Bain; David Gulley; Kernie Baker; Chad Neely; Steve
Mittanck
Subject:	Fw: Center of the Bible

----- Original Message -----
From:	GnGHerr <cleere@cooke.net>
To:	Ray&Becky Rumley <ray76245@gte.net>; Rose Schmidlkoffer
	<rose_sews@hotmail.com>; Luke Powell <speedskater46@aol.com>;
Charlotte
	Powell <SPEEDSKATERMO@aol.com>; Tony and Bunny Marr
<marrftal@bbtel.com>;
	James Klement <sjklement@hotmail.com>; Lori Lee Huchton
	<lkleme01@sprintspectrum.com>; Laurie Herr <jlnsons@konnect.net>;
Eve Herr
	<eveherr@swbell.net>; Leanne Hacker <lhacker@ntin.net>; Todd Davis
	<rtdavis@quixnet.net>; Patty Davis <Pdavis@mhmrabv.org>; Jean & Bill
Brown
	<billandjean@vzinet.com>; Joe & Michele Best <josephbest@msn.com>;
Imogene
	Dean <blanddean@aol.com>
Sent:	Wednesday, April 18, 2001 5:36 PM
Subject:	Fw: Center of the Bible

-----Original Message-----
From:	Tara Webster <tj_aggies@hotmail.com>
To:	webster@flash.net <webster@flash.net>; cleere@cooke.net
<cleere@cooke.net>; MScott@NGPTRS.com <MScott@NGPTRS.com>;
basketballchick13@excite.com <basketballchick13@excite.com>; alic07@aol.com
<alic07@aol.com>; ANH83@aol.com <ANH83@aol.com>; flowrgurl5@aol.com
<flowrgurl5@aol.com>; SummerFurler@aol.com <SummerFurler@aol.com>;
baylorchick01@aol.com <baylorchick01@aol.com>; bugz@airmail.net
<bugz@airmail.net>; jo_lee2003@hotmail.com <jo_lee2003@hotmail.com>;
kfisham@juno.com <kfisham@juno.com>; lch516@juno.com <lch516@juno.com>;
snodgrl@hotmail.com <snodgrl@hotmail.com>; lhacker@ntin.net
<lhacker@ntin.net>; lucym2911@aol.com <lucym2911@aol.com>; ryanv@hesston.edu
<ryanv@hesston.edu>; frog2001@juno.com <frog2001@juno.com>;
uwish02@hotmail.com <uwish02@hotmail.com>; vlightbulb@aol.com
<vlightbulb@aol.com>; welavo@hotmail.com <welavo@hotmail.com>
Date:	Wednesday, April 18, 2001 5:09 PM
Subject:	Center of the Bible

>
>
>
>>
>>I thought you would find this pretty intresting. Maybe you have seen it
>>before but i never had.
>>
>>
>>>> > >> >>> >> > Center of the Bible
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>What is the shortest chapter in the Bible?
>>(Answer - Psalms117)
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>What is the longest chapter in the Bible?
>>(Answer - Psalms 119)
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>Which chapter is in the center of the Bible?
>>(Answer Psalms 118)
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>Fact: There are 594 chapters before Psalms 118
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>Fact: There are 594 chapters after Psalms 118
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>Add these numbers up and you get 1188
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>What is the center verse in the Bible?
>>(Answer - Psalms 118:8)
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>Does this verse say something significant about
>>God's perfect will for our lives? The next time someone says they would
>>like to find God's perfect will for their lives and that they want to be
in
>>the center of His will, just send them to the center of His Word!
>>>> > >> >>> >> >
>>>> > Psalms 118:8 (NKJV)
>>                 "It is better to trust in the LORD than to
>>                  put confidence in man."
>>
>>Now isn't that odd how this worked out
>>(or was God in the center of it)?
>>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
>

______________________________________________________________________
To unsubscribe, write to BammelYoungFamilies-unsubscribe@listbot.com


lunch today great with me.  how about you.

call or write

713 853 6439

e


Hi gang.  We still need to make some changes to Sea Robin.

