Suddenly, Pipeline Project Sparks Interest --- Pakistan, India Summit Revives 
Plan for Gas To Travel Over Land
The Wall Street Journal, 06/27/01

Enron Direct to tap Alberta retail market Firm's new unit is first major 
independent electricity and natural gas competitor
The Globe and Mail, 06/27/01

U.S. giant enters deregulated Alberta market: Biggest energy trader: Enron 
Corp. seeks expansion in other areas of Canada
National Post, 06/27/01

Former Bush aide named by Perry to last PUC post 
Houston Chronicle, 06/27/01

Enron says delay in India positive sign
Houston Chronicle, 06/27/01

Dabhol: Lessons for FDI
The Economic Times, 06/27/01

Powermen stage stir, demand Enron's exit
The Times of India, 06/27/01

Europe Weighs Standard Gas-Trading Contract
The Wall Street Journal Europe, 06/27/01

Data Centre bubble bursts amidst dotcom meltdown
The Times of India, 06/27/01

Enron plans to enter steel trading in India
Business Standard, 06/27/01

New York Electricity Supplier Tests Gadget that Controls Heat Via Internet
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Philadelphia Inquirer - 
Pennsylvania, 06/27/01

Coal Cos Take Cautious View Of Nymex Coal Futures
Dow Jones News Service, 06/26/01

Oregon Vote on Electricity Deregulation Delayed by Partisan Dispute
Dow Jones Business News, 06/26/01

El Paso: Calif Supply Constraints Keep Gas Prices Up
Dow Jones Energy Service, 06/26/01

Enron Corp. Dives Into Retail Canadian Power, Gas Markets
Dow Jones Energy Service, 06/26/01

Enron to Start Commercial Power, Gas Sales in Alberta (Update1)
Bloomberg, 06/26/01

Enron Says Indian Court Defers Decision on Jurisdiction
Bloomberg, 06/26/01




International
Suddenly, Pipeline Project Sparks Interest --- Pakistan, India Summit Revives 
Plan for Gas To Travel Over Land
By Daniel Pearl
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

06/27/2001
The Wall Street Journal
A8
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

BOMBAY, India -- A planned summit of India's and Pakistan's top leaders is 
giving new momentum to a $5 billion international gas-pipeline plan that was 
once dismissed as a pipe dream. U.S. companies may be left out, though, 
because the gas would originate in Iran. 
The decades-old pipeline idea, from gas-rich Iran east through Pakistan and 
into gas-hungry India, has always floundered on India's reluctance to deal 
with Pakistan. Since gaining independence in 1947, India and Pakistan have 
fought three wars and a bloody border skirmish two years ago that derailed 
efforts to establish some economic cooperation. On July 14, Pakistani Gen. 
Pervez Musharraf, who seized power in a 1999 coup and recently named himself 
president, is scheduled to arrive in Agra, India, for his first summit 
meeting with India Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.
Pakistan officials have told reporters they expect the pipeline to be 
discussed. India's foreign ministry won't confirm that, but Mr. Vajpayee gave 
a green light to pipeline discussions during a recent trip to Tehran, 
industry officials said. India has previously limited itself to exploring 
undersea pipelines that avoid Pakistan. After the trip, Iran promptly asked 
Australia's BHP Petroleum to launch a feasibility study on a land route. 
"There have been some studies before, but I think this is the most official," 
an Iranian official said. 
Pipeline talks could present a quandary for the Bush administration. 
Washington has encouraged India and Pakistan to reduce tensions on the 
subcontinent, but has strongly opposed previous energy projects involving 
Iran. U.S. oil companies are lobbying hard for the administration to let 
sanctions on Iran expire this year instead of renewing them for two years. 
Though the 1,500-mile pipeline remains a long shot, it may be one of the few 
topics India and Pakistan can discuss without fear of political backlash at 
home. Neither country is likely to budge from their hardened positions on the 
disputed Kashmir territory, and low-level talks aimed at reducing risks of 
nuclear weapons have so far come to naught. Pakistan stands to gain badly 
needed revenue from transit fees; estimates range between $260 million and 
$600 million a year. India could get relief from a gas deficit that has 
fertilizer plants running on reduced fuel and power plants running on 
more-expensive naphtha. 
Also, India's biggest private company appears to be shifting the balance in 
favor of an Iran pipeline. Reliance Industries Ltd., a Bombay-based polyester 
and petroleum company that is gearing up to challenge government monopolies 
in telecommunications and gas supply, recently launched a $10 million study 
on importation of liquefied gas from Iran to India by ship, in partnership 
with BP Inc. and National Iranian Oil Co. But industry officials familiar 
with Reliance's plans said the company is expressing interest in the pipeline 
option, too, because of its cost advantages and potential to provide a backup 
energy source for Reliance's huge industrial complex in India's northwestern 
Gujarat state. 
Reliance wouldn't comment on its gas-supply plans. If the company does insert 
itself as a potential buyer of the pipeline gas, a deal could become easier 
to negotiate than if India's state-owned gas company were the buyer. 
Still, "What's missing really at this moment is someone who would broker an 
arrangement," says Hugh McDermott, a principal of consulting firm Nexant Inc. 
who heads a U.S.-funded project promoting energy cooperation among South 
Asian countries. (Pakistan isn't yet involved). 
The less India and Pakistan are willing to trust each other, the bigger role 
Iran is likely to play in any pipeline. One scenario being discussed within 
the gas industry is for Iran to agree on delivery all the way to the Indian 
border, paying Pakistan's transit fees and guaranteeing safe passage through 
Pakistan. Iran and Pakistan have warmed their previously frosty relations 
recently, but whether Iran -- or even Pakistan itself -- could really 
guarantee the pipeline's security is an open question. Matthew Forman, South 
Asia specialist at the London-based consulting firm Control Risk Group, said 
the pipeline would run through the huge and remote province of Baluchistan, a 
lawless haven for smugglers where suspected tribal militants recently 
attacked a Chinese petroleum-engineering company with bullets and rockets. 
Pakistan "will have to work hard to give the impression [the pipeline] is 
safe and reliable," Mr. Forman said. "It is going to need some serious 
political will for it to go ahead." 
Several competing proposals to bring natural gas to India have run into 
trouble lately. Enron Corp. recently withdrew from the latest plan for an 
underwater pipeline from the Persian Gulf. Unocal Corp. tried to promote a 
pipeline through Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, but Unocal 
shut down its Turkmenistan office in 1999, after finding the lure of transit 
fees wasn't enough to make Afghanistan a stable country. Unocal, Royal 
Dutch/Shell Group and other oil companies have staked out gas interests in 
Bangladesh, but Bangladesh officials have so far spurned oil companies' pleas 
to allow export of gas to neighboring India.

