Please see the following articles:

Sac Bee, Thurs, 7/5: Many rural towns to escape blackouts, utility maps show

Sac Bee, Tues, 7/3: Details emerge in power contracts

SD Union, Thurs, 7/5: New FERC member seems attuned to state's woes

SD Union, Wed, 7/4: Electricity price-cap tests spark allegations

SD Union, Wed, 7/4: Renewable energy fades from picture in rush for solution

SD Union, Wed, 7/4: SDG&E spreads word of looming blackouts

SD Union, Wed, 7/4: Two more energy whistleblowers slated to come forward

SD Union, Wed, 7/4: Disabled PG&E employees ask state for help in getting
disability checks

LA Times, Thurs, 7/5: Powerful Judge Illuminates Energy Practices Law:
'Folksy' jurist, 72, stuns utility executives and lawyers alike with his
courtroom incisiveness.

SF Chron, Thurs, 7/5: Davis lauds California generator
Vote of confidence at Calpine's festival

SF Chron, Wed, 7/4: Activists stage anti-corporate march to power plant

SF Chron, Wed, 7/4: Davis asks PUC to let utilities cut voltage
1% savings on energy consumption predicted

SF Chron, Wed, 7/4: Federal price limits backfire
Some generators withhold power rather than abide by rate caps

SF Chron, Wed, 7/4: Two more energy whistleblowers slated to come forward

Mercury News, Wed, 7/4: Davis seeking cheaper contracts

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Many rural towns to escape blackouts, utility maps show
By Carrie Peyton
Bee Staff Writer
(Published July 5, 2001)
Huge stretches of Northern California, including many rural foothill and
valley communities, won't face rolling blackouts this summer, spared by a
combination of geography and circuitry.
Placerville and Loomis, Esparto and Isleton are among the many towns that
will be largely or entirely bypassed by deliberate blackouts, according to
new Pacific Gas and Electric Co. outage maps.
Such communities are served by so few circuits that each one has been
exempted from outages because a critical facility, such as a fire station or
a water treatment plant, lies along the circuit somewhere, PG&E spokesman
John Nelson said.
Both PG&E and the Sacramento Municipal Utility District have begun shedding
more light on their strategies for rotating outages in the wake of a
governor's order requiring utilities to let people know where blackouts will
strike next.
For PG&E, that has meant quickly posting and then updating blackout maps on
its Web site. For SMUD it has meant publicly detailing, for the first time,
the boundaries of 78 separate rotating outage areas and listing by number
which areas could be tapped next.
"We were contemplating putting the map on the Web before the governor's
order, but the timing coincided very well," said John DiStasio, SMUD's
assistant general manager for customer service.
SMUD updated its Web site, www.smud.org, on June 22 so that now people can
click on "rotating outages" and then "next likely locations and map" to see
the shape of outages to come.
The map replaces less-precise neighborhood names, which is all SMUD supplied
until Gov. Gray Davis ordered utilities to give the public "common
geographical boundaries, grid or block numbers, maps or similar identifying
information" about where outages will strike.
With six days of rolling blackouts already behind California this year, and
forecasts that more probably lie ahead, Davis has told utilities and the
state Independent System Operator to give better notice of when and where
blackouts might occur.
Grid operators and utilities have cautioned that Davis' program of two-day,
one-day and one-hour warnings could produce many false alarms because power
supplies often come through at the last minute. There is also some wariness
about outage maps, which SMUD and PG&E warn could change at any time.
But the maps do provide insight into how each utility will roll blackouts
through its territory. PG&E's maps, on the Web at www.pge.com under "find
your outage block" and then "rotating outage block map," have recently been
updated to be searchable by zip code.
They show that the vast majority of El Dorado and Placer counties and much of
Yolo County are in PG&E's "block 50," a designation for a circuit that won't
be in line for rolling outages because someone along it is crucial to health
or safety.
Police stations, fire stations, hospitals and airports are all deemed
essential customers that should keep functioning even when the state power
grid is so overloaded that blackouts are needed to keep it from collapsing.
In densely populated areas, circuits tend to be compact, leaving lots of
neighborhoods eligible for rolling blackouts, Nelson said.
But "in rural areas, particularly remote rural areas, a circuit can go on for
miles and miles," Nelson said. "You can have multiple communities on one
circuit ( (and) virtually every community has either a police station or a
fire station or a hospital or a drinking water facility."
That has been good news for communities like Placerville, which scrambled for
traffic control earlier this year when a rolling outage took out the signal
lights on Highway 50, which bisects the town of 10,000.
"That has been our biggest concern because of the amount of traffic that goes
through there," said City Manager John Driscoll. Placerville will be spared
future outages because regulators now are protecting more hospitals from
blackouts, and much of the rest of the town shares circuits with hospitals.
"We didn't ask to be exempted out, but I feel very happy that we are. From a
selfish standpoint, it feels very nice," Driscoll said.

The Bee's Carrie Peyton can be reached at (916) 321-1086 or
cpeyton@sacbee.com.

Details emerge in power contracts
By Carrie Peyton and Chris Bowman
Bee Staff Writers
(Published July 3, 2001)

California's power bills for the next decade probably will exceed the
forecasts of Gov. Gray Davis, the State Controller's Office said Monday as it
released unedited versions of long-term contracts in a new jab at the
governor.
The electricity contracts, which Davis' office sought in court to keep
secret, offer a glimpse into the rapid, high-stakes deals struck early in the
state's power crisis and illustrate the way deregulation's unraveling could
haunt California for years to come.
Some show that builders of new power plants could recoup the entire cost of
those plants in four years or less. Some show lucrative swaps for power,
including one arranged the same day California was rocked by rolling
blackouts.
More than two dozen additional administrative contracts detail the price
California is paying its consultants to seek a way out of the power mess,
from tens of thousands for Davis' aides down to $51 an hour for copying and
phone answering.
The governor's office defended its estimates of the state's future power
bill.
The 41 long-term contracts, 27 consulting contracts, five short-term deals
and stacks of receipts and invoices released Monday by state Controller
Kathleen Connell may just be the start.
Her office hopes to provide details about how much California has already
paid individual power generators in the volatile short-term, or "spot,"
market.
The deals include so many intricate pricing formulas that Connell said she
couldn't immediately predict exactly how high California's hourly power costs
would go.
Walter Barnes, chief deputy controller of finance, said the contracts
probably would be "well in excess" of the $69 a megawatt-hour that Davis once
said would be California's average cost for contract power for the next
decade.
The contracts' prices range from $55 to $249 a megawatt-hour, and most are
more than the $69, Connell said.
The state Department of Water Resources, the state's power buying arm, later
revised the $69 forecast to $70 a megawatt-hour through the end of 2010, with
the higher priced power coming first.
If anything, those figures could decline because natural gas, the fuel for
most new power plants, is getting cheaper, DWR spokesman Oscar Hidalgo said,
adding that his office sticks with its forecasts.
"We're on pretty solid ground here," he said.
As the statewide elected official who pays California's bills, Connell
repeatedly has criticized the governor for his electricity spending, saying
that she never believed the contracts should be kept secret.
But Davis' office blasted her for giving out details that power generators
and traders could use to learn the state's negotiating positions and buying
practices and said the information could boost wholesale prices within days.
"When they open their electric bill next time, every Californian can thank
Kathleen Connell for higher electricity costs," Davis spokesman Steve
Maviglio said.
The long-term contracts were first released June 15 by the water resources
department with power plant names, performance data, delivery points and
other details blocked out under heavy black strokes.
Analysts said that was the sort of data they could have used to calculate how
much more than the production costs the state was going to be paying for the
electricity purchased on behalf of three cash-strapped investor-owned
utilities.
As analysts began sizing up some of the specifics Monday, early reactions
were wary.
"This just shows when the state comes in and takes over the utility system,
we're just going to be in deep from all sorts of expenses and inefficiencies
that we were trying to get away from" with deregulation, said Arthur
O'Donnell, who edits a trade newsletter, California Energy Markets.
Bill Marcus, a power consultant who had analyzed the edited contracts for a
consumer group, quickly read through the unedited versions muttering things
such as "offensive" and "they got absolutely ripped here."
In one swap that was negotiated on a day of rolling blackouts in March, the
state agreed to send Powerex, the trading arm of British Columbia's
government utility, 2* times more electricity in the spring than Powerex
would return in the summer.
Although seasonal swaps are common, the 2*-to-1 ratio was a sign of "panic"
and inexperience on the state's part, he said.
The consultants who advise California on power deals were frenetic at the
time, with one staffer at the Navigant consulting firm billing for hours
worked that were the equivalent of 9.7 hours a day for 34 consecutive days.
The power purchase terms disclosed Monday confirm many energy analysts'
predictions that California consumers would be paying premium prices for
years to cover the costs of the new plants coming on line.
In several of the contracts, the state agreed to pay generators a 25 percent
to 30 percent annual return on their plant construction costs, which could
pay off the entire plant in four years or less.
Before deregulation, utilities generally received 3 percent to 18 percent
annual return on their capital investments over 30 years, said Marcus, a
veteran energy analyst whose firm, JBS Energy Inc. of West Sacramento,
represents ratepayer groups.
"We're all going to have to pay more for power plants over the next 10 or
more years because the generators are looking to pay off their plants in half
the time," he said.
"Beyond blackouts and price spikes, this will be the long-term legacy of
deregulation," he said. "The private market needs a high rate of return on
their investment."
Several contracts were drafted in the late winter and early spring when
California endured Stage 2 and Stage 3 energy alerts.
The unmasked terms in some of those agreements reflect the state's
desperation for megawatts amid fears of routine blackouts when temperatures
and energy use began to rise in the summer.
For example, the state agreed in a March 29 contract to pay Calpine $232 a
megawatt-hour to supply 300 megawatts nonstop from July 1 through Sept. 30.
But a more recent Calpine contract calls for about $59 a megawatt-hour,
starting Oct. 1.
Time made all the difference, said Jim Macias, a Calpine senior vice
president. He said that last winter, Calpine couldn't guarantee that plants
under construction in Sutter County and the East Bay would be on line by
summer. So the company bought the power on the spot market for the state,
Macias said.
"Back in the winter, $232 was a good price for electricity this summer," he
said.
Calpine officials said that they made no money on the sale and even knocked
15 percent off their price to maintain good relations with the state power
buyers.
The gesture more than paid off with the signing of the 10-year contract, said
Kathleen Potter, Calpine spokeswoman.
"It was a great transaction for us," Potter said. "We appreciate the
business."
Proponents of "free-market" energy buying have said that in the long-run,
competitive forces would result in more-efficient, less-costly power
generation.
But the contracts show that pressed for more electricity this summer and
fall, officials resorted to buying power from some of the least-efficient
plants in the state, guaranteeing owners of these aging generators 10 more
years of income.
The Bee's Carrie Peyton can be reached at (916) 321-1086 or
cpeyton@sacbee.com.