I believe we need 2 pricing zones, Mainline Pool and Offshore.  The new Sea
Robin curve will be used to value the Offshore zone and we will use CGLF/La
curve to value everything else.  Per my discussion with Christine, the
following meters should be moved/mapped to the Offshore zone;

Meter
4743
4747
4741
4754
4771
4753
4794
4728
4700
4749
4751
9740
6335
6333
4794
4700
4850
ISRP84
FSRP3
2SRP9

Please let me know what I need to do or if anyone has any questions.

	From:  David Oliver                           05/08/2000 01:42 PM

To: Chris Germany/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

Chris,

Here is the thread on the Sea Robin Curve

Dave

---------------------- Forwarded by David Oliver/HOU/ECT on 05/08/2000 01:41
PM ---------------------------
From: David Oliver on 05/03/2000 08:19 AM
To: Imelda Frayre/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: William Kelly/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

I think the best thing to do would be to create a separate zone for all of
those ISRP meters.  The traders typically take deals from ISRP to the Pool
and incur transport.  Therefore having two zone would more accurately
represent what is actually happening.

I am in London helping Brent Price with some audit work that he is doing.

David

Imelda Frayre

05/03/2000 08:07 AM
To: David Oliver/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: William Kelly/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

Well, whenever we map specific meters on a zone to curves that are different
than what the entire zone is mapped to, we create an alternative facility
mapping for each specific meter that you want mapped differently.  Currently,
there are 137 active meters on the Sea Robin Pool zone with a prefix of
ISRP.  That would mean I would have to create 137 alternative facility
mappings.  Another alternative would be to have all of those meters moved to
their own zone and then just create one mapping for that whole zone.
However, this will also take a great deal of time, since Global Facilities
would have to change the zone on every single facility record.  Plus, we
would have to see what type of activity is on all of these meters and we
would have to update the zone on all of these deals after Global Facilities
made it's change.  So, let me know what your thoughts are.  What are you
doing in London???

Imelda
---------------------- Forwarded by Imelda Frayre/HOU/ECT on 05/03/2000 07:58
AM ---------------------------
From: David Oliver on 05/03/2000 07:54 AM
To: Imelda Frayre/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: William Kelly/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

Imelda,

I am in London right now, and dont' have access to a phone.  The only part of
Sea robin that should be moved are the meters with a prefix of ISRP.  I'm
sorry if that wasn't clear.  Please let me know if that will be a problem to
fix.

David

Imelda Frayre

05/03/2000 07:47 AM
To: William Kelly/HOU/ECT@ECT, David Oliver/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: Karie Hastings/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

David, Sea Robin Pool is a zone on the Sea Robin Pipeline (SEAR).  The Sea
Robin Pool zone includes many different meters some of which do have a prefix
of ISRP.  However, there are also other meters in that zone that have the
following prefixes: LSRP, FSRP and PSRP.  I mapped the entire zone to the new
curves you sent us.  Given your message it seems like things might not be
peachy after all if you only wanted the ISRP meters mapped that way.  Please
call me as soon as you get a chance.

Imelda Frayre
x35423
---------------------- Forwarded by Imelda Frayre/HOU/ECT on 05/03/2000 07:38
AM ---------------------------
From: David Oliver on 05/03/2000 02:40 AM
To: William Kelly/HOU/ECT@ECT, Imelda Frayre/HOU/ECT@ECT, Karie
Hastings/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

I am not sure if Searobin ISRP is a meter level location or Zone level, but
as long as only Sea Robin Pool ISRP locations are mapped to the new curve,
then everything will be peachy.

David

To: David Oliver/HOU/ECT
cc:
Subject: Re: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

Dave - they called me on this to see if it was a meter mapping or a zone
mapping.  I said zone.....

KARIE HASTINGS
05/02/2000 05:31 PM
To: William Kelly/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

---------------------- Forwarded by Karie Hastings/HOU/ECT on 05/02/2000
05:29 PM ---------------------------

	From:  David Oliver                           04/28/2000 04:10 PM

To: Imelda Frayre/HOU/ECT@ECT, Karie Hastings/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: Alicia Perkins/HOU/ECT@ECT, Crystal Hyde/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: Sea Robin Well Head Curve

Imelda and Karie,

The East desk traders have asked me to set up a new curve for the Sear/Sea
Robin Pool/ISRP zone.  The curve is already set up in Erms.  Please do your
sitara voodoo to map the above location to this new curve.