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



Report on Business: Canadian
Enron Direct to tap Alberta retail market Firm's new unit is first major 
independent electricity and natural gas competitor
DAVID PARKINSON

06/27/2001
The Globe and Mail
Metro
B3

CALGARY -- U.S. energy trading giant Enron Corp. announced yesterday the 
launch of a retail electricity and natural gas business in Alberta, becoming 
the first major independent competitor to enter the Alberta market since the 
province deregulated electricity at the start of the year. 
Enron Canada Corp., the Canadian unit of Houston-based Enron, unveiled Enron 
Direct Canada Corp., a new unit that will sell electricity and natural gas 
directly to commercial and light industrial businesses in Alberta. The 
company will go head to head with Alberta's established major utility 
retailers -- mainly Enmax Corp. of Calgary and Epcor Utilities Inc. of 
Edmonton -- in the battle for the roughly 120,000 business customers in the 
province's deregulated natural gas and electricity markets.
"Obviously, we'd like to gain market share and be a significant competitor in 
Alberta," said Rob Milnthorp, president and chief executive officer of both 
Enron Canada and the new Enron Direct unit, from his office in Calgary. 
Enron enters the Alberta retail market at a time when some of the traditional 
regulated utilities have been moving away from the retail business. TransAlta 
Corp. sold its retail business last year, and Atco Ltd. announced in May that 
it put its retail operations up for sale to concentrate on the regulated side 
of its utilities. 
"I think this is a market where money is to be made, but it takes 
considerable marketing and trading skills," said analyst Winfried Fruehauf of 
National Bank Financial in Toronto. 
Enron's announcement prompted speculation that the company might be 
interested in the retail electricity and natural gas operations of Atco Ltd., 
which feature a base of about one million commercial and residential 
customers. Mr. Milnthorp wouldn't say whether Enron has talked with Atco 
about buying the assets. 
But Mr. Fruehauf said it "wouldn't surprise" him if Enron was interested. 
Enron has been providing retail power to commercial customers since 1993, 
when it launched Enron Direct in the deregulated British market. Since then, 
the company has expanded its retail sales into the United States, Spain and 
the Netherlands. 
Enron has been involved in wholesale energy marketing in Canada for several 
years. It began dabbling in the Alberta retail market four months ago, taking 
on a handful of commercial customers while it built up its retail office in 
preparation for an all-out launch. Its existing customers include retailer 
Calgary Co-operative Ltd. and real estate firm Boardwalk Properties Co. 
Mr. Milnthorp declined to say how many customers the Alberta retail operation 
already has, nor would he divulge the company's targets for the number of 
customers it hopes to add over the next year. However, he did say the company 
would be interested in expanding Enron Direct into Ontario once that province 
completes electricity deregulation. 
"If the regulatory market is conducive to competition, then we want to be 
there," he said.

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



Financial Post: Canada
U.S. giant enters deregulated Alberta market: Biggest energy trader: Enron 
Corp. seeks expansion in other areas of Canada
Carol Howes
Financial Post

06/27/2001
National Post
National
C06
(c) National Post 2001. All Rights Reserved.

CALGARY - Enron Corp., the biggest energy trader in North America, has begun 
selling electricity and natural gas to consumers in Alberta and is looking to 
expand into Canada's other deregulating power markets. 
Enron Direct Canada Corp., a new Calgary-based subsidiary, will enter the 
market by selling to commercial and small industrial businesses and will 
evaluate demand for residential sales over the next few months.
"As other markets open up -- if in fact the regulatory environments in those 
different parts of Canada are conducive to competition -- we will take a very 
serious look at becoming a major player [there]," said Darren Cross, chief 
operating officer of Enron Direct. 
Alberta opened its electricity market to competition Jan. 1, prompting ATCO 
Ltd., one of Canada's biggest publicly held utility companies, to put its 
retail electricity and gas units up for sale. 
Last year, Alberta's other large power generator, TransAlta Corp., sold its 
retail electricity unit and power lines to Kansas City-based UtiliCorp United 
Inc. for $860-million. UtiliCorp then sold the retail business to Edmonton's 
municipally owned Epcor Utilities Inc. for $110-million. 
Rob Milnthorp, president and chief executive of Enron Canada, said his 
company expects to make money where others couldn't because of its hold on 
the Canadian wholesale market and its ability to offer competitive pricing. 
"Where we really have the distinct advantage is our wholesale backbone. Being 
the largest wholesaler of natural gas and electricity in Canada gives us 
tremendous strength," he said. 
Mr. Milnthorp declined to discuss whether Enron has made a bid for ATCO's 
businesses, which were expected to be sold by the end of June. "Based on 
confidentiality restrictions we can't comment on that right now," he said. 
The retail units, which are essentially ATCO's 900,000 home and business 
customers, have been estimated at $300-million to $325-million. 
Jim Campbell, ATCO's chief financial officer, said the sale is "progressing 
as planned," but couldn't comment further. 
ATCO put its retail operations up for sale to concentrate on its 
government-regulated generation and distribution arms. 
Enron plans to offer long-term, flexible contracts to customers, eliminating 
some of the concern over the volatile pricing that has hit Alberta and 
elsewhere this past year. The company has already started marketing the 
energy contracts to Alberta's 100,000 businesses.

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






June 27, 2001
Houston Chronicle
Former Bush aide named by Perry to last PUC post 
By LAURA GOLDBERG 
Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle 
A woman who served as a policy director for former Gov. George W. Bush will 
fill the last vacant spot on the agency that is overseeing the state's move 
to electricity deregulation. 
Gov. Rick Perry on Tuesday appointed Rebecca Armendariz Klein of Austin to 
the state Public Utility Commission. 
Armendariz Klein, currently a consultant with KPMG Consulting, served as 
general government policy director when Bush was governor. 
She also has previously worked as a senior attorney for the PUC and as a 
telecommunications law analyst for the American Enterprise Institute. 
Perry also announced Tuesday that Mario Max Yzaguirre will serve as chairman 
of the three-member PUC. Perry named Yzaguirre, who recently resigned from 
Enron Corp., to the PUC earlier this month. 
Consumers Union criticized Yzaguirre's appointment because of his ties to the 
energy industry. 
But Reggie James, director of the southwest regional office of Consumers 
Union in Austin, expressed support for Armendariz Klein. 
"We feel that she is going to be a competent commissioner," he said, adding 
that her technical and other experience make her suited for the job. 
"We've worked with her before," he said. "We know that she's bright." 
Consumers Union, he said, is happy to see someone with a more neutral 
background than Yzaguirre appointed, he said. 
The two join Brett Perlman of Houston on the PUC. He was appointed in 1999 by 
Bush. 
"Texans can count on her for fair treatment," Perlman said in a written 
statement. 
Given the great impact that the PUC has on consumers, "it was Gov. Perry's 
strong desire" to have one of his appointees as chair, said Kathy Walt, a 
Perry spokeswoman. 
"Gov. Perry is confident that both of his appointees on the Public Utility 
Commission will represent the varied interests of Texans," she said. 
The appointments come as Texas prepares to open its electricity market to 
competition. Starting Jan. 1, Texans will be able to choose their electricity 
providers. 
The PUC also oversees the telecommunications market. 
Armendariz Klein, who graduated from high school in Corpus Christi, has a 
bachelor's degree from Stanford University, a graduate degree from Georgetown 
University and a law degree from St. Mary's University School of Law in San 
Antonio. 
She is also a major in the Air Force Reserves, where she also serves as a 
staff judge advocate general. 
One of the two vacancies Perry had to fill occurred recently when PUC 
Chairman Pat Wood III stepped down after President Bush named him to the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 
















