The State Consultants' Stock Buys Questioned Energy: State official urges 
conflict of interest probe into purchases of shares in power firms.
Los Angeles Times, 07/17/01
UK: LME disciplines Enron Metals, accepts settlememt.
Reuters English News Service, 07/17/01
LME Fines Enron $264,000 for `Serious' Rule Breaches (Update2)
Bloomberg, 07/17/01
Communications Company Terremark Issues Warns Investors about Losses  
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Miami Herald - Florida, 
07/17/01
Calif Senator: Enron Contempt Charge Seen Dropped Tue
Dow Jones Energy Service, 07/16/01
SMARTMONEY.COM: One Year and Counting (Their Losses)
Dow Jones News Service, 07/16/01
AReM Says Sweet Bailout Deal for Edison Eliminates Competitors, Rebuilds 
Monopoly and Keeps Consumers Hostage
PR Newswire, 07/16/01
Dutch Power Mkt Pressure On Watchdog, Generators, Mounts
Dow Jones Energy Service, 07/16/01
U.S. Northwest Power Claims Put Utilities at Odds, Paper Says
Bloomberg, 07/16/01
India Rejects Enron Proposal for NTPC to Buy Dabhol, Paper Says
Bloomberg, 07/16/01


California; Metro Desk
The State Consultants' Stock Buys Questioned Energy: State official urges 
conflict of interest probe into purchases of shares in power firms.
JEFFREY L. RABIN; ERIC BAILEY
TIMES STAFF WRITERS

07/17/2001
Los Angeles Times
Home Edition
B-7
Copyright 2001 / The Times Mirror Company