Pipe Zone   Intramonth  Mid  Gas Daily
SEAR Sea Robin Pool/ISRP      IF-Searobinwh IF-Colgulf/LA
GDC-Searobinwh


Well, the staff level is prettly low here, for just about every group related
to HPL.  Stacey did leave, so I am back to trading Waha.  However, it's going
a lot better this time.  I am actualy enjoying it somewhat.  With the
majority of the desk leaving, I am looking into moving into the day trading
arena for the new Texas Desk.  We'll see how that goes.  Bidweek was kinda
rough this time.  In addition to Stacey leaving during the middle of the
week, we have some major outages on the A/S line where we have to stay
balanced on Texoma and balanced on the south end.  The line has been split
into two seperate systems.  Handling that has been a constant battle.  Plus,
with the pending sale, people just don't care as much about the business.
It's a little harder to get things done.

Anyway, things are going pretty good at the house.  But, the list of things
to fix and do keeps getting longer and longer.  We are extremely busy.  The
kids are loving the stairs.  You ought to see Jake go down.  We taught him to
turn around backwards and crawl down the stairs on his belly.  Well, that was
too slow for him.  Now, he get's on his belly, feet up in the air, and slides
down, barely skiming the stairs.  He looks a penguin sliding down a snow
bank, except on his stomach.  Cole is doing his best to either run Jake off
or make him tough.  Cole runs over Jake with his toys, pushes Jake out the
way, or just walks right over him.  It doesn't affect Jake, though, he gets
right back up and keeps on going.

Anyway, I need to get back to work.  Hope the family is doing well.  Maybe
you can come down for lunch next week.  I'll give you a call in the next
couple of days.

D

"buylow" <buylow@houston.rr.com> on 03/31/2001 02:24:42 AM
To: "Daren Farmer" <daren.j.farmer@enron.com>
cc:
Subject: Me Again

Did you survive bid week?
?
I hear you lost another employee (Stacey). If you need someone  to work for
you I suppose I'm free (in a freedom sense, not $). Do you have any  staff
left?
?
Just giving you a hard time. (like you need one)
?
Gotta run. Almost have my *&%$#!!@# taxes done. If people  had to write a ?personal check every quarter for their taxes there would be some  big ?changes. It sucks.???Later,?Ken??????


what is going on?  i haven't heard from you in a while.  are you still
heading to phoenix this weekend?


Good Morning,

Exciting News!!  We now have a new Portland Web based IT incident & tracking
application to replace the existing Westdeskitissues.mde Access application.
The new Web based solution adds several key enhancements that will hopefully
improve IT response time and improve our communications back to you when
problems are resolved.

Here are some of the key enhancments:
1.  Ability to query outstanding & resolved issues.
2.  IT problem/resolution knowledge base.
3.  Web page that displays important IT contact information.
4.  Automatic email notifications to resolution team members.
4.  And much, much, more.

For those of you who may be new to the office, or may have forgotten about
the old Westitissues.mde application.  This application is continuously
monitored by the production support team for infrastructure (PC's, Monitors,
terminal-server, LAN, WAN, etc) and application (Enpower, Portcalc, CAPS,
etc.) problems or enhancements requested by users.  This database is also
summarized to capture metrics which are then used to evaluate the performance
of the IT group.

Here are the steps to using the new West Desk Problem Tracking System:

New Login:

1. Go to http://westdesksupport/
2. Click the Login button towards the bottom of the page.
3. In the UserName Box, Enter:  ITWD.
4. For the Password type in: Password.
5. On the next Screen, fill out all the information. (Only certain fields are
required, but filling out everything is preferable)
6. After Clicking the submit button, you are going to be asked to login with
the new username and password you created in the New User Area.
7. Upon submitting, you will come to the main index page.

Adding a WorkOrder:

1. On the Main index page, click on the link add incident to log under the
heading of West Desk Links.
2. Fill out as much information as possible. For IT Contact, please enter
appropriate contact, or if you are not sure, select mtully.
3. Select Priority. (This may be changed by IT)
4. Submit form.

Note: For the description and response fields, you may use html tags for the
formatting of text for display.