June 27, 2001, 12:37AM
Briefs: Houston & state 



Enron says delay in India positive sign
Enron Corp. said an Indian court deferred a decision on whether a regulatory 
agency has the jurisdiction to rule in a dispute between the company and a 
regional government that is refusing to pay its power bills. 
The Bombay High Court gave the Maharashtra Electricity Regulatory Commission, 
the regulatory agency, six weeks to decide whether it has jurisdiction to 
settle a dispute on termination of the 7-year-old power-purchase agreement. 
Enron called the ruling positive. 
Enron owns Dabhol Power Co., which has a $3 billion power plant in 
Maharashtra state. The project's sole customer is the Maharashtra State 
Electricity Board, which said May 24 that it is canceling an agreement to buy 
power from the Dabhol plant. 







Dabhol: Lessons for FDI
Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar

06/27/2001
The Economic Times
Copyright (C) 2001 The Economic Times; Source: World Reporter (TM)

IT WILL be hard for foreign investors to look seriously at India until this 
(Dabhol) dispute is resolved in a satisfactory way. So said Alan Larson, US 
Under-secretary of State for business and agriculture, at the meeting of the 
Indo-US Business Council last week. 
Many other observers of the foreign investment scene, including Indian 
diplomats in Washington, say the same.
Some Indians take comfort in the fact that neither Moodys nor Standard and 
Poors have downgraded India as a credit risk. But these rating agencies rate 
the safety of not FDI but of sovereign Indian paper. 
Now, the government of India is clearly able and willing to service all its 
foreign debt. Its forex reserves stand at a record $43 billion, and its debt 
service ratio is down from a peak of 33 per cent to just 15 per cent or so. 
In the case of Dabhol, the central government has reaffirmed that it will 
honour its counter-guarantee. The entity that is both unwilling and unable to 
pay is the Maharashtra state government. 
The Maharashtra chief minister has made it clear that he does not believe in 
enforcement of contracts: he believes a politician has the right to renege on 
contracts simply on the ground that the price looks too high. Such wilful 
default is far worse in the eye of the foreign investor than mere bankruptcy. 
Maybe Dabhol will be renegotiated satisfactorily and the dust will settle. 
Meanwhile, it is essential to distil lessons from Dabhol for FDI. 
One lesson is that a foreign investor who negotiates a deal that yields a 
fabulous price from his viewpoint but bankrupts the customer is not a 
fabulous deal at all but a bad one that invites political risk on top of 
commercial risk. 
The second and more important lesson is that state governments in India are 
bankrupt but individuals and corporations are solvent. Enron made the serious 
error of thinking it was easier to collect dues from a state government than 
individual consumers. 
Other foreign investors in telecom, ports, banking and roads are faring 
better because their bills are paid by individuals and corporations. 
Not long ago, Maharashtra was regarded as one of the best administered and 
most solvent states. The Maharashtra State Electricity Board used to generate 
healthy profits in excess of Rs 100 crore per year. 
The states fiscal deterioration in the last five years has not received the 
attention it deserves. All states were hard hit by the Pay Commission award, 
and most analysts (including me) blithely assumed that `good states like 
Maharashtra would bounce back. 
That optimism has turned out to be misplaced. Except for Gujarat, Tamil Nadu 
and possibly one or two others, state governments today seem unable to meet 
their commitments. 
Worse, they regard this state of affairs as somewhat unfortunate but 
nevertheless a political necessity. 
They are not inclined to make the wrenching changes needed reducing non-merit 
subsidies and surplus staff, while increasing the collection of taxes and 
user charges. 
The quality of public services keeps deteriorating, which is why ruling 
parties keep losing elections. What election pundits call the anti-incumbency 
factor is simply unrepentant non-performance. 
This has been institutionalised since every outgoing regime believes that the 
other side will fail to perform too, letting it return to power unreformed. 
For many decades of planned development, the private sector was perceived to 
have little money while governments were perceived to have very deep pockets. 
The very opposite is true today. State governments are bust, and cannot 
deliver even basic services like primary education and health. 
Meanwhile, the private sector is able to take up the biggest projects ever. 
Reliance has just built the biggest oil refinery in the world with no 
government assistance at all. Individuals today shell out Rs 20 lakh or more 
for luxury cars, but governments departments cannot afford even Ambassador 
cars. 
So, conventional wisdom has been turned on its head. Today, the central 
government remains the most creditworthy of all entities. 
But, clearly, individuals and companies, warts and all, are more capable of 
paying their dues than all but a few state governments. 
What implications does this have for FDI? Any foreign investor must carefully 
survey potential customers first. 
If the main or only buyer is a state government and this is the case for 
power projects they should see this as a red flag. 
Enron is not the only power producer that cannot collect. The NTPC cannot 
collect in full from Kerala for power from Kayamkulam, and Andhra Pradesh too 
is in arrears of payment for private power. 
In all, state governments have run up arrears of Rs 40,000 crore to public 
sector suppliers alone. 
If states cannot pay Coal India, Bharat Heavy Electricals or the NTPC for 
supplies, why should foreign investors except any better treatment? When 
state governments refuse to honour even bank guarantees, can they be expected 
to honour escrow commitments? 
However, default does not plague other investments where the customers are 
corporations or even small individuals. 
FDI in ports is working, because port charges are payable by shipping 
companies, not state governments. FDI in telecom is working because bills are 
paid mainly by companies and individuals. 
Toll roads are working too, because the tolls are paid by individual 
motorists and truck drivers. 
Finally, the central government remains solvent. So FDI in Railway equipment 
or defence equipment looks safe enough. 
The problem lies not with India as a whole, but with state governments in 
particular. 
So the real lesson for foreign investors is beware of any projects where 
state governments are the sole or even important buyers. 
Assume that a political culture of non-payment is spreading where state 
governments regard the presentation of unpaid bills as an irritant rather 
than a badge of shame. 
Finally, do not confuse the bankruptcy of state governments with the 
bankruptcy of India or individual Indians.

