Class Action Lawsuits Alleging Restraint of Trade and Unfair Business 
Practices Filed Against SoCal Gas, San Diego Gas & Electric, And El Paso 
Natural Gas

LOS ANGELES, Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/  via NewsEdge Corporation  -
Two related class action lawsuits
have been filed in the California Superior Court in Los Angeles, against
Southern California Gas Company, San Diego Gas &amp; Electric Company, Sempra
Energy (parent of the two utilities), El Paso Natural Gas Co., and other
companies related to El Paso Natural Gas.

The two lawsuits allege a conspiracy resulting in restraint of trade and
unfair competition and unlawful business practices.  The complaints summarize
the issue as follows:

This action involves a massive conspiracy to eliminate competition in the
newly deregulated energy industry that has resulted in endangering
California's electrical system and threatening California's economy.  It
is perhaps the largest gouging of energy consumers in American history.
Southern California's current "energy crisis" is not simply the result of
ever-increasing demand by a growing population for energy.  Rather, it is
the direct result of a conspiracy among the natural gas industry's most
powerful Southern California players to preserve and maintain the market
dominance that they enjoyed for many years as monopolies subject to
regulation.  When the artificial monopoly created by regulation was
disassembled, those dominant companies took prompt and illegal action to
ensure that they would not lose the benefits of their market power.  Their
unlawful collusion has contributed significantly to the recent
astronomical increases in the price of natural gas and electricity.  As a
result, Southern California customers have had to pay billions of dollars
extra for their natural gas and electric needs.  This lawsuit seeks to
recover those damages. (Para. 1 and 2 of complaint.)


"In September of 1996, top executives of Southern California Gas Company
("SoCal Gas"), San Diego Gas &amp; Electric ("SDG&amp;E") and El Paso Natural 
Gas
Corporation ("EPNG") met at the Embassy Suites Hotel, near Sky Harbor
Airport in Phoenix, Arizona.  Fearing a new era of open competition and
lower prices, these latter day captains of industry gathered secretly to
hatch a conspiracy to dominate the unregulated aspects of the natural gas
and electricity markets.  At the meeting, these three companies, who
together dominate the Southern California natural gas market, illegally
agreed not to compete against each other in the Southern California and
Baja California natural gas delivery markets.  They also conspired to
prevent other pipelines from being built that would have competed against
them and lowered natural gas prices in these markets.  The conspirators
sought to eliminate competition, take advantage of electric deregulation,
drive up the price of natural gas, and profit from the increased prices."
(Para 4 of complaint.)


One of the two lawsuits addresses the effects of the conspiracy on natural
gas prices; the other deals with the effects on electricity prices.
(The price of gas-fired generation establishes the price for most of the
electricity used in Southern California.)

Copies of the two lawsuits filed this morning are available as Adobe
Acrobat (PDF) files on the web site of the law firm of O'Donnell and Shaeffer
at http://oslaw.com/osnews.

Attorneys representing the plaintiffs are available for interviews, and
can also provide additional materials, including copies of the agenda prepared
for the secret meeting, as well as graphics illustrating the location of
natural gas pipelines that were planned, but then terminated by the defendants
following the secret meeting in Phoenix.

For more information contact:  Pierce O'Donnell or Carole E. Handler,
O'Donnell &amp; Shaeffer LLP, (213) 532-2000

SOURCE  O'Donnell &amp; Shaeffer LLP


CONTACT:  Pierce O'Donnell or Carole E. Handler of O'Donnell &amp; Shaeffer
LLP, 213-532-2000
Web site:  http://oslaw.com/osnews



E SOURCE Study:  Customer-Side Electricity Demand Reduction Could Stem Rising 
Power Prices

BOULDER, Colo., Dec. 18 /PRNewswire/  via NewsEdge Corporation  -
With electricity prices rising
like floodwaters in California and other states, limited generation capacity
has garnered the most attention as the culprit.  Many see constructing new
power plants as the sole solution for bringing prices down.  However, E SOURCE
research just out of the field indicates that convincing customers to reduce
their electricity demand in exchange for cash could provide tremendous price
relief in open power markets.  "Our study shows that commercial and industrial
customers are very willing to reduce demand if the price is right, if
mechanisms are in place for communicating those prices, and if they have a
means of controlling their electric loads.  We found that larger customers
could offer almost 20 percent of their load as negawatts -- temporary
reductions in electricity demand," says E SOURCE Vice President Bill LeBlanc.

Because most electricity use is considered essential and rising wholesale
prices don't immediately affect end users, prices can go sky high when power
supplies get tight.  But if demand dropped in response to high prices, LeBlanc
contends that overall power costs would be much lower.  He explains, "Although
there's a disconnect between price and demand in the marketplace today, we've
uncovered a significant subset of customers who seem ready to participate in a
dynamic pricing market.  Unfortunately, most of them don't yet have the
communication and control tools that would make load management possible.
They also haven't been offered a pricing product they like."  The E SOURCE
research study confirms that customers want flexibility in deciding whether to
participate in load reductions on a daily or even hourly basis, as just one
example.

So how many negawatts are available?  According to the E SOURCE national
market survey, medium-to-large commercial and industrial customers could
potentially reduce their demand by 18 percent if offered a market price of $1
per kWh (one of the tested price points) for reduced electricity usage.  At
this price -- which, incidentally, is what Edison International CEO and
President John Bryson reported that his company paid for electricity on
December 12 in wholesale power markets -- about 55,000 MW could be made
available across the U.S., and about 4,800 MW in California.  LeBlanc adds,
"We can't expect to capture all of this potential.  But with the right
product, pricing scheme, and marketing, it would be possible to help relieve
price pressure on the whole system."  The E SOURCE study, "Energy Pricing and
Load Management:  What Do End-Users Want?" can help energy service providers
design appropriate products and identify the customer groups most likely to
participate in such programs.  It's based on an extensive research with over
700 energy decision-makers across the U.S. and Canada.

For further information about "Energy Pricing and Load Management," please
call Bill LeBlanc at 720-548-5476 or Tia Hensler, market research director, at
720-548-5614.

SOURCE  E SOURCE

CONTACT:  Bill LeBlanc, 720-548-5476, or Tia Hensler, market research
director, 720-548-5614, both for E SOURCE
Web site:  http://www.esource.com