The rest is pretty self explanatory. If you hover your cursor over a link or
picture or text box, a texttip will appear and tell you what that link or
textbox is for.

Thanks,

Mike Tully
Trading Floor Support

P.S. When entering a incident, there are two different types of "NEW
Requests". One is New Request (Problem). This is used for reporting an error
or problem with an application. The other is New Request (Enhancement) which
is used for requesting an enhancement to an application.


Start Date: 4/22/01; HourAhead hour: 1;  No ancillary schedules awarded.
Variances detected.
Variances detected in Load schedule.

    LOG MESSAGES:

PARSING FILE -->> O:\Portland\WestDesk\California Scheduling\ISO Final
Schedules\2001042201.txt

---- Load Schedule ----
$$$ Variance found in table tblLoads.
     Details: (Hour: 1 / Preferred:   5.33 / Final:   5.30)
  TRANS_TYPE: FINAL
  LOAD_ID: SCE1
  MKT_TYPE: 2
  TRANS_DATE: 4/22/01
  SC_ID: EPMI


User ID:  enrondlr
PW:        bnaweb22

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	"BNA Highlights" <bhighlig@bna.com>@ENRON [mailto:IMCEANOTES-+22BNA+20Highlights+22+20+3Cbhighlig+40bna+2Ecom+3E+40ENRON@ENRON.com]
Sent:	Wednesday, August 01, 2001 11:09 PM
To:	BNA Highlights
Subject:	Aug. 2 -- BNA, Inc. Daily Labor Report

______________________________

DAILY LABOR REPORT
Highlights & Table of Contents
August 2, 2001
______________________________

ISSN 1522-5968

Registered Web subscribers can access the full text of these
articles by using the URL link supplied.

Information about becoming a subscriber or signing up for a
FREE Web trial is available at http://web.bna.com or call
BNA Customer Relations at 1-800-372-1033, Mon. - Fri. 8:30
am - 7:00 pm (ET).
__________

HIGHLIGHTS
__________

NLRB MAY SOON EXPERIENCE MORE VACANCIES IF BUSH DOES NOT ACT

The five-member National Labor Relations Board, which has
been operating with one vacancy for almost a year, may soon
experience additional vacancies if President Bush does not
take action to keep current members in office and/or bring
in new members. The term of Peter J. Hurtgen (R), who joined
the board in November 1997 and was named chairman in May,
expires Aug. 27. He would then leave the board unless the
president nominates him for a second term or names him to a
recess appointment when Congress is not in session. Veteran
board official John C. Truesdale (D) had announced that he
will step down as a board member by Oct. 1, or earlier if
the Senate confirms a replacement or Bush wants to make a
recess appointment. After six months in office, Bush still
has not taken action to fill the vacant Republican seat and
replace Truesdale, which has allowed the board to continue
functioning with a majority of Democratic members.

Dennis P. Walsh (D), who was named to a recess appointment
by former President Clinton, will have to leave office when
Congress adjourns its 2001 session, which could occur as
early as October, unless Bush nominates him for a second
term and he is confirmed by the Senate. He cannot serve two
consecutive recess appointments. Member Wilma B. Liebman's
(D) term does not expire until Dec. 16, 2002. The fifth
board seat has been vacant since Aug. 27, 2000, when former
Member J. Robert Brame's (R) term expired. . . . Page AA-1

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c0p2_

EMPLOYEE ARBITRATING COMMON LAW CLAIMS NOT SPARED
ARBITRATION FEES

A 1997 ruling by the D.C. Circuit exempting employees who
agree to arbitrate federal statutory claims from paying
certain arbitration fees does not extend to employees'
common law claims rooted in public policy, the D.C. Circuit
rules ("Brown v. Wheat First Securities Inc.,  "D.C. Cir.,
No. 00-7171,  7/31/01).