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


Powermen stage stir, demand Enron's exit
The Times of India News Service

06/27/2001
The Times of India
Copyright (C) 2001 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM)

LUCKNOW: With an announcement to continue their agitation till the Enron is 
chased out of the country, the power engineers and employees all over the 
country observed 'Enron Bharat chodo Diwas' on Tuesday. 
The call of the agitation was given by the National Coordination Committee of 
Electricity Employees and Engineers (NCCOEEE).
The power men staged demonstrations in front of the Shakti Bhawan here. 
Similar demonstrations and other protest meetings were also held at other 
district headquarters of the state. 
Addressing a meeting, the convenor of Vidyut Karmachari Sanyukt Sanghursha 
Samiti, Shailendra Dubey, said that the privatisation experiment of the power 
sector had totally failed and Enron was one of its examples. He said that the 
Maharashtra Electricity Board had incurred a whopping loss of about Rs 2000 
crore in one year because the generation cost of 744 MW capacity Dabhol Power 
Project was Rs 8.26 per unit. 
"As per the guarantee given by the Maharashtra government to Enron company 
and the counter-guarantee given by the central government, if the Maharashtra 
electricity board does not purchase power at such exorbitant rates even then 
the board will have to cough up the capacity charge of Rs 95 crore per month 
to the Enron company," explained the samiti leader. 
He said that if the power agreement was not cancelled then not only 
Maharashtra electricity board but even the Maharashtra state would become 
bankrupt. 
The meeting passed a resolution urging the UP Power Corporation not to 
purchase power from the Enron under any circumstances.

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



European Markets
Europe Weighs Standard Gas-Trading Contract
By Germana Canzi
Dow Jones Newswires

06/27/2001
The Wall Street Journal Europe
12
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

LONDON -- Opening up Europe's gas market is slowly getting underway. 
One crucial element is lacking -- a standardized short-term trading contract 
that will help large customers to pick and choose the best offer in the 
market, rather than remain shackled to a traditional long-term supplier.
Energy company representatives will gather in Amsterdam today to thrash out 
such a contract. 
"Due to the development of gas markets in Europe, especially in Germany, the 
time is ripe for creating a standard European contract," said Joerg Spicker, 
a spokesman for the European Federation of Energy Traders. Mr. Spicker is 
managing director of the German subsidiary of Aquila Energy, a Utilicorp 
United Inc. unit. 
EFET members will create a "template" that could be used in all the trading 
hubs around Europe, which are emerging as delivery locations for gas sold on 
a short-term basis, Mr. Spicker said. An attachment to the standard contract 
would specify which hub will be used for physical delivery of the gas. 
"One hurdle to liquidity (in these hubs) is the lack of a standard contract," 
Steve Asplin, director for Benelux operations at energy firm Enron Corp. 
said, adding that he sees the EFET initiative as a positive step forward. 
The standard contract is likely to be in euros per gigajoules and will enable 
counterparties in the trade to choose which domestic law -- German, Dutch or 
English -- should apply to the contract. 
By creating such a contract, EFET aims to replicate in the gas sector the 
success of its two standard contracts for European electricity trading, which 
were launched in 1999 and 2000 and are now widely used for the wholesaletrade 
of electricity on the continent. 
The standardization of contract terms is deemed essential for development of 
spot markets in mainland Europe, following the blueprint set by the U.K. 
since the 1980s and in Belgium since 1999. 
In addition, the EFET initiative comes just one week ahead of another 
industry-wide meeting in London, when representatives of European gas 
industry will discuss the creation of U.K.-style trading hubs in northwestern 
Europe. 
Since earlier this year, small amounts of gas from the U.K., the Netherlands 
and Norway have been sold on a short-term basis -- instead of through 
traditional long-term contracts -- for delivery in places such as Emden and 
Lampertheim in Germany and Oude Statenzijl and Bunde on the Dutch/German 
border. 
The development of short-term trading there been made possible by the gradual 
opening up of pipelines through the so-called third-party access measures 
imposed by the European Union's gas directive, which most member states 
implemented by the August 2000 deadline. 
Developments in the German market, which is estimated at 82 billion cubic 
meters a year, have been closely watched by foreign companies wishing to sell 
gas to large industries, which are now free, at least on paper, to move away 
from their traditional long-term suppliers. 
Today's meeting in Amsterdam will be largely attended by lawyers representing 
EFET members, such as Germany's RWE AG, the U.S.'s Mirant Energy Corp, 
Dynergy Inc. and Enron Europe Ltd.

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



Data Centre bubble bursts amidst dotcom meltdown
Saikat Chatterjee

06/27/2001
The Times of India
Copyright (C) 2001 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM)

NEW DELHI: The birth pangs for the barely year-old domestic Internet data 
center (IDC) industry have been painful, to say the least. The industry has 
gone through enough euphoria and depression to last other industries a 
lifetime. IDCs --which house thousands of servers in which companies borrow 
space to host their websites -- are now grappling with few clients, empty 
racks and missed targets. 
Bucked up by the dotcom frenzy, companies pumped in thousands of dollars to 
build IDCs only to find out that the market for webhosting services have 
suddenly evaporated.
A classic example is Exodus itself--the company that pioneered the IDC 
business. It took $3.5 billion in debt to go on a massive expansion plan only 
to find out later that demand had dried up as its main clients, the dotcoms 
were falling like ninepins. 
Fortunately, Indian companies in this category remained relatively unscathed 
as most of them had just started their business or were giving final touches 
to their business plans when the ``irrational exuberance'' in the dotcom 
arena came to an end in April last year. Though some did burn their fingers 
they haven't been scarred. 
However, not everyone was spared. EXATT, a start up that planned to offer 
IDCs among other offerings, is reported to have shut down. Similarly, Enron 
and Reliance which announced aggressive plans in this area are learnt to have 
put a brake on their expansion plans. 
Even though there are only a handful of players, the Indian IDCs are working 
with grossly underutilised capacity ranging from 10-20 per cent depending on 
the operator. 
Despite the advantages of hosting your site in India, many Web hosting 
companies still advise their clients to host abroad. ``Today a client has to 
pay more for hosting in India as the bandwidth costs are astronomical 
compared to the US. There is also a risk of losing traffic/business as the 
response time is higher in India-based hosting in the absence of peering 
arrangements between the major ISPs including VSNL,'' states Atul Gupta, CEO 
of Pugmarks. 
Contradicts Sify's Avinash Jayapraphu, VP hosting services, ``When the 
traffic is India-centric it is best to host your site in India. We also have 
peering agreements with VSNL in place.'' 
Explains Gupta, ``We (India) are burning a lot of premium bandwidth in double 
circuit data flow in the absence of peering. Internet users of an `X' ISP 
would need to go all the way to US and come back to India to fetch data from 
a data center not connected to that ISP. It adds to the delays.'' 
Though churn rates are still low compared to US levels, almost every data 
centre, especially the older ones have faced it. 
Says Sanghi, ``Our only casualty has been Chaitime.com. But we've recovered 
our dues from eVentures, which funded us as well as Chaitime.'' 
Similarly, Satyam acknowledges that so far two customers has dropped out but 
argues it is small compared to its client base of 150 odd companies. 
With most data centers crowding the corporate space business has been hard to 
find. ``Given the market condition, it is difficult to win new clients. Even 
corporates are delaying technology spending until the market looks up,'' says 
Amit Goenka, CEO of Cyquator Technologies. 
Nobody is thus talking about expansion plans. Not until the market looks up. 
Will it be six months, one year? Your guess is as good as mine.