New FERC member seems attuned to state's woes

Texan may become agency's next chief
By Toby Eckert
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
July 5, 2001
WASHINGTON -- During his first weeks at the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission, Pat Wood has set a decidedly different tone in the agency's
strained relationship with California.
After meeting with Gov. Gray Davis last week, Wood -- who was recently
appointed to the commission by President Bush and is widely expected to be
named chairman soon -- praised the state's efforts to come to grips with its
power problems. It was a stark contrast to the almost constant criticism from
FERC Chairman Curtis Hebert.

"It certainly seems to me that both the political leadership and the
regulatory leadership of the state are committed to the kind of
infrastructure upgrades that are needed to really get supply and demand back
into whack," Wood said, referring to power plants being built in California.
The former Texas utility regulator also raised the possibility of closer
cooperation between FERC and state regulators, including a "joint effort" on
inspecting power plants. State officials have accused generators of idling
plants to drive up electricity costs, a charge generators deny.
"If we're kind of co-regulators with the state, and in many regards we are,
it's helpful to work off the same set of facts so you get to conclusions much
more expeditiously," Wood said, though he was quick to add that he has not
seen any evidence of intentional withholding of supply.
State officials hope Wood's statements signal that FERC is poised to take a
more aggressive role in helping the state. If elevated to chairman, Wood
would set FERC's agenda and shape its approach to dealing with California.
The agency regulates wholesale electricity and natural gas markets, which
have subjected the state to skyrocketing prices.
Wood "has brought a very good perspective to FERC," said Howard Gantman, a
spokesman for Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., a frequent critic of the
commission. "He seems very interested in getting to the root of the problem
and finding solutions."
Throughout the crisis, the state's relationship with FERC has been poisonous.
Davis criticized the commission for being slow to rein in electricity prices,
while Hebert faulted the state for crafting a bad deregulation law and
failing to build enough plants to keep up with demand.
Davis issued a guardedly conciliatory statement after his meeting in
Sacramento with Wood and Commissioner Nora Brownell, who is also new to FERC.
"In a refreshing change from my past dealings over the past year with the
agency, these commissioners offered a problem-solving approach in resolving
California's energy challenge," Davis said. He added, "It appears that FERC
may finally be poised to do its job controlling energy costs."
Threats criticized
Despite the soothing words, there is no shortage of potential flash points
between Davis and FERC.
Wood, who professes a "religious zeal about competition," raised concerns
about a possible move by the California Public Utilities Commission to keep
retail power customers from shopping around for alternative providers.
He also criticized threats that Davis and other California politicians have
made to seize power plants and impose a windfall profits tax on power
sellers.
"I think the rhetoric's still pretty hot out there. If I were a generator
looking at 50 states, one that's talking about a windfall profits tax and
expropriation of property and all that is not a great climate," Wood said.
For his part, Davis has questioned whether the recent price curbs imposed by
FERC in the West will be enough to tame soaring wholesale power costs that
have bankrupted one utility, cost the state treasury billions of dollars and
raised consumers' power bills.
Davis has also made it clear that he expects hefty refunds to result from the
FERC-brokered talks between the state and power providers, which are in their
second week.
"I will be vigilant in insisting that Californians get their money back,"
Davis said.
California consumer activists are taking a wait-and-see attitude toward Wood,
saying they know little about him.
A major role
"My impression from afar is he seems to be more moderate," said Harvey
Rosenfield, president of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights in
Santa Monica.
Once considered a bureaucratic backwater, the five-member FERC has come to
play a high-profile role in the California debacle and other disputes
involving the largely deregulated wholesale power markets.
The commission is charged with ensuring that "just and reasonable" prices
prevail.
Bush is expected to make Wood the FERC chairman because Hebert is seen as too
much of a lightning rod.
Before coming to Washington, Wood, who turned 39 yesterday, headed the Texas
Public Utility Commission. There he oversaw the state's move toward a
deregulated electricity market. Like Hebert, Wood is convinced that a free
market will deliver cheaper power to consumers than a highly regulated one.
"I just think customers fare better when they have more choices," Wood said.
But consumer advocates and others who have worked with Wood in Texas say his
zeal is tempered by a healthy dose of pragmatism.
"Bottom line, it's all about the customer. Y'all will hear me say that until
you get sick of it," Wood said. "We want to make sure that the world we're
moving to is better than the one we left."

Electricity price-cap tests spark allegations

Suppliers said to have held back; industry blames ISO
By Craig D. Rose and Bill Ainsworth
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
July 4, 2001
The first emergency tests of new electricity price controls have generated
accusations that suppliers were withholding power and questions that the caps
might need to be revised or scrapped.
And in a case of turnabout, a power industry spokesman yesterday said the
Independent System Operator, which manages the state's electricity grid,
might be using the federal price caps to manipulate the electricity market.
This time, however, the charge is that the ISO is gaming to push prices
lower.
At any rate, California survived its second consecutive day of power
emergencies without blackouts under price caps recently imposed by federal
regulators, but not without some bumps along the way.

The main culprit was hot weather that baked Western states for two days,
forcing the ISO to issue Stage 1 and then Stage 2 alerts. Yesterday, the ISO
warned that rolling blackouts might hit in the afternoon.
But as has happened often this year, the ISO bought power in the last minutes
to avoid outages. The grid operator also credited conservation efforts with
shaving from 2,000 to 4,000 megawatts of consumption. A megawatt can power
about 750 homes.
"It was a lot hotter than expected and a lot more humid," said Kristina
Werst, spokeswoman for the ISO.
Today, state officials expect to avoid any blackouts because of the holiday,
which tends to decrease electricity demand, Werst said.
The price controls ordered last month by the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission set up formulas for maximum prices during emergency and
nonemergency periods. The FERC said the complex system was intended to
balance the need for lower costs with its desire to promote a power market.
But questions are growing about the effectiveness of the FERC price caps.
A Department of Water Resources spokesman, which buys power for the state,
said generators withheld between 660 and 1,500 megawatts of electricity
during a critical period earlier this week because of the price caps. That
would be enough to cut electricity reserves from 7 percent to 5 percent and
bump a Stage 1 alert to a Stage 2.
Sempra Energy Trading, a marketing unit of San Diego Gas & Electric Co.'s
parent corporation, admitted that it ceased selling power to the state for
what could have been a critical 30 minutes Monday.
A spokesman for the trading company said it halted sales for the half-hour
because it was unsure about where the ISO would set maximum prices during the
first power emergency under the new caps.
When power emergencies are called under the FERC plan, a new price cap is set
based on the cost of operating the least efficient, most costly electric
generating plant. Because the identity of that plant is unknown beforehand,
the selling price is set retrospectively by the ISO.
"It was unclear to the traders what the proxy price would be," said Doug
Kline, a Sempra spokesman, who emphasized that the company's trading unit
resells power generated by other companies. "So it was unclear whether the
ISO would come back later and say, 'You purchased power at $70 per
megawatt-hour but we're only going to pay you $60.'?"
For its part, the ISO said the impact of price controls on electricity
supplies during emergencies is still unclear. The controls this week kept
emergency prices Monday from a little over $70 per megawatt-hour to a high of
about $90. FERC's nonemergency price cap has been about $92 per
megawatt-hour.
Earlier this year, the average price per megawatt-hour was nearly $300.
Before the power crisis hit last year, the price was about $30.
The ISO said several factors other than the price controls might have
contributed to tight supplies this week, including plant shutdowns in other
states and the regional heat wave.
But a spokeswoman for Nevada Power said the utility believed the price caps,
or confusion over their implementation, had contributed to a power shortfall
that led to blackouts Monday. The utility fell about 100 megawatts short of
its need as temperatures in some of its service areas hit 122 degrees.
"Power is tight in the region," said Sonya Heagen of Nevada Power. "What
tipped it over (for southern Nevada) was several utilities decided to hold
back power."
Gary Ackerman, executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, an
industry group, said the FERC's price-control plan fails to allow the
recovery of electricity transportation costs. That has the effect of keeping
electricity in the region in which it is generated, rather than where it
might be needed most, he said.
Ackerman said transportation costs, which typically run from $2 to $8 per
megawatt-hour, are more significant now that overall prices have settled into
a $100 range.
"They didn't mean as much to the suppliers when they were getting $400 per
megawatt-hour," Ackerman said.
He also said some of his members suspect the ISO made moves during power
alerts to artificially keep prices lower.
The FERC pricing regime sets nonemergency prices at 85 percent of the last
full hour of a Stage 1 emergency. But this week, the ISO twice went from a
Stage 1 to a Stage 2 alert in less than an hour. That kept the nonemergency
price cap in place at about $92 per megawatt-hour, set back in May.
"Some traders said the ISO is 'gaming the market' to keep the price lower,"
Ackerman said. "I have a few traders who think the price should be higher."
The ISO rejected the charge of manipulation and said it continues to make its
emergency declarations based on power supply and demand. The ISO also said it
has not identified transportation costs as a problem under the FERC order.
Other energy experts, however, said the FERC system of using the most
inefficient power plants to set emergency prices was a mistake.
Frank Wolak, a member of the ISO's market monitoring unit and a Stanford
University economist, said the plan invited energy companies to keep their
least efficient plants in operation to ensure the highest prices.
But James Sweeney, also a Stanford professor and energy expert, said he
preferred the FERC plan to a rigid market price cap.
Consumer advocate Doug Heller of the Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer
Rights said the FERC plan is too complex and urged a return to a regulated
system, which pays generators for their production costs plus a reasonable
profit. Gov. Gray Davis supports a similar approach.
Arthur O'Donnell, editor of California Energy Markets, saw much of the
maneuvering this week as an industry road test of new price regime.
"I think they were testing the boundaries," O'Donnell said. "This is the week
where we test the bugs in the system."
Copley News Service correspondent Toby Eckert and The Associated Press
contributed to this report.