Judge Williams declines to extend the holding in "Cole v.
Burns International Security Services" and upholds an
arbitrator's order requiring Ronald L. Brown to pay $6,365
in arbitration costs on his claims for wrongful termination,
breach of implied contract, defamation, slander, and
tortious interference against Wheat First Securities Inc.
"In short, the proposed extension of "Cole" would
significantly alter the terms of the Federal Arbitration
Act, imposing a serious procedural limit on a wide (but
unpredictable) range of arbitration claims, all without the
slightest signal from Congress," the appeals court
concludes. . . . Page A-7

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f0u6_

FIRING UNIONIST DAD WHO LEFT WORK EARLY WAS NOT ULP, SPLIT
NLRB SAYS

A New York automobile dealer did not violate federal labor
law by discharging a parts department employee, who was a
union member, for leaving the job early after an emergency
call from his 13-year-old son, a divided NLRB rules ("Tom
Rice Buick, Pontiac & GMC Truck Inc., "334 NLRB No. 91,
7/26/01).

Tom Rice Buick of Huntington, N.Y., "met its burden of
proving that it would have terminated [Thomas] Fell even in
the absence of his union activity, because he closed the
parts department and left work early, without notice to or
permission from management, and in spite of knowing that a
customer needed parts department services," Chairman Hurtgen
and Member Truesdale write.

Dissenting Member Liebman would have found a violation of
Section 8(a) of the National Labor Relations Act. The
discharge decision, shortly after an unlawful discussion of
Fell's union membership, amounted to "severe, "unlawfully
motivated " punishment of a man put in a tough spot, seeking
to do the right thing for his child," she observes. . . .
Page A-1

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7b8p6_

SENATE COMMITTEE OKS MEASURE TO RENEW, EXPAND MENTAL HEALTH
PARITY

The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
approves a bill to extend and expand the 1996 law that
requires group health plans offering mental health benefits
to make those benefits available on a equal basis with
benefits for physical health care.

The committee votes 21-0 to approve the Mental Health
Equitable Treatment Act of 2001 (S. 543), sponsored by Sens.
Wellstone (D-Minn.) and Domenici (D-N.M.), which would
extend and expand the 1996 mental health parity law that is
set to expire Sept. 30. Although the committee vote was
unanimous, several members indicated they plan to bring
amendments when the measure moves to the Senate floor. The
committee also approves an amendment that would exempt
companies with 50 or fewer employees.

The bill would provide for full parity for all categories of
mental health conditions in the "Diagnostic and Statistical
Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth edition (DSM IV-TR)". The
1996 law, by contrast, defined mental health benefits as
those "defined under the terms of the plan or coverage." . .
. Page A-8

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f1z9_

PRELIMINARY INJUNCTION ORDERS CHRISTIAN COALITION NOT TO
RETALIATE

A federal judge in Washington, D.C., issues a preliminary
injunction ordering the Christian Coalition of America not
to retaliate against nine African American current and
former employees who are suing for race discrimination ("Lee
v. Christian Coalition of Am. Inc., " D.D.C.,  No. 01-0405,
7/27/01).

In what he describes as an issue of first impression, Judge
Urbina says that without the injunction, the low-paid
employees might be irreparably harmed by having to go on
welfare during the course of the litigation. "This is
precisely the type of relief that cannot be remedied at the
end of this litigation," he writes. The coalition strongly
denies the charges and has already filed an appeal in the
D.C. Circuit, according to its attorney. . . . Page A-3

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7a2c9_

______________

TODAY'S EVENTS
______________

UNEMPLOYMENT: Weekly data on initial claims for unemployment
benefits released, 8:30 a.m., Labor Department.

________________

ALSO IN THE NEWS
________________

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK: The latest survey results released by the
National Association of Purchasing Management show a
manufacturing sector still in decline during July and
sluggish growth continuing across the rest of the U.S.
economy. NAPM's purchasing managers' index fell by 1.1
percentage points to 43.6 percent in July from a reading of
44.7 percent in June. . . . Page A-2

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c5b4_

ORGANIZING: The AFL-CIO's Executive Council hears about the
initial effort under its new political/organizing
mobilization program first announced in May. The new program
was used to mobilize union members to work against passage
of trade promotion authority, AFL-CIO officials say. Twenty
field staff and two dozen national union staff will work
nationwide on legislative issues. . . . Page B-1

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7a7y4_

POLITICS:A Thurston County Superior Court judge imposes a
$400,000 penalty on the Washington Education Association for
intentional violations of the state campaign financing law
over a five-year period. . . . Page A-9