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


Enron plans to enter steel trading in India
Rumi Dutta & S Ravindran MUMBAI

06/27/2001
Business Standard
9
Copyright (c) Business Standard

The US-based power giant Enron Corp is planning to get into the steel trading 
business in India. The decision comes at a time when it has been reviewing 
its India plans and when the global steel industry is in the grip of a 
recession. 
Enron is actively looking out for steel traders in Asian countries like 
India, China, Thailand, Japan and Korea, the company said through a recent 
advertisement.
The company at present is into the power, gas, broadband, oil, coal, pulp and 
paper, credit and equity derivatives businesses. 
Enron is seeking to "change the way in which the global steel industry 
transacts", steel industry sources added. 
The company plans to focus on expanding the Asian market besides introducing 
risk management and financial hedging products in the steel industry. At the 
same time, to facilitate online business, a network platform is being put in 
place. However, the Enron spokesperson was unavailable for comment. 
The energy giant has put most of its India plans on the backburner except the 
2184 mw Dabhol power project. The continuance of the project is under cloud, 
too, as the Maharashtra government has set up a committee headed by former 
Union home secretary, Madhav Godbole, to renegotiate the 1,444 mw second 
phase of the project. 
The future of another company, Metropolitan Gas, which laying gas pipelines 
for transporting liquefied natural gas (LNG), too, is in doubt. Earlier, 
Enron had pulled out of its joint venture with the Maharashtra State 
Electricity Board (MSEB) and Global Tele-Systems to lay an optic fibre 
network across the board's transmission lines. 
Enron Oil and Gas is also planning to exit its operations in operations in 
the Cambay basin and Panna Mukta oilfields. Although it is not clear why 
Enron is planning to get into steel in the wake of a global recession 
industry analysts say that it will not encounter one problem faced by its 
power sector operations_an ailing state electricity board. 
Over the last few months Maharashtra State Electricity Board and the Enron
-promoted Dabhol Power Company which is setting up the controversial power 
project in the state have been locked in payment disputes.

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


New York Electricity Supplier Tests Gadget that Controls Heat Via Internet
Akweli Parker

06/27/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Philadelphia Inquirer - 
Pennsylvania
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World 
Reporter (TM)

Ah, the 1990s: Sport-utilities ruled the roads. Computers, printers and other 
office gadgets invaded homes. Energy to feed them was cheap and plentiful. 
Conservation fell casualty to Americans' increasingly energy-dependent 
lifestyles.
But indulgence came at a price: As consumers have discovered via soaring 
gasoline prices and winter heating bills, payback time has arrived. And 
deregulation of the electricity industry could lead to similar sticker shock 
in coming years. 
Now, New Power Co., a competitive electricity supplier based in Purchase, 
N.Y., is giving consumers a way to prepare for that day. In Philadelphia and 
Houston, it has begun testing an electronic gizmo that lets the utility 
control home heating and cooling systems, plus some lights and appliances, 
via the Internet. 
Postal worker Bill Dobbins, who lives near the Franklin Mills Mall, is among 
the 300 Philadelphia-area volunteers trying out the high-tech devices. 
One, a remote temperature control, lets New Power adjust Dobbins' thermostat 
via signals sent over the Internet by two to six degrees, so that his heating 
and cooling system conserve power. 
Dobbins said he joined the experiment because he's "interested in that type 
of thing." Plus, "there's the monetary reward." 
New Power is paying volunteers $25 to $75 to participate in the program 
through September. 
For New Power, which is backed by Enron Corp. of Houston, the money is a 
pittance compared with the juicy customer data the test program should 
reveal. 
"What we're really interested in is consumer behavior," said Tim Vail, New 
Power's vice president of energy technology solutions. "How does the consumer 
use [the new system]? Do they use it?" 
New Power and other electricity providers think the setup can save them big 
bucks when supply on the electric grid is tight. Vail said the company is 
examining how to share some of those savings with customers when and if the 
program is delivered to a wider audience in coming years. 
The company has divided this summer's test into three parts. The first uses 
an automated electricity meter, which will keep tabs on a household's daily 
energy use and help New Power understand typical consumption patterns. 
The second part is a heating and air-conditioning control pilot, like the one 
installed in Dobbins' home. It commandeers a consumer's thermostat and 
adjusts it two to six degrees as directed by New Power. The consumer can 
override the automatic commands. 
"You can't give them a widget and ask them while they're in the middle of a 
dinner party to sweat," said Lou Budike, president of Powerweb Technologies, 
an energy software company in Media that is negotiating with New Power to 
provide more-detailed usage information to consumers online. 
Part three of the test lets consumers remotely change their thermostats or 
switch lights on and off using any Internet device -- a trick, the company 
says, that could come in handy for discouraging burglars and for conserving 
power while away on vacation. 
The centerpiece of New Power's experiment -- giving a utility the ability to 
control customer devices when needed -- is actually a twist on an old theme 
in the electricity business: Get enough large customers off the power grid 
when demand is highest, and you greatly reduce the risk of blackouts. 
Power on the wholesale market is also most expensive at times of day when 
demand is highest. So getting big users off the system can save money for the 
power company. 
In New Power's experiment, a "big user" is actually a bunch of small 
customers who have agreed to let New Power automatically adjust their 
thermostats based on conditions in the regional energy market. 
New Power calls the plan "joint energy management." 
It remains to be seen, though, whether companies such as New Power can corral 
enough small customers in this manner to turn a profit. 
Even with small business customers, "the margin on that size of account is 
not tremendous," said Jean-Louis Poirier, an energy analyst with PA 
Consulting Group in Washington. 
"The residential market is very difficult," Poirier said, because the cost to 
sign on a residential customer can range from $200 to $700. 
Still, he said these "demand-side management" programs have great potential 
for savings. 
"In the industrial and commercial market, many times you can save 15 to 20 
percent with both changes in customer behavior and capital investment," 
Poirier said. 
Under state law, retail prices for electricity in Pennsylvania are capped for 
several years. For Peco Energy Co.'s customers, the cap lasts through 2006 
for transmission and distribution charges and through 2010 for generation 
charges. 
After this safe harbor for consumers expires, utilities can pass along more 
costs to their customers. 
In a deregulated environment, this could mean alarming price increases if 
consumer demand cannot be quickly reconciled with supply. 
That, in simple terms, explains California's electricity crisis of the past 
several months: Retail customers had no incentive to respond to the turmoil 
in wholesale power markets until it was too late. 
But generally speaking, customers on alternative plans that adjust rates 
based on demand or time of day can receive big discounts or rebates over 
plain vanilla rates -- if they use electricity at the right time. 
For instance, consumers willing to dry clothes late in the evening instead of 
during peak electricity use hours could pay less for the electricity they 
use. Conversely, they could wind up paying more by running the dryer during 
peak times. 
It's an idea regulators want to see more of. 
The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission this year ordered all utilities 
serving the state to implement programs that deal with the customer, or 
demand, side of the energy equation. 
While Peco has a time-of-use rate available for residential and other 
customer classes, spokesman Michael Wood said it is not heavily marketed. 
The company is, however, starting its own pilot program this month with 50 
Delaware County customers, offering a "smart thermostat" similar to New 
Power's. Peco will offer a discount to customers who let it raise their 
thermostats two to four degrees for up to four hours at a time, when demand 
for electricity is high. 
"Without that, there's no strong incentive for consumers to conserve, when 
they don't see the benefit on a real-time basis," Wood said. 
Vail said New Power hopes to offer homeowners throughout its territory a 
product based on the technologies in its pilot program by next summer.