Renewable energy fades from picture in rush for solution

By Ed Mendel
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 4, 2001
SACRAMENTO -- The electricity crisis is putting the squeeze on the renewable
energy industry: the power plants that use the sun, wind or underground heat.
The environmentally friendly, alternative energy provides about 12 percent of
the state's power. But the energy crunch and the state's effort to resolve it
could end up shrinking the role of renewable energy in the coming years just
as backers were hoping to see it expand.
For example:
?Long-term power contracts obtained by the state to reduce costs will cover
most state needs for a decade. Nearly all of the contracts are with natural
gas-fired plants, reducing the long-term market for new renewable plants.
?The uncertainty and lack of payment resulting from the crisis have slowed
the development of renewable plants under an incentive program created as
part of the state electricity deregulation plan.
?Regulators are poised to prevent marketers from selling electricity,
including "green power" from renewable sources, directly to customers. A
large base of ratepayers must stay in the state program to pay off a power
bond of up to $13.4 billion over 15 years. The state Public Utilities
Commission yesterday for the second time put off a decision whether to
curtail such direct access.
State and federal programs had been encouraging renewable energy to reduce
dependency on the new wave of relatively clean and efficient natural-gas
power plants. The cost of electricity from those plants could go up if the
demand for gas outpaces supply.
Renewable energy, with the exception of some biomass plants, also avoids the
pollution problems of power plants fueled by oil and coal -- not to mention
the safety and radioactive waste-disposal problems of nuclear power.
A spokesman for a coalition of renewable generators and environmental groups
said he thinks renewable energy has suffered during the electricity crisis
because of a lack of attention, not a shift in state policy.
"I think the renewables are an unintended casualty," said V. John White of
the Center for Energy Efficiency and Renewable Technologies.
The state became a major player in the power equation in January when it
began buying power for debt-ridden utilities.
State officials say they would like to have a mix of power to spread the risk
if something goes wrong with one source. For example, soaring natural gas
prices last winter were part of the reason for the high cost of electricity.
In a trade-off, the state scrambled to obtain long-term contracts that would
lower the price of electricity now in exchange for prices that are expected
to be above the market in the years to come.
The 38 contracts, worth $43 billion over the next decade, will help finance
the construction of gas-fired power plants. About 70 percent of the power
will come from plants that have not yet been built.
Only four of the contracts are for renewable power, and their 120 megawatts
is a tiny fraction of the total amount of power now under state contract. A
megawatt can provide power for 750 to 1,000 homes.
"We agree the portfolio is lopsided and should be more diverse than it is,"
Ray Hart, head of the power purchasing unit in the state Department of Water
Resources, told the Senate Energy Committee last month.
The state has agreements in principle on an additional 19 contracts for 1,270
megawatts from renewable sources. Most of the power, 1,172 megawatts, would
come from wind generation.
"Anything could happen," said Oscar Hidalgo, a Water Resources spokesman. "It
could increase or decrease, depending on what gets signed."
One renewable generator, CalEnergy, said the state rejected its offer to
provide 340 megawatts from a geothermal plant in the Imperial Valley for 20
years at 6.9 cents per kilowatt-hour, a price that is said to be the 10-year
average of the state contracts.
"We were astonished," said Jonathan Weisgall, CalEnergy vice president.
Hidalgo said state power purchasers "don't recall the specifics" of the
CalEnergy offer. He said the proposal may have been rejected because of its
length, the time of the power delivery, or other reasons.
"They may have to regroup, restructure, repackage, and look for what we
want," Hidalgo said.
Under deregulation, part of monthly ratepayer bills were earmarked for a fund
to encourage renewable energy sources. The fund provides five-year incentives
of up to 1.5 cents per kilowatt hour.
The state held auctions in 1998 and again last summer that awarded $202
million in incentives for dozens of new small renewable plants that could
produce about 1,000 megawatts. The average incentive was .4 cents per
kilowatt hour.
But at this point, said Marwan Masri of the California Energy Commission,
only plants capable of producing 180 megawatts have been completed.
"There is the overall issue of who will buy the power," said Masri, "and at
what price and for how long."
A firm that specialized in marketing "green power" from renewable sources for
the environmentally conscious has taken a double hit from the electricity
crisis.
Green Mountain Energy of Austin, Texas., sells power to customers in a part
of deregulation that is often called "direct access," which bypassed
utilities and later the state after it began buying power for utility
customers.
The firm canceled contracts with 50,000 customers because the price was
indexed to the state Power Exchange, which went bankrupt last spring after
the debt-ridden utilities defaulted on their debt.
Green Mountain still has contracts with about 7,000 customers in San Diego
County who receive power under contracts at a fixed rate, 8.5 cents per
kilowatt-hour.
The state Public Utilities Commission is still expected to prohibit future
direct-access contracts, a step directed by the legislation authorizing the
state to buy power for utility customers.
"That was the second blow to us," said Rick Counihan of Green Mountain. "It
meant that we couldn't go out and buy a block of fixed-price power to sell to
customers."
The ban on direct-access contracts is vigorously opposed by business groups,
who say that direct access would lower the cost of doing business in
California.
But supporters of the direct-access ban say that if customers bypass the
utilities, the remaining ratepayers will be stuck with paying off a bond of
up to $13.4 billion that is expected to be issued in September for power
costs.
Despite the problems, some representatives of the renewable energy industry
are optimistic about its potential for growth in the future.
"A lot of the market is being served by rapidly aging power plants that
should be replaced," said Jan Smutny-Jones of the Independent Energy
Producers. "I think we also are going to see additional demand."
Moreover, state government may take more steps to encourage the renewable
industry.
The Energy Commission is proposing a goal for the incentive program that
would increase the amount of power coming from renewable sources to 17
percent of the total by 2006, up from 12 percent.
State Sen. Byron Sher, D-Stanford, has introduced a bill, SB 531, that would
set a goal of increasing the renewable share of state power to 20 percent by
2010.

SDG&E spreads word of looming blackouts

By Jeff McDonald
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
July 4, 2001
While power supplies dwindled and the likelihood of blackouts loomed, San
Diego Gas & Electric Co. for the first time yesterday was able to warn
customers in advance that they might go dark.
Under increasing pressure from businesses and residents, SDG&E launched a new
system to notify customers by pager and e-mail whenever the state declares
supply emergencies that might lead to blackouts.
Some 5,000 customers signed up for the warnings, which ended up being false
alarms by midafternoon when the Independent System Operator, which manages
the state's electricity grid, was able to find enough megawatts to avoid the
first blackouts since May.
"This at least gives people the opportunity to make a switch over to backup
generation, to power down essential equipment or to back up critical files,"
SDG&E spokesman Ed Van Herik said.
"It's definitely an improvement, but we'll certainly look for ways to
increase the effectiveness of the notification process."
Even so, the warnings from SDG&E came barely an hour before the ISO was
expected to issue a Stage 3 power alert, meaning that demand had climbed to
within 1.5 percent of available supplies. As it turned out, the state never
rose above a Stage 2 alert.
As the threat of blackouts continues to vex state power officials, early
warnings about potential outages have become a key issue for businesses and
residents who rely on uninterrupted service.
During blackouts earlier this year, darkened traffic lights caused numerous
accidents, people were stranded in elevators and business owners complained
of losses that could have been minimized.
"Regular notification is a good idea," said Samuel Ingersoll-Weng of the San
Diego Community Technology Group, which works with hundreds of local
organizations to promote computer literacy.
"It would be very helpful in terms of scheduling staff, canceling or holding
classes and also to protect equipment from power spikes or suddenly being
shut off," he said.
For most of the year, SDG&E was telephoning a small number of such customers
on mornings they worried that demand for electricity might exceed supplies.
But the problem is that when orders to pull megawatts from the grid come from
the ISO, the utility has only minutes to cut supplies and there has been
little time to warn people they may lose power.
Yesterday, SDG&E was told 90 minutes ahead of time that a Stage 3 warning
would likely be called at 3 p.m. The company issued the mass e-mails and
pages within 30 minutes.
Gov. Gray Davis announced plans this spring to provide neighborhoods 48-,
24-and 1-hour notices when blackout orders might be called. The ISO issued no
such notice yesterday, when it came the closest it had in weeks to ordering
blackouts.
Ratepayers interested in signing up to be notified early of potential
blackouts can call the utility at (800) 411-SDGE.

Two more energy whistleblowers slated to come forward

By Don Thompson
ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 4, 2001
SACRAMENTO ) Two more former workers at a San Diego-area Duke Energy plant
are slated to talk with state investigators Thursday, echoing concerns by
other employees over how the plant was run when the state needed its power
most.
However, another former worker at the Chula Vista plant said he discarded
perfectly good equipment three to five years ago, while the plant was still
owned by San Diego Gas and Electric.
"Stuff that cost $3- to $5,000 we were throwing away," said Don Perkins of
Alpine, a mechanic at SDG&E plants for nearly 25 years.
That undercuts testimony from other former workers who told the Senate Select
Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market
last month that they discarded valuable repair parts on the orders of Duke
supervisors.
Like the other former SDG&E employees who have come forward, Perkins was not
hired by Duke when it took over full operation of the plant in April. Perkins
said he is happy in retirement, but like his former co-workers believes Duke
was driving up energy prices ) which the company vehemently denies.
He and the three other former workers suggested Duke did not adequately
maintain its equipment, leading to unnecessary repairs they said cut power
generation and may have helped boost prices by cutting supply. That included
running a 15-megawatt jet-fuel fired turbine until it broke down.
"We ran the heck out of the plant, you bet we did,"responded Duke spokesman
Tom Williams. But he said the plant had fewer outages under Duke's ownership
than while it was owned by SDG&E.
Duke eventually had to completely rebuild the jet-fuel fired turbine,
Williams said.
"It ran more last year than the previous 37 years combined, because the state
needed the power," Williams said.
An attorney for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is to introduce the two new
whistleblowers Thursday, said they will echo their co-workers complaints that
maintenance slipped once Duke took over the plant.
Williams dismissed the news conference as "a media event" and the workers'
complaints as old news the company has rebutted since the earlier testimony
before the committee.