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f7z7_

TRANSPORTATION: The Senate approves the fiscal year 2002
transportation appropriations bill (H.R. 2299) after two
weeks of debate on its provisions to restrict Mexican trucks
from operating in the United States. . . . Page A-10

http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7g5v2_

_________________

TABLE OF CONTENTS
_________________

LEADING THE NEWS

NLRB
   Five-member NLRB, which has been operating with one
   vacancy for almost a year, soon may experience additional
   vacancies if President Bush does not take action to keep
   current members in office and/or bring in new members . .
   . Page AA-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c0p2_

____

NEWS
____

ARBITRATION
   D.C. Circuit rules a two-year-old ruling exempting
   employees who agree to arbitrate federal statutory claims
   from paying certain arbitration fees does not extend to
   employees' common law claims rooted in public policy . .
   . Page A-7
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f0u6_

DISABILITIES
   City of Chicago was not required to violate a collective
   bargaining agreement to accommodate a legally blind city
   worker who wanted a job as a dispatcher, Seventh Circuit
   rules . . . Page A-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n6t5y2_

DISCRIMINATION
   Sen. Santorum (R-Pa.) says he is willing to remove from a
   Senate faith-based bill a controversial provision
   currently in the House-passed measure (H.R. 7) that would
   allow federally funded religious groups to bypass state
   and local laws regarding hiring practices . . . Page A-8
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f5v7_

ECONOMIC OUTLOOK
   Survey results by the National Association of Purchasing
   Management show a manufacturing sector still in decline
   during July, and sluggish growth continuing across the
   rest of the U.S. economy . . . Page A-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c5b4_

EEOC
   David Frank, former staffer on the House Education and
   the Workforce Committee, is named by President Bush to be
   EEOC legal counsel . . . Page A-11
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7g0n6_

FEDERAL EMPLOYEES
   Federal employees would be able to retain frequent flyer
   miles they receive while traveling on official government
   business under a bill (H.R. 2456) passed by the House . .
   . Page A-11
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7b7w2_

   Rep. Davis (R-Va.) introduces a bill to set up an
   exchange program between mid-level federal information
   technology managers at the GS-12 to GS-15 levels and
   their counterparts in the private sector . . . Page A-5
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n6c7j8_

HEALTH CARE
   Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee
   approves a bill to extend and expand the 1996 law that
   requires group health plans offering mental health
   benefits to make those benefits available on a equal
   basis with benefits for physical health care . . . Page
   A-8
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f1z9_

IMMIGRATION
   Senate confirms James W. Ziglar, a former Senate
   sergeant-at-arms, to head the INS . . . Page A-4
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c2y7_

LABOR LAW
   New York automobile dealer did not violate federal labor
   law by discharging a parts department employee, who was a
   union member, for leaving the job early after an
   emergency call from his 13-year-old son, a divided NLRB
   rules . . . Page A-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7b8p6_

POLITICS
   Washington state judge imposes a $400,000 penalty on the
   Washington Education Association for intentional
   violations of the state campaign financing law over a
   five-year period . . . Page A-9
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f7z7_

RACE DISCRIMINATION
   Federal judge in Washington, D.C., issues a preliminary
   injunction ordering the Christian Coalition of America
   Inc. not to retaliate against nine African American
   current and former employees who are suing the
   organization for race discrimination . . . Page A-3
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7a2c9_

SAFETY & HEALTH
   Cedar Rapids, Iowa-based grain salvage company and a
   senior executive of the company plead guilty in federal
   court to obstructing an OSHA investigation into an
   accident that resulted in the death of a firefighter . .
   . Page A-6
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c4b6_

TAXES
   House Ways and Means Committee members Neal (D-Mass.) and
   Weller (R-Ill.), among others, plan to introduce a bill
   that would change the alternative minimum tax treatment
   of incentive stock options . . . Page A-11
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f8n6_

TRADE
   House Majority Leader Armey (R-Texas) says he has put off
   until September or later House consideration of
   legislation that would renew the president's authority to
   negotiate trade agreements under "fast track" procedures,
   citing a lack of Democratic votes . . . Page A-6
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n6y0u7_