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


Coal Cos Take Cautious View Of Nymex Coal Futures
By Christina Cheddar
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

06/26/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- The July 12 debut of a long-awaited coal futures 
contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange has the potential to increase 
the liquidity of the spot market for the commodity and the volatility of coal 
prices. 
However, some coal suppliers are cautious not to overestimate the impact the 
event will have on the industry.
Still, analysts say the futures contract could attract more investor interest 
to coal company stocks because it may increase the amount of information 
investors have about the direction of coal prices. 
Currently, about 20% of the nation's coal is sold in the over-the-counter 
spot market, which includes trading exchanges run by Enron Corp. (ENE), 
Williams Cos. (WMB) and Aquila Energy Corp. (ILA). While an over-the-counter 
market existed for decades, it has gotten much more volatile in recent years 
as supplies of coal tightened. 
Some company officials and industry analysts believe the coal market has 
never been in a better position for the introduction of a Nymex contract than 
it is now because the current supply-demand balance is much more healthy for 
the industry. 
Years of a supply glut, and the low prices that followed, forced many coal 
companies to shut down high-cost mines. Also, industry consolidation made the 
surviving companies more efficient. 
Over the past year, high natural gas prices and short supplies of electricity 
in some regions further strengthened industry trends by increasing the demand 
for coal from power producers, which can use coal to generate electricity. 
Despite these favorable industry trends, vast differences in the properties 
of coal will make it more difficult to trade than many other commodities, 
analysts said. Types of coal are typically separated by region - for example, 
East, West and Appalachian. The amount of sulfur, ash, moisture and volatile 
matter in the coals also has an impact on how the fuel is priced. 
"Coal is not a homogenous product by any means," said Michael Dudas, an 
analyst at Bear Stearns & Co. 
Also complicating the trading of coal contracts is the lack of flexibility 
about where coal can be physically moved, said David Khani, an analyst at 
Friedman Billings Ramsey & Co. "It will take an industry behind the scenes to 
(make it work)," he said. 
Another constraint is the industry's practice of signing long-term supply 
contracts, which can sometimes stretch more than a decade. Some fear that if 
too much supply remains locked into contracts, it will stall the building of 
liquidity in the futures market. 
In recent years, however, buyers have opted more often for supply contracts 
that average three to five years in length. Often, these agreements include 
options that allow the deals to be renegotiated if there is a dramatic change 
in prices. 
In order for coal to trade successfully, it will need to clear these hurdles. 
Dudas warned that not every contract the Nymex launches succeeds, and said he 
will be among those waiting to see how things develop. 
"I'm not sure how much liquidity we might see in the start," he said. 
Peter Ward, an analyst at Lehman Brothers Inc., also raised concerns about 
liquidity. He said his initial perception is that it will be tough to trade a 
coal contract because so little coal currently is traded in the spot market. 
Others were more optimistic. 
It may take a while to take off, said Morgan Stanley Dean Witter analyst 
Wayne Atwell, but Nymex trading should make for a deeper market. 
Khani said the contract is important for the industry because the equity 
market needs to see easily where coal prices are trading. 
"The price of coal is somewhat of an enigma to a lot of people," he said. 
"(Investors) are making the judgment that coal prices fall with oil and gas 
prices, but coal prices are holding very firm," he said. Coal Suppliers See 
Futures As New Industry Tool 