Secretary of State Bill Jones on Monday urged California's attorney general 
to investigate possible conflict of interest violations by consultants hired 
to help the Davis administration navigate the energy crisis. 
Jones, a Republican candidate for governor, said at a Los Angeles news 
conference that Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer and the state Fair Political 
Practices Commission should determine whether seven of the consultants have 
conflicts of interest because they own stock in one or more energy companies.
He also asked the state's chief law enforcement officer to immediately 
determine whether the governor's office violated state law by exempting 21 of 
the 45 consultants from financial disclosure requirements. 
"I am gravely concerned that a cloud of illegality and collusion exists at 
the highest level of our state government due to the actions and the 
conscious policy of secrecy of Gov. Davis," Jones said. 
That brought a sharp retort from the governor's spokesman, Steve Maviglio, 
who attacked Jones for engaging in campaign politics. 
"The secretary of state has a five-person team bankrolled by the taxpayers 
attempting to dig up dirt for political reasons," Maviglio charged. 
"This is politics pure and simple being played by a candidate desperate to 
get his name in the paper," Maviglio said. If there are any violations of the 
law, he added, "they're going to be addressed." 
The secretary of state's entry into the energy controversy poses yet another 
headache for Davis as he prepares to run for a second term next year. 
Already, the GOP and some power producers have begun airing commercials 
critical of Davis' handling of the power crunch, forcing the governor to dip 
into his own campaign funds to fight back. 
Jones, as the state's chief elections officer, contends that his concerns are 
not just political. He noted that he appoints one of the five members of the 
Fair Political Practices Commission, which enforces campaign finance and 
conflict of interest laws. 
Among other things, Jones questioned why Vikram Budhraja, head of the 
Electric Power Group, a Pasadena energy consulting firm, bought stock in 
Edison International and Dynegy Corp. in the days before he went to work for 
the state. 
Budhraja was hired under a $6.2-million contract between his firm and the 
state Department of Water Resources that was signed on Jan. 18. Like two 
dozens of the consultants hired by the state, he did not complete a financial 
disclosure statement until last week, more than six months after he went to 
work for the department, which now buys power for the state's three largest 
utilities. 
The financial disclosure statement filed by Budhraja last Thursday shows that 
he bought between $10,000 and $100,000 worth of Dynegy stock on Jan. 11. Six 
days later, he bought between $10,000 and $100,000 of Edison stock. 
That was the same day that Davis declared a state of emergency because of the 
energy crisis and ordered the Department of Water Resources to begin buying 
power on behalf of the state's financially troubled major utilities. 
On Jan. 22, Budhraja again bought between $10,000 and $100,000 of Edison 
stock. On his disclosure statement, he indicated that he began work for the 
state Jan. 25 and sold the stock on Jan. 29--the first opportunity he had to 
divest his holdings. 
Jones told reporters that Budhraja's investments in Edison grew by 44% to 
47%, while his Dynegy investment increased 28% in that brief period. 
Budhraja was also on retainer as a consultant to Edison International, 
earning more than $100,000 in the year before becoming a contractor for the 
state. 
Maviglio said Budhraja wrote a letter to DWR Deputy Director Ray Hart saying 
he had no dealings with Edison International. He also was not involved in any 
long-term contracting with Edison. 
Any profits Budhraja made from the stock are irrelevant because the stock was 
sold by the time he was on the job, Maviglio said. 
Another consultant, Bernard Barretto, who describes himself as an energy 
trader/scheduler for the state, disclosed last week that he purchased stock 
in power producer Enron Corp. But no date or amount of the purchase was 
listed. 
Financial disclosure forms filed last week by five other consultants show 
they all own stock in Calpine Corp., a major California-based power 
wholesaler. 
Energy trader Elaine L. Griffin bought between $10,000 and $100,000 worth of 
Calpine stock on Feb. 1. Her contract with the state began Feb. 20. Griffin's 
newly completed economic disclosure statement does not show her selling the 
stock. Herman Leung, who went to work as an electricity scheduler in March, 
bought between $2,000 and $10,000 worth of Calpine stock on Jan. 22. 
Schedulers William F. Mead, Peggy Cheng and Constantine Louie also disclosed 
that they own stock in Calpine. Mead, in fact, said his holdings ranged 
between $100,000 and $1 million. But their forms contain an important 
omission: The consultants do not say when they purchased the shares. 
Oscar Hidalgo, a Water Resources spokesman, said the agency's attorney is 
reviewing all the past purchases to ensure that no laws were violated by 
contractors buying power or negotiating long-term contracts with companies in 
which they held stock. 
"We're reviewing all that to see if [there were] any problems with any past 
negotiations," Hidalgo said. "We're looking at all the records in past buys 
or trades so we understand who exactly did what." 
He said it's a "very big task" that will take weeks to complete. 
In the meantime, those contractors who have disclosed stock ownership have 
been recused from working with generators in which they have a financial 
interest. 
The governor's spokesman said several of the contractors who own stock in 
Calpine are not traders, and thus do not have direct dealings with the 
company. 
"If you own Calpine stock and aren't doing any business with Calpine, then 
you're fine," Maviglio said. 
Calpine is one of a number of firms that negotiated long-term contracts with 
the state and that have come under fire from critics who say they will saddle 
consumers with artificially high electricity costs for years to come. 
For weeks, Jones has been sharply critical of the administration's failure to 
require its consultants to file conflict of interest forms, which must be 
completed within 30 days of a person starting work. 
The governor's spokesman said the administration was told by the state's 
political watchdog agency that only consultants serving in a staff capacity 
or participating in decisions must file the forms. 
As a result, he said, only two dozen of the 45 consultants were required to 
complete the paperwork--most of them "hastily and clumsily" prepared last 
week, according to the secretary of state. 
Two of those who have not filed are Wall Street executives Joseph Fichera and 
Michael Hoffman, key advisors to Davis on his plans to rescue California's 
debt-ridden utilities. In that role, according to their contract, they could 
make millions. 
Maviglio said the two men, who have done extensive work for private energy 
companies, are "squeaky clean," but he would not elaborate.

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

UK: LME disciplines Enron Metals, accepts settlememt.