Disabled PG&E employees ask state for help in getting disability checks

ASSOCIATED PRESS
July 4, 2001
SAN FRANCISCO ) After not receiving checks for work-related disabilities for
months, more than 200 Pacific Gas and Electric Co. employees have asked the
state to take over their disability payments.
The employees stopped getting checks after Pacific Service Employees
Association sent them a letter saying it did not have enough funds. Until
this year, the association had paid almost all of PG&E's disability claims.
PG&E said it has no legal responsibility to help the disabled workers and
blames the employee association. But workers waiting for their payments
disagree.
"The association and PG&E are one and the same," A.J. Cavallaro, an
electrical engineer with PG&E for 25 years who is on disability leave due to
a sleep disorder, told the San Francisco Chronicle.
Originally created by PG&E workers to organize social events, the association
has its own board of directors and is legally separate from the utility and
its parent company. The association began offering a short-term disability
plan to PG&E workers in 1949.
Pacific Service transferred its members to the State Disability Insurance
plan on Jan. 1. But about 230 PG&E workers decided to stay with the
association's plan after they were told they would continue to receive their
disability checks.
Mike Colon, the association's general manager filed an appeal with the
California Unemployment Insurance Appeals Board for the state to take over
the group's payments.
Ralph Hilton, chief counsel for the appeals board in Sacramento, said that if
the board decides the state should take over the payments, checks would be
issued within days of the ruling.
Workers may have to wait until August for the case to be heard.

National Desk
THE NATION Powerful Judge Illuminates Energy Practices Law: 'Folksy' jurist,
72, stuns utility executives and lawyers alike with his courtroom
incisiveness.
RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR
?
07/05/2001
Los Angeles Times
Home Edition
Page A-12
Copyright 2001 / The Times Mirror Company
WASHINGTON -- The silver-haired judge handling federal negotiations on
refunds for alleged overcharges by power generators in California is often
described as a Southern gentleman.
But Curtis L. Wagner Jr. can lose the folksy charm in a New York minute.
Wagner, chief judge of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, showed his
knack for cutting through nonsense when he tangled with a smooth energy
company executive in his hearing room in May. The executive confidently
insisted he didn't need his boss' approval to enter into a $39-million
natural gas transportation deal.
Wagner didn't buy it.
"I'm appalled that you're trying to pull this over my eyes," intoned the
judge, stunning a courtroom of high-priced lawyers into catatonic silence.
"Just answer my question . . .
"Did you get approval . . . whether you got it after the meeting, whether you
got it the day before, whether you got it in the head while you were both
relieving yourselves?"
Added Wagner, owner of a 32-foot sailboat named "Hizzoner": "The head, for
non-boating people, is the restroom."
Visibly squirming, the witness acknowledged that his boss had, in fact, OKd
the deal.
That kind of mettle prompted FERC's governing board to assign the overcharge
settlement case to the 72-year-old judge, who likes to stay in shape by
attending early-morning aerobics classes in the agency's exercise room. "I
think Judge Wagner is the toughest tool in our toolbox," said FERC
Commissioner Patrick H. Wood III.
Expectations are low that anybody can bridge the chasm between California and
electricity generators and marketers, with the state alleging it was gouged
by $9 billion and the companies muttering about governmental extortion.
"There are some very large numbers being talked about, which makes it
unlikely that the companies would want to agree to a settlement," said Kit
Konolidge, an electricity industry analyst with Morgan Stanley in New York.
But in an interview, Wagner said he feels "pretty good" about the chances. "I
never give up until the very end. With these things, it looks impossible, and
then all of a sudden it comes together."
FERC, the equivalent of a national utility commission, is also dangling some
carrots in front of the parties. Along with refunds, Wagner is trying to get
a deal on long-term contracts for power and guarantees that the generators,
which are owed hundreds of millions of dollars, will be paid.
The commission set a short time frame for the negotiations, which are to
conclude Monday. If a settlement is not reachable, FERC would impose its own
solution. A mandated settlement is likely to be challenged in federal court,
where it could bog down for years.
FERC employs more than a dozen administrative law judges like Wagner to hear
disputes involving the companies it regulates. While presiding over the
closed-door settlement talks, Wagner has traded his robes for a business
suit.
He has come down from the bench and sits at a table, eye-level with more than
140 lawyers in his hearing room. "There's a lot of billable hours there," he
said.
The lawyers have been sorted into three big working groups, representing
state agencies, power sellers and energy marketers. The negotiations are
expected to intensify this week, and participants said Wagner admonished all
sides on Friday to be ready to deal or face summary judgment from the FERC
commission.
The judge has been variously quoted as saying that $1 billion, $2 billion or
$2.5 billion might be an appropriate total refund. "None of those [figures]
are really attributable to me. I did make a statement--and I probably
shouldn't have--that it was probably less than $9 billion." Of the $9 billion
in overcharges claimed by the state, only $5.4 billion is attributable to
sellers within FERC's jurisdiction.
James J. Hoecker, immediate past FERC chairman in the Clinton administration,
said that, in 23 years as chief judge, Wagner has built a reputation for
making things happen in difficult situations.
"What is behind that is a lot of years on the bench and a certain amount of
self-confidence," Hoecker said. "He has the ability . . . to move the parties
closer together. Sometimes that requires some fairly dramatic statements,
which are calculated to get people to feel the heat and get more creative
about the flexibility they might have."
A senior FERC official said Wagner is like a pitcher who gets called from the
bullpen when the game is on the line. "When things are tough, we turn stuff
over to Curtis," said the official, who asked not to be identified.
Wagner has had many big cases over the years, on matters too arcane to garner
national attention.
He is handling a second major case before FERC. It involves allegations that
Houston-based El Paso Corp. manipulated California 's natural gas market last
year, thereby adding an estimated $3.7 billion to the state's energy costs.
It was in that case that he grilled the executive.
Success in the California settlement negotiations would cap Wagner's 47th
year as a government lawyer. The Tennessee native started at the Justice
Department on Aug. 2, 1954. He got into regulatory law by representing the
military in railroad disputes arising from the Korean War. After serving as a
civilian lawyer for the Army for more than a decade, he joined FERC's
predecessor agency in 1974.
But Wagner, a widower, doesn't dwell on his place in the annals of FERC. He
tells agency employees he is working too many hours and missing his aerobics
classes.

Davis lauds California generator
Vote of confidence at Calpine's festival
Suzanne Herel, Chronicle Staff Writer
Thursday, July 5, 2001
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/07/05/M
N166801.DTL
Gov. Gray Davis took the stage at the San Jose America Festival yesterday and
pledged to "keep the lights on" -- with the help of the Calpine energy
company, which sponsored the fete.
"You've heard me say some pretty tough things about out-of-state energy
companies trying to bleed us dry," said Davis, standing against the backdrop
of a huge Calpine banner proclaiming, "Reliable Energy for a Brighter
Future."
"Calpine is from California," he said. "They're going to make sure the lights
stay on."
Davis was a surprise guest sandwiched between musical acts Nina Storey and
John Brown's Body during the daylong Fourth of July festival, which featured
music, food and vendors near the San Jose Airport.
The governor thanked the crowd of at least 1,000 for joining other
Californians in conserving energy. Conservation surpassed the 10 percent mark
statewide in May and June, he said.
"We could not get through the summer without you doing your part," he said.
Davis was introduced by Calpine chief executive Peter Cartwright -- whose
multimillion-dollar stock option cash-in made news last month -- and San Jose
Mayor Ron Gonzalez, who unsuccessfully opposed Calpine's planned 600-megawatt
Metcalf Energy Center in Coyote Valley.
In an interview after his appearance, Davis countered criticism leveled at
him this week by State Controller Kathleen Connell, who accused him of
foolishly locking California into expensive long-term energy contracts.
"You have to look at the total cost of electricity," he said.
The state paid $109 million in May, he said, but that cost dropped to about
$33 million last month.
Earlier yesterday, after walking in the Redwood City Fourth of July parade,
Davis said that the price drop was a direct result of the long-term
contracts.
"That would not have happened without the security and stability of long-
term contracts," he said. "We did the right thing."
In San Jose, he also said that the $15 million the state was paying
consultants to help negotiate power contracts was money well spent.
"Before, it was like the Yankees winning the World Series against the sandlot
baseball team," he said. "We're finally getting some stars on our team. "
E-mail Suzanne Herel at sherel@sfchronicle.com.
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle ? Page?A - 2

Activists stage anti-corporate march to power plant
GISELE DURHAM, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
,2001 Associated Press
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/07/04/state2
024EDT0201.DTL
(07-04) 17:24 PDT LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) --
Consumer activists rallied against rising energy prices and pledged their
independence from corporate "tyrants" amid Fourth of July celebrations
Wednesday.
About 200 people carrying signs reading " public power, not corporate
bailout" and "human need, not corporate greed" marched two miles from a local
park in the Los Angeles suburb to the Alamitos generating station.
"We feel we have been gouged and bled dry," said Medea Benjamin, founding
director of Global Exchange, a San Francisco-based consumer advocacy group.
"We've been treated the way tyrants treat their servants."
The protest was a joint effort of several national and local consumer
activist organizations. No arrests were made, although dozens of police
officers were out in force for crowd control.
Earlier this week, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order
preventing the city from enforcing an ordinance that could have blocked the
march.
The law requires organizers of public protests to give 30 days notice of the
event, post an insurance bond and pay for police protection at the rate of
$55 per hour for each officer.
At the plant, organizers had intended to serve officials with a "notice of
seizure by eminent domain" declaring the facility to be public property. But
nobody appeared at the front gate. The demonstrators posted the notice on the
chain-link fence and staged about a 40-minute rally before dispersing.
The symbolic notice was meant to emphasize the groups' discontent with
skyrocketing power prices during the past year, the use of state budget money
for power purchases, and the activists' desire to have the state take over
power plants to stabilize market prices.
"The money they're making off of us is criminal," said Loni Baker, one of the
marchers. "They're greed is taking money away from our kids' schools."
Representatives of Arlington, Va.-based AES, Corp., which owns the plant, did
not immediately return calls seeking comment.
Last month, the U.S. Justice Department opened an antitrust investigation
into a power sales partnership between AES and Williams Energy, the Tulsa,
Okla.-based company that sells power for AES under an exclusive marketing
agreement.
Both companies have denied wrongdoing but in May, Williams agreed to refund
$8 million after the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission accused of the
company of temporarily closing AES plants to drive up power prices.