Some coal suppliers are less doubtful about the contract's ability to be 
successful. However, they expect it will take some time before there is 
enough interest to affect their earnings significantly. 
Arch Coal Inc. (ACI) views the Nymex contract as a tool that it can use to 
hedge its exposure in the market, said Henry Besten, vice president of 
strategic marketing. 
Although Besten expects the exposure on Nymex will increase the liquidity of 
the current spot market for coal, he also said it is a natural extension of 
the trading activity that already exists. 
Besten also expects the exposure on Nymex will introduce financial players 
into the market, which may increase the volatility of coal prices. 
Although Arch will take advantage of trading opportunities to try to increase 
its profits, the St. Louis company doesn't think of trading as a separate 
revenue stream. 
The event may ultimately be more significant for Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU), 
which is a more active trader of coal. 
About 3% of Peabody's revenue, and roughly 3% to 5% of its earnings, come 
from its trading activities, said Vic Svec, a company spokesman. He added 
that Peabody, the largest private-sector coal company in the world, doesn't 
provide specific segment detail. 
According to Svec, the St. Louis company began expanding its coal-trading 
business once it saw the market was moving toward real-time trading. 
Coal trading provides Peabody with an additional tool through which it can 
fulfill its contracted orders, sell its uncontracted coal and produce a 
sales-trading book of business, he said. 
Svec said it was too early to determine what impact the Nymex contract may 
have on its revenue growth. 
"It has the potential to improve the liquidity in an emerging trading 
market," Svec said. 
It also may be too soon for others to judge as well. An official at Massey 
Energy Co. (MEE), a Richmond, Va., coal company, declined to comment on the 
upcoming contract and said the company was still "studying the situation." 
Officials from several other coal companies didn't return phone calls asking 
for comment. 
The upcoming futures contract also will give large industrial users of coal 
the ability to hedge their exposure to price swings in the market. Some large 
coal consumers may decide to employ a variety of purchasing techniques, 
including signing long-term contracts for a portion of their needs, while 
fulfilling the remainder of their needs in the spot market. 
-By Christina Cheddar, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5166; 
christina.cheddar@dowjones.com

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


Oregon Vote on Electricity Deregulation Delayed by Partisan Dispute

06/26/2001
Dow Jones Business News
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

SALEM, Ore. -- Oregon's final vote on a bill setting a March 1 start date for 
partial electricity deregulation may be delayed several more days because of 
an unrelated partisan dispute, the bill's sponsor said. 
Oregon's House of Representatives was originally scheduled to vote Monday on 
the bill that would give large business customers the option of retaining 
regulated rates until July 2003 or buying power from competing electricity 
suppliers beginning March 1, 2002.
But Democrats have boycotted the state's Capitol since Monday in protest of a 
Republican-backed redistricting plan, said Representative Betsy Close (R., 
Albany). "It's unlikely we will get to the [deregulation] bill Wednesday, 
though it could happen any day now," she added. 
Since the redistricting plan lapses if it isn't acted upon by Sunday, Rep. 
Close said a vote on the deregulation bill isn't likely to be postponed 
beyond this week. "My guess is we'll vote by Friday. ... Once it comes to a 
vote, the bill should pass easily," she noted, adding that she believed Gov. 
John Kitzhaber supports the measure. 
If the restructuring bill passes, state regulators will determine by late 
July which customers of Enron Corp.'s (ENE) Portland General Electric Co. 
unit and Scottish Power's (SPI) PacifiCorp qualify as "large businesses," 
said Bob Valdez, Oregon Public Utilities Commission spokesman. 
Residential and small-business customers will continue to have regulated 
rates. 
Large customers were originally slated to be allowed electricity-generator 
choice on Oct. 1, but Mr. Valdez said legislators want to revise the date to 
ensure the state gets through its high-demand winter months without the 
possibility of glitches caused by the new system. 
The new date also ensures customers won't mistakenly attribute an unrelated 
rate increase, also planned for Oct. 1, to the start of deregulation. The 
rate increase is necessary because the Bonneville Power Administration, a 
federal hydropower marketer which sells to the state's utilities, must buy 
more power than usual in the high-priced spot market to meet burgeoning 
customer demand. 
Copyright (c) 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. 
All Rights Reserved

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


El Paso: Calif Supply Constraints Keep Gas Prices Up

06/26/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Natural gas prices, at six-month lows across most of 
the country, are still influenced by pipeline constraints in California, El 
Paso Corp. (EPG) contended Tuesday. 
"Demand for natural gas in California has exceeded available supply," said 
Norma F. Dunn, El Paso's senior vice president of communications and 
government affairs.
Dunn said a gas supply-demand imbalance "still exists in California," but not 
because of transportation tariff agreements on the El Paso pipeline system. 
El Paso's response to the high gas prices in California came a day after the 
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission said it will investigate California's 
gas infrastructure to determine why gas prices into the state are so much 
higher than in other parts of the country. 
"If you look at the map to see where prices are unusually high, you'll see 
one place is northern California and the other is southern California," said 
FERC Commissioner Pat Wood on Monday during a meeting with California 
regulators and state officials. 
Wood singled out gas transportation into and within the state as "something 
of concern." 
But reduction in demand and increases in supply, along with moderating 
weather nationwide, have led to a fall in gas pricing nationally, according 
to a press release from El Paso on Tuesday. 
Dunn said because California doesn't have a sufficient pipeline 
infrastructure, demand for gas in the state is still higher than the 
available supply. 
In June 2000, when El Paso Natural Gas Co.'s El Paso Merchant Energy unit 
held transportation rights on the system, the natural gas price differential 
between Texas and New Mexico producing regions and California was 27 cents, 
only 5% of its present differential, Dunn said. 
The differential from the producing region to New York on Transcontinental 
Zone 2 Pool was 38 cents a year ago, and 45 cents this month, the company 
said. 
In the Midcontinent, El Paso said the price differential on NGPL-Midcontinent 
pipeline, ANR-Oklahoma and Northern Natural Gas pipeline ranged from 25 cents 
a year ago to 29 cents in June. 
The company based its figures on industry pricing data. 
El Paso Merchant Energy is one of about 30 companies that own capacity on the 
El Paso line, including Enron Corp. (ENE), Dynegy Inc. (DYN), Duke Energy 
(DUK), PG&E Corp. (PGC), Williams Energy (WMB), San Diego Gas & Electric Co., 
and Sempra Energy (SRE) units Sempra Energy Trading Corp. and Southern 
California Gas Co. 
Also, Dunn said, gas prices have fallen considerably in California since the 
winter, with more electricity available from non-gas-fired generation, 
including nuclear and hydroelectric facilities, cutting back a need for 
gas-fired plant fuel. Energy conservation efforts have eased power demand, 
and storage facilities across the country are filling at a record pace. 
Recently, El Paso offered open seasons on lateral pipelines within California 
and intends to expand its system in the state. 
-By John Edmiston, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9209; 
john.edmiston@dowjones.com