TRANSPORTATION
   Senate gives voice vote approval to the $60 billion
   fiscal 2002 transportation appropriations bill, after two
   weeks of debate on provisions designed to restrict
   Mexican trucks from operating in the United States . . .
   Page A-10
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7g5v2_

_______

AFL-CIO
_______

IMMIGRATION
   AFL-CIO Executive Council reaffirms a list of principles
   it considers crucial for Congress to include in
   immigration reform legislation . . . Page B-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n6r6m3_

ORGANIZING
    AFL-CIO's Executive Council hears about the initial
   effort under its new political/organizing mobilization
   program first announced in May that was used to mobilize
   union members to work against passage of trade promotion
   authority . . . Page B-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7a7y4_

______

TRENDS
______

JOB TRAINING
   Joint training center launched eight years ago by Las
   Vegas casino hotels and Culinary Workers Local 226 to
   deal with a shortage of workers has proved successful,
   and the parties now are looking for funding to expand the
   program . . . Page C-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n5v9y9_

______________

TABLE OF CASES
______________

Brown v. Wheat First Securities Inc. (D.C. Cir.) . . . Page
A-7
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f0u6_

Lee v. Christian Coalition of Am. Inc. (D.D.C.) . . . Page
A-3
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7a2c9_

Tom Rice Buick, Pontiac & GMC Truck Inc. (N.L.R.B.) . . .
Page A-1
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7b8p6_

United States v. Stickle Enter. Ltd. (N.D. Ill.) . . . Page
A-6
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7c4b6_

Washington v. Washington Educ. Ass'n (Wash. Super. Ct.) . .
. Page A-9
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n7f7z7_

Winfrey v. Chicago (7th Cir.) . . . Page A-2
   http://pubs.bna.com/ip/BNA/dlr.nsf/id/a0a4n6t5y2_

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Thought you guys would be interested in Phil's comments.  Steve, I think you need to
	be in this meeting.  Anyone else want to attend?  Thanks. Lynn

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Lowry, Phil
Sent:	Monday, October 01, 2001 12:03 PM
To:	Fossum, Drew; Neubauer, Dave; Davis, Britt; Miller, Mary Kay; Cessac, Kenneth; 'gharvey@gibbs-bruns.com'; Rice, Randy
Cc:	Blair, Lynn; Darveaux, Mary; Dornan, Dari; Ringblom, Kathy; Sellers, Emily; Nelson, Mike
Subject:	RE: OneOk Letter

Drew, I won't be available until around 5pm today.  In lieu of a meeting let me leave you with some comments.

?	I have no objection to the "special test" being conducted at the CEESI facilities in Ventura, Ia.  As far as I know they are adequate. But, we would want to have an expert look at them first.  i.e., Instomet and Ken Cessac.
?	When a meter is removed from service at the Rich/Lean Inlet/Outlet then the Rich/Lean plant(s) would have to go down until that meter is tested and reinstalled.  I would assume that they would want to have one outage for all four meters and the total down time for the plant might be several days.
?	Northern will have to restrict C6+ again during this outage.
?	There is no spare meter(s) or spool for any of the Bushton meters.  If OneOK were willing to reimburse NNG (regardless of test outcome), NNG would be willing to purchase and fabricate spare meter spools in order to conduct this test with minimal impact to plant processing.  There would still be an outage of the Bushton Plant but probably only a couple of days.

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Fossum, Drew
Sent:	Monday, October 01, 2001 11:17 AM
To:	Neubauer, Dave; Davis, Britt; Miller, Mary Kay; Cessac, Kenneth; Lowry, Phil; 'gharvey@gibbs-bruns.com'; Rice, Randy
Cc:	Blair, Lynn; Darveaux, Mary; Dornan, Dari; Ringblom, Kathy; Sellers, Emily; Nelson, Mike
Subject:	OneOk Letter

I'd like to get the above group together to discuss our response to ONeOk's letter calling for a special test. The agreement requires us to "cooperate" with OneOk when a special test is called, and there are a number of issues we will need to cooperate on, including what to do for measurement while the meter is removed, which outfit to use to test the  meter, and what the standards for testing the meter should be.  Emily--pls get a meeting set up for today if possible.  All-I suspect I've inadvertently left some key people off this distribution, so please route as necessary.  DF