07/17/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

LONDON, July 17 (Reuters) - The London Metal Exchange (LME) said on Tuesday 
it had taken disciplinary action against Enron Metals Ltd (EML) for breaches 
of its regulations. 
In a notice, the LME said EML had persistently failed to deliver warrants in 
time and failed to input trades into the matching system.
"Enron Metals Ltd submitted an offer of settlement to the LME, in which it 
admitted the charge and agreed to pay a fine of 190,000 pounds," the Exchange 
said. 
The LME added that EML had cooperated throughout the dsiciplinary process so 
its enforcement committee had agreed to ratify the settlement. 
EML is one of the LME's 12 ring-dealing members, which trade on the 
exchange's open-outcry floor. Its metals trading operation, the former MG 
Plc, is a unit of U.S.-based energy giant Enron Corp . Enron acqired MG in 
May 2000. 
RULES BREACHED 
The LME said that between August 1999 and February 2001 EML had persistently 
failed to ensure that warrants needed to settle its exchange contracts were 
delivered to the London Clearing House (LCH) by 1100 local. 
A warrant is similar to a bearer bond, in that it denotes ownership of 
LME-registered metal stored in recognised warehouses. 
These failures to deliver on time jeopardised confidence in the LME's 
delivery system, and the exchange's committee concluded that EML's systems 
for ensuring compliance with rules and regulations had been seriously 
inadequate. 
Also, between May 2000 and February 2001, EML persistently failed to input 
trades into the LME's matching system, where trades are allocated by the 
clearing house. 
Concerning both the inputting errors and the late deliveries of warrants, EML 
frequently provided explanations that were inadequate. 
"The LME recognizes that since EML became part of the Enron Group, greater 
resources have been devoted to improving systems and procedures. EML has also 
sought to reassure the LME that it is commited to compliance with the LME 
rules and regulations," the LME added.

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

LME Fines Enron $264,000 for `Serious' Rule Breaches (Update2)
2001-07-17 08:06 (New York)

LME Fines Enron $264,000 for `Serious' Rule Breaches (Update2)

     (Adds daily LME volume in fifth paragraph, Enron statement
sixth-eighth.)

     London, July 17 (Bloomberg) -- The London Metal Exchange
said it fined Enron Corp. 190,000 British pounds ($264,000) for
``seriously inadequate'' compliance with trading rules that
threatened to undermine confidence in the largest metals
market.
     That's the biggest fine levied by the LME other than those
stemming from the 1996 Sumitomo Corp. copper trading scandal,
said Jo Holmes, an exchange spokeswoman. LME fined banks as
much as 6.5 million pounds after a rogue copper trader lost
Sumitomo $2.6 billion.
     Houston-based Enron, the world's largest energy trader and
one of the largest LME traders, violated exchange rules over an
18-month period through late delivery of warrants, documents
that confirm the completion of a metals sale, the LME said in a
statement. Enron failed to rectify its procedures despite
repeated warnings, the exchange said.
     ``By persistently failing to make delivery on time and
failing to take swift action to remedy underlying problems,
(Enron) jeopardized confidence in the LME delivery mechanism,''
the statement said.
      Enron's failures to comply ``were repeatedly brought to
the attention'' of the company between last May and February of
this year, said the LME, whose transactions are worth about $10
billion a day, Holmes said.

                         Admission

     Enron admitted rules breaches in a statement. The
violations stemmed from its acquisition last May of MG Plc, the
world's largest copper-trading company, for $445 million, which
expanded the natural gas and electricity trader's metals
business.
     MG's back-office systems required ``substantial
adjustment'' to comply with Enron's standards, the company's
statement said.
     ``Enron Metals has cooperated fully throughout this period
with the LME and has taken steps to remedy the situation,'' the
company said.