Davis asks PUC to let utilities cut voltage
1% savings on energy consumption predicted
David Perlman, Chronicle Science Editor
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/07/04/M
N29133.DTL
Gov. Gray Davis asked the Public Utilities Commission yesterday to allow
electric companies to lower voltage levels on power lines delivering
electricity to consumers this summer.
The move will save about 1 percent in the state's electricity consumption,
the equivalent of building a new 500-megawatt power plant.
Lowering voltages by 2.5 percent will prove barely noticeable by domestic
users who might see their incandescent light bulbs dim slightly.
Refrigerators and electric motors, such as those that run air conditioners,
should operate more efficiently on the lower voltages, experts said.
The move should save consumers about 1 percent on their electricity bills,
according to Energy Commissioner Arthur Rosenfeld.
With support already promised by the state's major power companies, the PUC
is expected to approve the change in its voltage rules within weeks, Robert
Kinosian, energy adviser to PUC President Loretta Lynch, said at a Sacramento
press conference.
Similar voltage decreases have gone into effect in several other states
during power emergencies in recent years, Rosenfeld said. But this is the
first time it will occur statewide throughout an entire period of peak power
demand.
PUC rules now require power companies to deliver between 114 and 126 volts to
consumers all the time.
Less than two months ago, Bill Wattenburg, a maverick engineer and longtime
consultant to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, assembled a team to
test the effects on lights, appliances, microwave ovens and motors operating
at voltages that were lowered by 5 percent or more.
At the press conference yesterday, Wattenburg said those tests -- conducted
with utility company senior engineers -- showed that no devices were damaged,
nor was their performance impaired. But cooking food on electric ranges --
whether boiling water or making a roast reach a given temperature -- would
take longer and consume slightly more power under any lowered voltage, he
said.
John Ballance, director of network engineering at Southern California Edison,
said his company is equipped to control its voltage levels electronically and
can lower them as soon as the PUC approves the change.
But Pacific Gas & Electric Co. operates differently and will have to change
its voltage levels at each of its 2,400 substations individually -- a task
that could take several weeks, Rosenfeld said.
"This proposal may well achieve new efficiencies and reduce electric bills
for California ratepayers," Davis said in a statement. "I urge the PUC to
give it serious consideration."
E-mail David Perlman at dperlman@sfchronicle.com.
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle ? Page?A - 13

Federal price limits backfire
Some generators withhold power rather than abide by rate caps
David Lazarus, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/2001/07/04/M
N186091.DTL
Officials in California and Nevada, after months of lobbying for federal
regulators to cap Western power prices, warned yesterday that the newly
imposed limits have had the unintended consequence of increasing a threat of
blackouts in the two states.
The warnings were issued as California came within minutes of rolling
blackouts yesterday afternoon, and one day after the first-ever rolling
blackouts in Las Vegas forced energy-hungry casinos to shut off fountains and
reduce air conditioning.
The two states are asking the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to take a
closer look at the so-called price mitigation plan and come up with revisions
that would deter power companies from withholding electricity during
shortages.
"We need some clarity to this order," said Oscar Hidalgo, a spokesman for the
California Department of Water Resources, which is spending billions of
dollars to keep the state's lights on.
"Generators need to be held accountable," he said.
The crux of the problem is that price limits kick in during shortages, yet
power companies say these caps force them to sell power at below-market rates
during periods of high demand.
Some companies have responded by holding back power rather than face the
expense of shipping electricity from state to state. Each mile that
electricity must be transmitted adds to the overall cost.
"No one's going to pay for transmission if the cost is near the caps," said
Gary Ackerman, executive director of the Western Power Trading Forum, an
energy-industry association in Menlo Park.
Ackerman said several companies in his organization decided that there was no
economic advantage to offering power in regional markets when price controls
are in effect.
"This means individual regions like California or Las Vegas could end up not
having enough," Ackerman said. "It increases the threat of blackouts."
BLACKOUT ALERT CANCELED
California authorities issued a blackout alert at 1:45 p.m. yesterday when
power reserves dipped to dangerously low levels. They canceled the alert
about an hour later, after finding additional supplies.
"Everyone in the West is fighting for megawatts," said Stephanie McCorkle, a
spokeswoman for the California Independent System Operator, which oversees
the state's power network.
The Golden State's latest brush with lights-out conditions came a day after
Nevada experienced its own rolling blackouts for the first time, prompting
heavy power users such as the MGM Grand and Caesars Palace to dim their
lights.
Don Soderberg, chairman of the Nevada Public Utilities Commission, said that
the sudden power emergency took state authorities by surprise and that they
are investigating to see what role the federal price limits may have had in
exacerbating Monday's shortage.
"We're looking very closely at this," he said. "There seems to be a potential
for unintended consequences."
Specifically, Soderberg said Nevada is focusing on operators of older, less-
efficient plants who would find profit margins shrinking, if not vanishing,
under capped prices.
"We're going to see how the caps might have played into this," he said.
The federal ceiling in 10 Western states, excluding California, is about $92
per megawatt hour. In California, a 10 percent surcharge is added because of
the state's credit risk, bringing the price to just over $101.
Ackerman at the Western Power Trading Forum said regional price controls have
extended California's power crisis to neighboring states.
"California sneezed and the rest of the region caught the virus," he said.
'LAWYERS LOOKING FOR LOOPHOLES'
California and Nevada officials, however, said that they still have faith
that price limits can stabilize Western electricity markets but that federal
regulators may have to tweak the system so that power companies cannot
withhold output.
"The generators have banks of lawyers looking for loopholes (in the plan),"
said Hidalgo at the Department of Water Resources.
Unfortunately, it may take some time for the regulators to revisit an issue
that they took up only with the greatest reluctance. For months, federal
regulators refused to impose price controls, preferring instead to let supply
and demand determine costs.
Hidalgo said that when it appeared that power companies were throttling back
on output Monday, California officials immediately dialed the hot line number
provided by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission in case of emergencies.
"No one answered," he said. "They were closed."
State officials tried again yesterday, and this time were told that the
commission would look into the matter. They were not given a time frame for
when the commission might come up with a response.
E-mail David Lazarus at dlazarus@sfchronicle.com.
,2001 San Francisco Chronicle ? Page?A - 1

Two more energy whistleblowers slated to come forward
DON THOMPSON, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
,2001 Associated Press
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/07/04/state0
336EDT0118.DTL
(07-04) 00:36 PDT SACRAMENTO (AP) --
Two more former workers at a San Diego-area Duke Energy plant are slated to
talk with state investigators Thursday, echoing concerns by other employees
over how the plant was run when the state needed its power most.
However, another former worker at the Chula Vista plant said he discarded
perfectly good equipment three to five years ago, while the plant was still
owned by San Diego Gas and Electric.
"Stuff that cost $3- to $5,000 we were throwing away," said Don Perkins of
Alpine, a mechanic at SDG&E plants for nearly 25 years.
That undercuts testimony from other former workers who told the Senate Select
Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market
last month that they discarded valuable repair parts on the orders of Duke
supervisors.
Like the other former SDG&E employees who have come forward, Perkins was not
hired by Duke when it took over full operation of the plant in April. Perkins
said he is happy in retirement, but like his former co-workers believes Duke
was driving up energy prices -- which the company vehemently denies.
He and the three other former workers suggested Duke did not adequately
maintain its equipment, leading to unnecessary repairs they said cut power
generation and may have helped boost prices by cutting supply. That included
running a 15-megawatt jet-fuel fired turbine until it broke down.
"We ran the heck out of the plant, you bet we did,"responded Duke spokesman
Tom Williams. But he said the plant had fewer outages under Duke's ownership
than while it was owned by SDG&E.
Duke eventually had to completely rebuild the jet-fuel fired turbine,
Williams said.
"It ran more last year than the previous 37 years combined, because the state
needed the power," Williams said.
An attorney for Lt. Gov. Cruz Bustamante, who is to introduce the two new
whistleblowers Thursday, said they will echo their co-workers complaints that
maintenance slipped once Duke took over the plant.
Williams dismissed the news conference as "a media event" and the workers'
complaints as old news the company has rebutted since the earlier testimony
before the committee.
,2001 Associated Press ?

Davis seeking cheaper contracts
Posted at 10:33 p.m. PDT Wednesday, July 4, 2001
BY JOHN WOOLFOLK

Mercury News

California officials are asking energy companies for better deals on the
state's long-term power contracts as a way to settle a dispute over billions
of dollars in electricity costs from the past year, Gov. Gray Davis said
Wednesday.
In closed-door Washington, D.C., settlement talks scheduled to conclude
Monday, state officials are demanding that energy companies forgo $8.9
billion in bills for electricity that the state argues was overpriced.
But Davis, during a San Jose visit Wednesday, said the state would consider
accepting some of that refund in the form of cheaper long-term contracts, a
move that could appease critics who say the $43 billion deals cost far too
much.
The governor's comments shed light on the state's bargaining strategy in the
negotiations. Few details have emerged from the talks since the judge
overseeing them imposed a gag order.
``We've made suggestions, we've offered various ways in which people could
get us $8.9 billion,'' Davis said. ``We've said it doesn't have to be all
cash. You can give it to us in lower contract prices than you otherwise would
have given to us. You can renegotiate our existing contracts and save us
money. However you want to do it, it's just got to net out to $8.9 billion.''
It's unclear how those offers have been received by energy suppliers, who
have insisted their prices were fair given the uncertainty over whether they
would ever get paid. Several major companies, including Duke Energy and
Enron, say they're owed millions of dollars from the state and its major
utilities.
Paula Hall-Collins, a spokeswoman for Williams Companies, which signed
several contracts with the state in February to deliver power over the next
10 years, said she could not comment.
But one industry official said it was encouraging to see the governor show
some flexibility and that the concept seems reasonable.
``We take that as a positive,'' said Gary Ackerman, executive director of the
Western Power Trading Forum, a trade association. ``If he wants to talk some
trade-off in renegotiating the contracts, that doesn't seem to be totally out
of hand. We're not going to turn away any serious offer.''
But Ackerman said the state needs to give a little on its refund target.
The $8.9 billion, a figure estimated by the state's power grid analysts for
sales from May 2000 to May 2001, has been widely challenged by industry
leaders. Even the judge overseeing the settlement talks said it's probably
too high.
``I don't think it serves the state of California for the state to hold fast
to a number, any more than it does for my members to do the same,'' Ackerman
said. ``It just doesn't get to a solution. There's got to be some give and
take, and we certainly haven't heard that until now from the governor.''
The state began buying electricity in January for its largest utilities after
they became so saddled with debt from high power prices that energy companies
refused to sell to them. The state has spent about $8 billion since then in
daily and short-term purchases.
The Davis administration signed $43 billion worth of electricity contracts
with 18 energy suppliers for power over the next 10 years and has dozens of
deals pending. The contracts are aimed at lowering the amount of power the
state has to buy in daily markets, where prices have soared.
Davis has credited the contracts with lowering the state's power costs from
$100 million a day or more in May to about $33 million a day. His chief
energy negotiator, S.?David Freeman, has said he's proud of the contracts.
But Davis has faced blistering criticism about the deals from Republican
lawmakers, state Controller Kathleen Connell and consumer advocates, who say
the contracts will soak consumers with high electricity prices for many
years.
Davis initially sought contracts at prices around $55 per megawatt-hour, but
the deals signed so far average $70 per megawatt-hour.
That was a bargain earlier this year when daily prices averaged more than
$200 per megawatt-hour. But average daily prices have since fallen to $89
during peak hours and as low as $56 during low-demand periods.
The average daily price in 1999 was about $30 per megawatt-hour.
If the state and power suppliers cannot reach an agreement by Monday, they
can request an additional 10 days. Otherwise, the judge will recommend a
settlement and the five-member Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will vote
on it.
So far, the two sides still seem far apart.
``It's very, very difficult,'' said Davis, who named the state's negotiators
to the Washington talks. ``We'll see on Monday whether or not agreements are
made. My hope is that a settlement will be reached. It's possible one will
be.''