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


Enron Corp. Dives Into Retail Canadian Power, Gas Markets

06/26/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

CALGARY -(Dow Jones)- Enron Corp. (ENE), the Houston-based energy marketing 
company, launched Tuesday a Canadian retail natural gas and power subsidiary 
in Calgary, looking to cash in on the deregulated electricity market in 
Alberta. 
The new unit, Enron Direct Canada Corp., is targeting about 100,000 
industrial and commercial consumers in Alberta, seat of Canada's only fully 
deregulated power market.
Enron Direct competes against two dozen established power marketing firms and 
four natural-gas retailers already operating in the province, including 
incumbents Epcor Utilities of Edmonton and Enmax Corp. of Calgary, which 
Enron Canada Corp. President and Chief Executive Rob Milnthorp likened to 
corner grocery stores. 
"Being the largest wholesaler of natural gas and electricity in Canada gives 
us tremendous strength that allows us to compete in the retail sector," 
Milnthorp said at a press conference Tuesday. "Volume buyers can offer better 
prices than a small grocery chain on the corner." 
Lisa Doig, manager of energy procurement with Calgary-based Optimum Energy 
Management Inc., called Enron's entry into Alberta refreshing, particularly 
for the smaller commercial consumer who has largely been ignored in terms of 
contract options by most of the energy marketers. 
"When you bring someone with a completely different perspective on to the 
playing field, it brings competition to a new level," Doig said. 
Enron has been participating in Alberta's deregulated market since April, 
having laid the groundwork last year when it secured a 20-year contract for 
700 megawatts from the coal-fired Sundance generation plant in northcentral 
Alberta. 
The C$300 million power purchase arrangement was part of the provincial 
government's plan to increase market competition in Alberta, which was opened 
in January. 
Calgary-owned Enmax bought a 760-MW, 20-year contract in the same electricity 
auction, and an undisclosed amount of power during a subsequent power auction 
in the autumn. Spokesman Tony McCallum said the utility feels quite 
comfortable with its electricity portfolio and position in the market. 
"Competition is a fact of life," McCallum told Dow Jones Newswires. "Enron 
coming in shows deregulation is working in Alberta." 
Enmax's first-quarter revenue of C$400 million was almost triple its revenue 
for the same quarter in 2000, with a 25% increase in volume of power sold. 
About two-thirds of Enmax's customer base is commercial and industrial. 
Optimum Energy's Doig said she hopes Enron Direct enters Alberta's 
residential market soon to shake up incumbents' complacency. While the 
province is admittedly one-eighth the size of the Ontario market, Alberta is 
a good stepping stone for Enron, she said. 
That would put Enron in place to buy Alberta's ATCO gas and power retail 
outfits, put on the block early this month, representing the bulk of the 
province's residential customers. But ATCO Group's communications director, 
Catherine Drever, flatly denied Monday the utility was being acquired by 
Enron. 
Darren Cross, Enron Direct's chief operating officer, said the company might 
look at targeting residential customers in the future, but is focussed on 
commercial and industrial power needs - representing businesses' largest 
expense after payroll - for present. 
"The idea of being able to lock your commodity in and be able to budget 
around what you're going to pay for that commodity, on a go-forward basis, 
for 1-5 years is invaluable for businesses," Cross said. 
Enron Direct's plans to enter Ontario have been put on hold until a fixed 
market opening date is announced by the provincial government. 
Milnthorp previously said the building of an Enron-proposed co-generation 
plant in Ontario is being threatened by the lack of government commitment to 
deregulation. 
"We want an unconditional market opening date," he said. 
Enron has no immediate plans to add to Alberta's generation mix, Milnthorp 
said. 
-By Dina O'Meara, Dow Jones Newswires; 403-531-2912 dina.omeara@dowjones.com

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


Enron to Start Commercial Power, Gas Sales in Alberta (Update1)
2001-06-26 16:26 (New York)

Enron to Start Commercial Power, Gas Sales in Alberta (Update1)

     (Closes shares.)

     Houston, June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., the biggest
energy trader, has started selling electricity and natural-gas
supply contracts to companies in Alberta, the Houston-based
company's first direct sales effort in Canada.
     Enron, already Canada's biggest wholesale marketer of gas and
electricity, will offer long-term, flexible contracts to
businesses in Alberta, said Rob Milnthorp, chief executive of
Enron's Canadian unit. The company has already started marketing
the energy contracts to Alberta's 100,000 businesses.
     The company said Alberta businesses use about 120 million
gigajoules of gas a year and about 2,800 megawatts of electricity
an hour. A megawatt is enough to light about 1,000 average U.S.
homes.
     Alberta opened its energy markets to competition this year,
the first of Canada's provinces to do so. It later placed price
caps on retail electricity prices that are set to expire next
year.
     Enron Direct won't immediately sell energy to retail
customers in the province, Milnthorp said.
     ``Right now we're in the commercial marketplace. The
residential market will be evaluated,'' he said.
     Enron bought the output of a central Alberta electricity
plant for C$294.8 million ($194.6 million) in a province-run
auction of power generating plants in August. Milnthorp said Enron
will spend a further C$1 billion to operate the plant over the
life of the 20-year contract.
     The Sundance B plant, owned by TransAlta Corp., produces
about 706 megawatts, enough to light 706,000 average U.S. homes.
Enron has been selling power from the plants on a wholesale basis
through Alberta's power grid.
     Since 1990, the company has been buying natural gas from
producers in Alberta, the biggest exporter of the fuel to the U.S.
Under the government's deregulation plan, it can to sell gas
directly to customers using existing pipeline.
     Shares of Enron rose 12 cents to $44.19.


Enron Says Indian Court Defers Decision on Jurisdiction
2001-06-26 18:35 (New York)

Enron Says Indian Court Defers Decision on Jurisdiction

     Houston, June 26 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp. said an Indian
court deferred a decision on whether a regulatory agency has the
jurisdiction to rule in a dispute between the company and a
regional government that is refusing to pay its power bills.
     The Mumbai High Court gave the Maharashtra Electricity
Regulatory Commission, the regulatory agency, six weeks to decide
whether it has jurisdiction to settle a dispute on termination of
the seven-year-old power-purchase agreement. Enron called the
ruling ``positive.''
     Enron owns Dabhol Power Co., owner of a $3 billion power
plant in Maharashtra state. The project's sole customer is the
Maharashtra State Electricity Board, which said May 24 that it's
canceling an agreement to buy power from the Dabhol plant.
     The cancellation came after Dabhol Power started proceedings
to end the contract. The board owes 3 billion rupees for power
supplied in December and January.
     Dabhol Power argued that the board didn't have the right to
terminate the contract, and the Maharashtra board referred the
dispute to the commission.
      Dabhol Power sued, arguing that the commission was created
in 1999, after the power purchase agreement was signed, and
therefore doesn't have the authority to decide the dispute.
     ``We are pleased that the court saw the need for timely
action,'' Enron spokesman John Ambler said. ``We continue to have
confidence in the fairness of the court system in India and will
take the steps necessary to satisfactorily resolve the issue.''
     Shares of Houston-based Enron, which owns 65 percent of
Dabhol Power, rose 12 cents to $44.19.