Contact John Woolfolk at jwoolfolk@sjmercury.com or (408) 278-3410.


---------------------- Forwarded by Hunter S Shively/HOU/ECT on 03/16/2001
01:31 PM ---------------------------

	From:  Kevin Ruscitti                           03/16/2001 01:31 PM

To: Hunter S Shively/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject:

---------------------- Forwarded by Kevin Ruscitti/HOU/ECT on 03/16/2001
01:30 PM ---------------------------

	From:  Martin Cuilla                           03/15/2001 07:53 AM

To: Kevin Ruscitti/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject:

http://www.tlksolutions.com/family/multimedia.asp


Contact:
Toni L. Griffin
Vice President of Corporate Communications
212.716.3975
For Immediate Release
AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION ELECTS NEW MEMBERS TO BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND
EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
NEW YORK, May 2, 2000 -- Thirteen distinguished business, legal and dispute
resolution professionals were elected to the Board of Directors of the
American Arbitration Association at its annual meeting held April 27 in New
York, according to William K. Slate II, president and chief executive officer
of the Association.
In addition, four current board members were elected to serve on the
Executive Committee of the Board of Directors. Jerry M. Hunter, Esq., Bryan
Cave LLP; Richard K. Jeydel, Senior Vice President, Secretary and General
Counsel, Kanematsu USA Inc.; Richard W. Page, Esq., The Page Firm; and Mark
A. Roesler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CMG Worldwide, Inc.
The newly elected members of the board are: George F. Becker, President,
United Steelworkers of America, AFL-CIO, CLC; John Beechey, Esq., Clifford
Chance LLP; Jose M. de Lasa, Senior Vice President, Secretary and General
Counsel, Abbott Laboratories; Robert A. Georgine, Chairman, President and
CEO, The Union Labor Life Insurance Company (ULLICO); Gilberto Giusti, Esq.,
Pinheiro Neto-Advogados; Olivia F. Kirtley, CPA, Vice President, Vermont
American Corporation; Angel Muoz-Noya, Esq., Lespier & Muoz-Noya; Dr. Joan
Parker, labor-management and employment arbitrator; Dr. Alejandro Ponieman,
Asociacion Interamericana de Mediacion Centro Para la Resolucion de
Conflictos; Dennis Rivera, President, 1199 SEIU New York's Health & Human
Service Union, AFL-CIO; Juan Rodriguez, Legal Advisor, BP Amoco p.l.c.;
Professor Theodore J. St. Antoine, James E. and Sarah A. Degan Professor
Emeritus of Law, University of Michigan Law School; and Timothy J. Sullivan,
President, the College of William and Mary.
The leader in conflict management since 1926, the American Arbitration
Association is a not-for-profit, public service organization dedicated to the
resolution of disputes through the use of arbitration, mediation,
conciliation, negotiation, democratic elections, and other voluntary
procedures. In 1999, more than 140,000 cases were filed with the American
Arbitration Association in a full range of matters including commercial
finance, construction, labor and employment, environmental, health care,
insurance, real estate and securities disputes. Through 37 offices in the
United States and cooperative agreements with arbitral institutions in 38
other countries, the AAA provides a forum for the hearing of disputes, rules
and procedures and a roster of impartial experts to hear and resolve cases.


Joan, am intending to take 2,5,6,7 November off (we are heading to Seattle).  Will confirm closer to the date...


Bummer...forgot to tell you guys about the address: here it is and, sorry
for the inconvenience. Enjoy the show!

Performances are at the Choral Rehearsal hall on campus between Zellerbach
and Dwinelle.

Vince

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Wang, Vincent
> Sent: Monday, October 16, 2000 10:18 AM
> To: 'evmba_social@haas.berkeley.edu'
> Subject: BareStage presents YUMI THOMAS, mezzo-soprano with pianist
> ER ICA SCHEINBERG
>
> Hi all:
>
> This is a great opportunity to enjoy a great concert, right at Berkeley,
> at only $5! For those of you who are interested in Classical music but
> have not received much exposure to it, this is a good way to find out
> before you make the commitment of a season ticket. Please read on for
> details.
>
>     YUMI THOMAS
>     mezzo-soprano
>
>     IN CONCERT
>
>     with pianist
>     ERICA SCHEINBERG
>
>     Singing international dramatic music from Japan,
>     Brazil, Russia and the United States, from
>     Rachmaninoff to Duke Ellington
>
>     SATURDAY, OCTOBER 21 @ 8:00pm
>     $5 general admission
>     ($4 for members of Student Musical Activities)
>
>     Yumi Thomas is a rising star who has performed
>     extensively in the Bay Area and beyond with the
>     San Francisco Girls' Choir, Ars Cantus, UC Chamber
>     Chorus,
>     Cal Jazz Choir, and others.  Her mature voice and
>     sensitive, expressive interpretations have earned
>     her praise in major Bay Area publications.
>
>     Pianist Erica Scheinberg accompanies Ms. Thomas in
>     a rich mosaic of songs from Japan, Brazil, Germany,
>     France, Russia, and the United States.  A complete
>     program can be found at the end of this message.


1.  NNG and ENA are entirely separate entities and our businesses are run entirely separate from one another.

2.  Customers may think that they can net ENA invoices against NNG invoices.  NNG is a separate business and is not responsible for ENA invoices to their customers.

3.  Should suppliers cut volumes for ENA; NNG will cut the market accordingly.

4.  Creditworthiness status for ENA remains the responsibility of the Commercial Department. We are to maintain our normal course of business until instructed otherwise.


Tana:  It was a pleasure to meet you by phone.  We appreciate your efforts
in completing the EnergyGateway documentation.  Fax is sufficient for
executed documents.
Thanks, Dan...

Dan Ryan, President
EnergyGateway.com LLC
614-899-2900 x102
614-899-2922 Fax

This message, including any attachments, contains confidential information
intended for a specific individual and purpose, and is protected by law.  If
you are not the intended recipient, you should delete this message and are
hereby notified that any disclosure, copying, or distribution of this
message, or the taking of any action based on it, is strictly prohibited.
Please call with any questions.  614-899-2900.

 - ENRON 061500 PROVIDER.doc


Good morning,

In an effort to smooth out some of the problems we have seen in the past, I would like to start getting a P&L estimate from each of you nightly to try to prevent any unnecessary surprises in the mornings.  I will then expect my group to contact you before they leave at night if it is above or below your estimates, or range you give them.

This will certainly help us all avoid any fire drills the next day.

If you have any concerns about this please let me know, otherwise, your book admins will be calling you or stopping by your desks around 3:00 daily to get this estimate.

Thanks,
Kam

x3-5781


[IMAGE]
[IMAGE]	[IMAGE]
	[IMAGE]

To unsubscribe from the email list, click here  [IMAGE]


Confidential -- For Settlement Purposes Subject to CPUC Rule 51
ALL:

A reminder that we are still hoping to have an initial Gas Accord II
Settlement Proposal to you by Wednesday, December 20, 2000, and the we have
canceled our proposed meeting scheduled for December 13th and 14th.
However, we also must focus on the current short-term gas and electric
market situation, as we are sure you are.  Our next meeting is still
scheduled for January 10 and 11, 2001, to present our proposal and to
receive feedback from you.

As to issues, attached are two items.  One is our current version of the
issues list, and the other is a position paper provided by the Indicated
Producers.

Again, thank you for your participation in the Gas Accord II Settlement
Process.  We look forward to providing you with our initial proposal and to
our subsequent settlement discussions.  Please feel free to call us if you
have questions or concerns.

Frank Lindh    Ray Williams
415-973-2776    415-973-3634
frl3@pge.com    rdw0@pge.com

 <<Issues List From Parties 11-27-00.doc>>  <<Indicated Producers GAII
Proposal.doc>>

 - Issues List From Parties 11-27-00.doc
 - Indicated Producers GAII Proposal.doc


I don't know.  Call Stacy Fitzgerald in IT group to find out   Her number is 56045

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Jones, Tana
Sent:	Thursday, October 25, 2001 9:54 AM
To:	Holsworth, Mark
Subject:	FW: Looking for signed NDAs

Mark,

Mark Greenberg asked me to check with you to see if Enron Corp. ever got Confidentiality Agreements in place with either True Exchange or BizBots?  Can you please let me know.  Thanks!
 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Young, Kay
Sent:	Thursday, October 25, 2001 9:44 AM
To:	Jones, Tana
Subject:	RE: Looking for signed NDAs

Kay Young
Legal Specialist
Enron North America Corp.
Ph:   713-853-6794
Fax: 713-646-3393

 -----Original Message-----
From: 	Jones, Tana
Sent:	Wednesday, October 24, 2001 3:43 PM
To:	Young, Kay
Subject:	Looking for signed NDAs

Do you have copies of any of the following NDAs?

At the Moment - yes, expired
True Exchange - no, never had one
BizBots - no, never had one


-----Original Message-----
From: Choi, Paul
Sent: Wednesday, August 29, 2001 9:12 AM
To: Alonso, Tom; Fischer, Mark; Lackey, Chris; Danielson, Michael; Wong, Michael
Subject: FW: ITINERARY CONFIRMATION FOR PAUL CHOI TRAVEL 11SEP

Here is my itinerary for Colorado.
-----Original Message-----
From: Mehrer, Anna
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 4:47 PM
To: Choi, Paul
Subject: FW: ITINERARY CONFIRMATION FOR PAUL CHOI TRAVEL 11SEP

-----Original Message-----
From: TRAVEL AGENCY IN THE PARK, INC. (AGENTID00041979) [mailto:emailserver@pop3.amadeus.net]
Sent: Tuesday, August 28, 2001 4:39 PM
To: Mehrer, Anna
Subject: ITINERARY CONFIRMATION FOR PAUL CHOI TRAVEL 11SEP

ITINERARY CONFIRMATION FOR PAUL CHOI TRAVEL 11SEP

  _____

                                           DATE 28AUGUST01
                                           AGENT PK/PK BOOKING REF Y7CVSS

  ENRON CORP                               CHOI/PAUL
                                           ENRON NORTH AMERICA
                                           121 SE SALMON
                                           3WTC0306
                                           INTEROFFICE ETKT RCPT

SERVICE               DATE  FROM           TO             DEPART  ARRIVE

UNITED AIRLINES       11SEP PORTLAND OR    DENVER CO      1231P   354P
UA 492     Q          TUE   INTERNATIONAL  DENVER INTL
           NON SMOKING
                            LUNCH                         NON STOP
                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         2:23 DURATION
                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 757-200/300
                            SEAT 24E NO SMOKING CONFIRMED
           ** CENTER SEAT CONFIRMED. AISLE/WINDOW UNAVAILABLE
               ** CHECK-IN AT AIRPORT FOR BETTER SELECTION

CAR                   11SEP HERTZ                  DENVER CO
                      13SEP CONFIRMATION: B5632FBC824GOLD
                            TELEPHONE: 1-303-342-3800.
                            FAX: 1-303-342-3839.
                            INTERMED CAR AUTOMATIC AIR
                            RATE: USD47.69- .00 UNL DY 23.84- UNL XH
                            RATE GUARANTEED
                            PICK-UP: DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, DENVER
                            DROP-OFF: DENVER INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT,
                            DENVER

HOTEL                 11SEP MARRIOTT DEN CITY CNTR
                      13SEP 1701 CALIFORNIA STREET
                            DENVER, CO 80202
                            UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
                            TELEPHONE: 1-303 2971300
                            FAX: 1-303 3987474
                            CONFIRMATION: 82389250
                            REFERENCE: BAVD00
                            SINGLE ROOM
                            RATE: *** USD 219.00 PER NIGHT
                            GUARANTEE GIVEN
                            ENRON CORP NSRM KING PLZ
              TO AVOID BILLING CANCEL BY 6PM DAY OF ARRIVAL

UNITED AIRLINES       13SEP DENVER CO      MONTROSE CO    800A    906A
UA 7121    V          THU   DENVER INTL    MONTROSE COUNT
                                                          NON STOP
                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         1:06 DURATION
                            FLIGHT OPERATED BY UNITED EXP/AWAC
                  AIRCRAFT: FAIRCHILD DORNIER 328
                            SEAT 05A NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

CAR                   13SEP NATIONAL               MONTROSE CO
                      13SEP CONFIRMATION: 707200647COUNT
                            TELEPHONE: 970-252-8898
                            FAX: 970-252-1143
                            INTERMED CAR AUTOMATIC AIR
                            RATE: USD39.00DY-UNL MI
                            RATE QUOTED
                            BASE RATE: *ZL*USD39.00 BR
                            PICK-UP: MONTROSE REGIONAL AIRPORT, MONTROSE
                            DROP-OFF: MONTROSE REGIONAL AIRPORT, MONTROSE

UNITED AIRLINES       13SEP MONTROSE CO    DENVER CO      410P    515P
UA 7130    V          THU   MONTROSE COUNT DENVER INTL
                                                          NON STOP
                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         1:05 DURATION
                            FLIGHT OPERATED BY UNITED EXP/AWAC
                  AIRCRAFT: FAIRCHILD DORNIER 328
                            SEAT 08A NO SMOKING CONFIRMED

UNITED AIRLINES       13SEP DENVER CO      PORTLAND OR    603P    731P
UA 449     V          THU   DENVER INTL    INTERNATIONAL
           NON SMOKING
                            DINNER                        NON STOP
                            RESERVATION CONFIRMED         2:28 DURATION
                  AIRCRAFT: BOEING 757-200/300
                            SEAT 19B NO SMOKING CONFIRMED
           ** CENTER SEAT CONFIRMED. AISLE/WINDOW UNAVAILABLE
               ** CHECK-IN AT AIRPORT FOR BETTER SELECTION
               THIS IS A NON-REFUNDABLE FARE THAT REQUIRES
               TRAVEL ON THESE SPECIFIC DATES AND FLIGHTS.
               ANY CHANGES WILL RESULT IN A PENALTY AND/OR
                         ADDITIONAL COLLECTION.
           **************************************************
         YOUR TICKET REFLECTS A NEGOTIATED DISCOUNT FROM THE TAP              THE PUBLISHED FARE FOR THIS TICKET IS $565.00
           **************************************************

MISCELLANEOUS         11JAN HOUSTON TX
                      FRI   ** THANK YOU FOR USING THE TAP **

RESERVATION NUMBER(S)  UA/JRM9NK

CHOI/PAUL  S0C0413R1073                  TICKET:UA/ETKT 016 7032417420

UA  FREQUENT FLYER UA00883300521
ASSISTANT: ANNA MEHRER 503 464-3834
*******************************************
INTL TVLRS: CARRY SOS WALLET CARD W/ENRON ASSISTANCE INFO
CALL SOS MEDICAL EMERGENCY:IN U.S 800 523-6586
CALL SOS MEDICAL EMERGENCY:INTL 215 245-4707 (COLLECT)
*********************************************
THIS IS THE PASSENGER RECEIPT FOR YOUR ELECTRONIC TICKET.
PLEASE CHECK-IN WITH PHOTO IDENTIFICATION AND WITH
EITHER (1) THIS RECEIPT OR (2) YOUR CONFIRMATION NUMBER.
YOUR ETKT CONFIRMATION NUMBER IS: J R M 9 N K
ALL FARES ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE UNTIL TICKETED/PURCHASED

  _____


Jim,

 Thanks a lot for great basket - I just got it.  We'll call on Monday.

Errol


Eric

Can you re submit me the utilities in Alberta including gas.


The report named: Enron Americas Position Report <http://erv.corp.enron.com/linkFromExcel.asp?report_cd=102&report_name=Enron+Americas+Position+Report&category_cd=2&category_name=ENRON%20CONSOLIDATED&toc_hide=1&sTV1=2&TV1Exp=Y&current_efct_date=10/18/2001>, published as of 10/18/2001 is now available for viewing on the website.

Publisher's Notes:

PRELIM


Mark:

Attached please find the other e-mail summarizing the pending jurisdictional
matters. Please note that Justin and I have determined that because Enron
could be exposed to criminal liability in the Netherlands, we will exclude
residents notwithstanding low risk of prosecution.  We are awaiting advise re
rather the same state of affairs exists in Italy - low probability of
prosecution but some risk of criminal liability.

Leslie
----- Forwarded by Leslie Hansen/HOU/ECT on 08/28/2000 01:43 PM -----

	Leslie Hansen
	08/25/2000 09:03 AM

		 To: "Murton, Rachel" <rachel.murton@linklaters.com>@ENRON
		 cc:
		 Subject: Re: Gaming advice in the various EU jurisdictions

Rachel:

Thank you so much for the feedback.  I will follow up later this morning to
address those questions that have yet to be answered.

With regard to a summary of your Olympic research in other jurisdictions, I
would very much appreciate a summary.

Thanks,

Leslie

	"Murton, Rachel" <rachel.murton@linklaters.com>
	08/25/2000 06:17 AM

		 To: "'leslie.hansen@enron.com'" <leslie.hansen@enron.com>
		 cc: "Didizian, Marly" <marly.didizian@linklaters.com>,
"'justin.boyd@enron.com'" <justin.boyd@enron.com>
		 Subject: Gaming advice in the various EU jurisdictions

Thank you for your e-mails.

I set out below the advice we have received from the various jurisdictions.

1.  Countries that can be added to the approved list:

We have now received the advice from Portugal, and as with the Euro 2000
game, the High Five Flag Game does not violate Portugese law, because
participants do not have to pay to enter and because it is run outside
Portugal - so you can add Portugal to the list of approved jurisdictions.

Finland can now also be added to the approved list. The game would not be
considered a lottery, as the players would not pay to enter.  It should not
be considered a restricted marketing measure providing there is no
obligation to purchase goods (which I understand is the situation).  Tax
issues were also initially a concern i.e. it was thought that Enron might be
liable to pay tax if it awarded a prize to a Finnish citizen.  However,
after discussions with the relevant tax authorities, this tax issue seems to
have fallen away - because Enron, as a foreign organiser would not have any
liabilites towards the Finnish tax office.  [If a Finnish citizen won the
prize, they themselves might have to pay tax on it - but I assume that this
is not a concern of Enron, since they themselves would not have liability
towards the Finnish tax office].

2.  Countries that could possibly be added to the approved list, provided
certain facts are confirmed (with either Enron or the regulatory
authorites),and/or  further information is provided.

As with Euro 2000 Poland is also looking likely - the Polish lawyers require
me to confirm that Enron's customers are permitted to use Enron's website
for online trading even if they have not purchased anything from Enron in
the past and do not intend to do so in the future.  It is my understanding,
that this is the case  - so assuming this is correct, Poland could be added
to the approved list.

Belgium - it is unclear under Belgium law whether the game is a Games of
Chance, a Lottery, or a Contest.  They need to forward a demo to the
regulatory authorities.  I have not yet checked whether the demo sent
yesterday is complete enough (our web access was very slow thsi morning)  -
but, as suggested in your e-mail, I will contact Dave Samuels if I need a
substantially more complete demo.

Italy - Approval is needed in Italy if the game is an advertising contest
addressed to Italian residents. The scheme would be classified as an
advertising contest - the key is whether it is addressed to Italian
residents.  Our Italian lawyers would like to know how many users there will
be in Italy, and would like us to confirm that the site will be in English
and from a server located in the UK. In order to obtain approval, the
Italian lawyers need to know whether Enron has a subsidiary in Italy - if it
does, the application needs to be made on behalf of this company, - if it
doesn't have an Italian subsidiary then they cannot actually apply for
approval of the scheme.  An integral feature of being an advertising contest
is that a prize is awarded, so if Italian participants are excluded from
being awarded a prize, the game won't be an advertising contest addressed to
Italian residents.

Sweden - The game is a lottery under Swedish law and therefore requires
approval (which there is virtually no chance of Enron obtaining because it
is not a charitable organisation) if it is addressed to the Swedish public
(as a general rule more than 250 people).  Our Swedish lawyers therefore
need to know how many participants there are in Sweden - if it is less than
250, then there seems to be a good chance that the game can go ahead - but I
will confirm this with them.

Norway.  There are four issues affecting the game in Norway - these are
whether the game is a lottery, whether the game is a money game, whether the
game promotes a business, and tax issues.  After informal talks with the
relevant ministries, th first two issues have fallen away, and are now no
longer a problem.  The Norwegian lawyers had some concerns as to whether the
purpose of the scheme  was to promote Enron - but I believe that, if I can
confirm to them that customers are permitted to use Enron's website for
online trading even if they have not purchased anything from Enron in the
past and do not intend to so in the future -  i.e. that the game is a
"gimmick" and not a promotional tool (as for Poland) this will drop away.
The tax issues are similar to those initially expressed by the Finnish
lawyers - and may fall away after consultation with the Norwegian
authorites.

3.  Jurisdictions where there is a technical  risk of violating local laws
but a low risk of enforcement

Netherlands - technically the game violates the Dutch Games of Chance Act
(DGCA). However, it  is not clear that the DGCA applies to internet games,
and our Dutch colleagues are not aware of any instances where internet games
have been prosecuted under the Act. They beleive that even if the Dutch
authorites were alerted to the game, games offered for a limited period of
time for moderate prozes would not be high on teh list of the dutch
authorities priorites!  There is also the issue that Dutch courts probably
won't consider themselves to have jurisdiction because, for example, the
prizes are expressed in GBP, the game is run from a UK server, the language
is English, and the game does not violate laws in jurisdiction it is run
from, although no guarantee of this can obviously be given.

4.  Miscellaneous

We await advice from Spain.  I have received, but not yet reviewed, the
advice from France (but from a brief glance, it does not look favouarble
regarding allowing French citizens to participate).

I also have advice from the various jurisdictions relating to whether Enron
employees themselves can participate (this looks favourable - obviously as
long as the game is conducted fairly).  I will review the specifics of this
advice, and forward it to you, along with the advice we have on disclaimers.
I should be able to do this this afternoon/evening  (UK time).

I have advice from most of the jursidictions on Olympic legislation.  Would
you like a summary of this advice for future reference? - it makes
interesting, if largely depressing, reading!

Rachel

____________________________________________________________

This message is confidential. It may also be privileged or
otherwise protected by work product immunity or other legal
rules. If you have received it by mistake please let us know
by reply and then delete it from your system; you should not
copy the message or disclose its contents to anyone.
____________________________________________________________


Noticed that your not on this email.  I've been receiving summaries like this
for the last month.

JD
---------------------- Forwarded by Jeff Duff/EWC/Enron on 03/11/2002 07:44
AM ---------------------------

Alden Zeitz
03/11/2002 05:46 AM
To: Mark Perryman/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Barry Riffe/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Jane
Gibbs/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Gayle Moore/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Jerry
Holt/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Lisa Pitt/EWC/Enron@Enron, Mark V
Walker/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Jeff Duff/EWC/Enron@ENRON, Marion
Horna/EWC/Enron@ENRON
cc:

Subject: Storm 08 - 09 Mar 02

Everyone,

This is the initial report for the violent storm we experienced this weekend.

Jane, it is starting already!!! LIGHTNING DAMAGE!!!!

Any comments or questions are welcome.

Al


Mark,

One option is to talk to a number of physicists in my group who might be
interested.

Vince

	Enron Investment Partners

	From:  Mark Lay                           07/26/2000 07:57 AM

To: Rex Shelby/Enron Communications@Enron Communications, Steven J
Kean/HOU/EES@EES, Mike McConnell, Vince J Kaminski/HOU/ECT@ECT, Philippe A
Bibi/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc: Kenneth Lay/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Fabricio Soares/HOU/ECT@ECT
Subject: MEC

Thank you for participating in yesterday's meeting.  We spoke with Harvey and
Jim after the meeting and they took to speed to market comments to heart.
There is an opportunity for Enron to participate with MEC in the early
development of their company, but it seems the one thing they want is the one
thing we also want, people.  I would appreciate your thoughts and comments on
the possiblity of creating a small team that could work directly with MEC as
part of a potential investment and strategic relationship.  Given our
resource constraints, this would most likely be part of the organization that
sees the greatest strategic impact from MEC's development.

Mark
x37408


---------------------- Forwarded by Eric Bass/HOU/ECT on 01/26/2000 09:24 AM
---------------------------

Danielle Samson <DanielleS@JonesGranger.com> on 01/26/2000 02:30:52 AM
To: Eric Bass/HOU/ECT@ECT
cc:
Subject: FW: Aggie Arrested

-----Original Message-----
From: Erin Boone [mailto:eboone@scientific.com]
<mailto:[mailto:eboone@scientific.com]>
Sent: Tuesday, January 25, 2000 9:41 AM
To: jab@ scientific.com; Danielle Samson
Subject: Fwd: Aggie Arrested
Received: from ntshou-firewall.ref-fuel.com
 by archou-gw1; Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:21:11 -0600
Received: from sentinel.wilcor.com ([12.19.20.194]) by
ntshou-firewall.ref-fuel.com
          via smtpd (for ArcHou-FS1.americanreffuel.com [192.168.10.31])
with SMTP; 25 Jan 2000 15:22:39 UT
Received: id JAA24473
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X-Lotus-Fromdomain: WCG
From: dowler_rm@willis.com <mailto:dowler_rm@willis.com>
To: sburckle@ref-fuel.com <mailto:sburckle@ref-fuel.com> ,
Lynn.Cantor@inet.com <mailto:Lynn.Cantor@inet.com> ,
 "Jeana Coluccio" <jeana.coluccio@ref-fuel.com
<mailto:jeana.coluccio@ref-fuel.com> >, dowler@vonl.com
<mailto:dowler@vonl.com> ,
 ldowler@comwerx.net <mailto:ldowler@comwerx.net> ,
emonroe@answerthink.com <mailto:emonroe@answerthink.com>  (Emily Monroe),
 rnewlin@ref-fuel.com <mailto:rnewlin@ref-fuel.com> ,
cslaught@ref-fuel.com <mailto:cslaught@ref-fuel.com> ,
 "phil_warlick" <phil_warlick@email.msn.com
<mailto:phil_warlick@email.msn.com> >
Message-Id: <86256871.00545DBC.00@notes.prd.wcus
<mailto:86256871.00545DBC.00@notes.prd.wcus> >
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 09:21:10 -0600
Subject: Fw: Aggie Arrested
Mime-Version: 1.0
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii
 Content-Disposition: inline

Now I know what all the "Hulabaloo" is about !!!
---------------------- Forwarded by Ross Dowler/Hou/US/WCG on 01/25/2000
09:16 AM ---------------------------

"Dana Durman" <tyr22900@tyler.net <mailto:tyr22900@tyler.net> > on 01/04/80
01:32:56 PM
Please respond to "Dana Durman" <ddurman@comettech.com
<mailto:ddurman@comettech.com> >

To: "Lisa Schumacher" <cmslms1029@aol.com <mailto:cmslms1029@aol.com> >
 "Paul & Terry Sacco" <taspas@tyler.net <mailto:taspas@tyler.net> >
 "Melissa Gillispie" <Melissa_Gillispie@enron.com
<mailto:Melissa_Gillispie@enron.com> >
 "Jeanne Fanning" <pfanning@tyler.net <mailto:pfanning@tyler.net> >
 Ross Dowler/Hou/US/WCG@WCG <mailto:Dowler/Hou/US/WCG@WCG>
 "Margaret De Tullio" <mdetullio@tyler.net
<mailto:mdetullio@tyler.net> >
 "Lisa Cifreo" <lisacifreo@email.msn.com
<mailto:lisacifreo@email.msn.com> >
 "Chris Breaux" <chris.breaux@usa.alcatel.com
<mailto:chris.breaux@usa.alcatel.com> >
 "Guy Aldrich" <guy.aldrich@coastalcorp.com
<mailto:guy.aldrich@coastalcorp.com> >
 cc:
  bcc:

Subject: Fw: Aggie Arrested

-----Original Message-----
From: Felecia C. Lee <fclee@duke-energy.com <mailto:fclee@duke-energy.com>
>
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Date: Friday, January 21, 2000 10:46 AM
Subject: Aggie Arrested

 >
 >
 >Aggie AP Story
 >Aggies aregetting themselves into trouble again....
 >
 >AP. A Texas A&M University student who claimed he had been raped by
a dog
 >was yesterday jailed for 12 months.
 >
 >Martin Hoyle, 20, was arrested by police after the passengers of a
passing
 >car witnessed a Bull Terrier, called Badger, having sex with Hoyle
on the
 >side of Highway 290, just north of Hempstead.
 >
 >Assistent District Attorney Ben Crossland said the passengers of
the car,
an
 >unidentified couple from Houston, had stopped to help because they
thought
 >Hoyle was being attacked by the animal.  But when they got closer
they saw
 >that Hoyle had his pants around his ankles, was down on all fours,
and the
 >dog was straddling him from behind.
 >
 >"The defendant mumbled something about the dog having taken a
liking to
 >him," said Mr Crossland."The couple were extremely offended and
sickened by
 >what they saw." Another individual in a passing car contacted
police on a
 >cellular phone and Hoyle was arrested as he walked with the dog on
the
 >feeder road.
 >
 >Hoyle, of College Station, told police "I can't help it if the dog
took a
 >liking to me.He tried to rape me." He repeated the rape allegation
at
 >the police station and added, "The dog pulled my jeans down."
 >
 >Hoyle, who has been arrested several times on alcohol-related
charges, was
 >jailed for 12 months after he admitted committing an act that
outraged
 >public decency. His lawyer said Hoyle had no memory of the incident
because
 >of his intoxicated state, but was now very remorseful and
incredibly
 >embarrassed.
 >
 >Jailing him, Judge Alistair McCallum told Hoyle "Never before in my
time at
 >the bar or on the bench have I ever had to deal with somebody who
 >voluntarily allowed himself to be molested by a dog on the public
 >highway. Frankly it is beyond most of our comprehension. It is an
 >absolutely disgusting thing for members of the public to have to
witness."
 >
 >
 >
 >