Communications Company Terremark Issues Warns Investors about Losses
Beatrice E. Garcia

07/17/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Miami Herald - Florida
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World 
Reporter (TM)

Terremark Worldwide, which last month opened the long-awaited, highly touted 
NAP of the Americas in downtown Miami, lost $103.9 million for its fiscal 
year ended March 31, warned investors about its need to raise additional 
capital and noted that its auditors have concerns about the company's ability 
to its operations. 
In a report issued July 9 and included in Terremark's filings with the 
Securities and Exchange Commission, the company's independent auditors, 
PricewaterhouseCoopers in Fort Lauderdale, said that Terremark "has suffered 
recurring losses from operations and has a net liquidity deficit that raise 
substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern."
However, Manny Medina, Terremark's chairman and CEO, remains confident that 
the investors that have backed him will continue to do so. He said he has 
always raised the financing as he needs it, rather than stockpiling capital 
in the bank. That's the way he said he has been doing business for 20 years. 
Medina said the going-concern letter from the auditors is "just a black and 
white" issue. "You have to have your business plan funded for the next 12 
months or you get a going-concern letter from the auditors." 
A going-concern letter does indicate that a company needs additional 
financing, said accounting sources. Yet, issuing such a letter is not a 
practice that auditors take lightly, they added. 
In documents filed Monday with the SEC, Terremark noted "there can be no 
assurance that any financing will be available ... on acceptable terms or at 
all." 
Medina said Terremark's ability to finish this project has been questioned 
from day one. "But the building is finished, the customers are signed up and 
the traffic is running." 
Medina was referring to the Technology Center of the Americas where the NAP 
is housed. Terremark oversaw the construction of that facility in downtown 
Miami. Terremark put in place a $109 million debt and equity financing 
package late last year to finance the construction. 
Terremark has 34 binding contracts from various major firms including AOL 
Time Warner, Deutsche Telekom, Emergia, Enron, EPIK Communications, Global 
Crossing, Qwest, SBC Internet Services and FPL Fibernet, to use the NAP. 
The company believes the revenue from NAP's customers will allow to fund this 
data exchange point. 
Sandra Gonzalez-Levy, Terremark's senior vice president for corporate 
communications, noted that the interim NAP, which Terremark opened at the end 
of December, started producing revenue immediately. The company reported 
revenue of $252,906 from the interim NAP for the quarter ended March 31. 
Gonzalez-Levy said the additional capital would be needed to carry out the 
company's plans to build additional data centers, smaller versions of the NAP 
in Miami, in Latin America and the Far East. 
Benjamin Finzi, executive vice president of EPIK Communications and head of 
the consortium of more than 100 telecom firms which supported the building of 
the NAP in Miami, said he hadn't seen Terremark's actual financial 
statements. 
However, Finzi said that in the past, Medina has assured consortium members 
that his investors would continue to back the financing of the NAP and its 
continued operations. 
Other sources close to Terremark said that Medina has always preferred to 
raise the capital he needs in the capital markets because it has greater 
credibility. But they believe Medina could tap his investors, some in the Far 
East and others in the Middle East, to continue funding this project rather 
than let it fail. 
Yet, the financing market for telecom companies remains difficult. 
Many firms, including possible tenants for the NAP, have pulled back their 
expansion and cut back operations because they don't have the capital and 
they don't sufficient revenues at this point to their day-to-day business. 
One investment banker who follows the company noted that the auditor's letter 
would make it more difficult for Terremark to raise the capital it needs to 
fund its expansion into Latin America and the Far East. 
Terremark said it hopes to refinance at more favorable terms for the TECOTA 
financing package. The financing includes $61 million in debt and $48 million 
in equity. 
During the latter part of its fiscal year, the company placed $40 million in 
convertible debt via a private placement. 
The net loss from operations for the fiscal year was $21.3 million compared 
to $6 million in the 2000 fiscal year. Revenue for the year rose to $40.1 
million from $15.4 million. 
Terremark's fiscal-year loss of $103.9 million includes a one-time charge of 
$61.1 million for discontinued operations, primarily due to the write-off of 
goodwill for operations sold. 
Businesses shed in the past year include Telecom Routing Exchange Developers 
(T-Rex), Spectrum Communications, which had a presence in Argentina, Brazil, 
Peru and Chile, and its unified messaging and faxing operations in China. 
In the past year, Terremark has been transforming itself from one of South 
Florida's major real estate developers to an Internet infrastructure company 
providing networking and managed services. The company has said it will sell 
businesses that don't fit with this strategy. 
Terremark said it has a $17.2 million contract to sell Fortune House II, a 
condominium/hotel project in Fort Lauderdale Beach. It's scheduled to close 
July 25. 
The company initially had a contract for $18.5 million to sell this project, 
but it fell through, Gonzalez-Levy said. 
For the fiscal quarter ended March 31, Terremark reported revenue of $15.9 
million with a net loss of $71.7 million compared to revenues of $14.5 
million and a net loss of $15 million for the March 2000 quarter. News 
Service edited version:

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


Calif Senator: Enron Contempt Charge Seen Dropped Tue

07/16/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- A California Senate committee is likely to drop a 
contempt charge against Enron Corp. (ENE) Tuesday because the company is 
close to agreeing to provide information for an investigation into wholesale 
electricity prices, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said late Monday. 
"There has been a dramatic change, and I am optimistic that by noon (Tuesday) 
there will be a resolution with Enron," said Dunn, who chairs the Senate 
Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation.
The committee voted last week to forward a contempt charge to the full Senate 
because Enron refused to provide certain financial documents and sign the 
committee's version of a confidentiality agreement. If the full Senate voted 
to hold Enron in contempt, it could issue punishments including hefty fines 
and incarceration of executives. - - 17/07/01 00-46G 
The committee also voted last week to drop its contempt charge at any time 
before a full Senate vote if Enron agreed to meet the committee's requests. 
"Enron has chosen to intimate to us that they will comply with our demands. 
They have asked us for the ability to preserve certain objections. There's a 
possibility we may be sued by other market participants, and if so, Enron 
wants to preserve its opportunities to pursue objections at that time," Dunn 
said. 
Enron filed a lawsuit last week to stop the committee's subpoena of financial 
records, and a company attorney said during hearings that Enron was likely to 
contest the contempt charge as well. 
In talks Monday, however, Enron mentioned the possibility of dropping the 
lawsuit, Dunn said, which is not a requirement to the committee's dropping 
the contempt charge. 
No-one at Enron could be reached immediately for comment. 
The documents sought by the price manipulation committee include information 
on bidding and pricing behavior in the state's electricity markets. The 
committee originally was poised to cite seven other electricity generators 
for contempt, but all eventually agreed to provide the requested information. 
-By Jessica Berthold, Dow Jones Newswires; 310-962-2843; 
jessica.berthold@dowjones.com -0- 17/07/01 01-32G

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


SMARTMONEY.COM: One Year and Counting (Their Losses)
By Matthew Goldstein

07/16/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

Of SMARTMONEY.COM 

IF YOU'RE AN INVESTOR, no one needs to tell you how much things have changed 
since this time last year. On July 16, 2000, the Dow Jones Industrial Average 
stood at 10812, while the Nasdaq Composite checked in at 4246. Now, they're 
at 10473 and 2029, respectively.
It's been a rough stretch for just about everyone - including the members of 
the SmartMoney.com Investor Panel, which we inaugurated just over a year ago. 
So rough, in fact, that we've lost contact with five of our 15 panel members. 
Has the market's turmoil driven them to the sidelines? Possibly. Have they 
fled stock investing altogether? We hope not. But if the sharp fall-off in 
online stock-trading activity is any indication, there are plenty of 
investors who, like our wayward panel members, are missing in action. 
The panelists we were able to reach are using the technology-stock meltdown 
as an opportunity to reassess their investment strategies and goals. Last 
summer, most of their portfolios were still tilted heavily toward tech. But 
after seeing countless former highfliers lose half their value or more over 
the past year, the majority of our panel members are praying at the altar of 
market diversification. Says Lisa Frischhertz, a New Orleans stay-at-home 
mother who last year described herself as an aggressive growth investor: "I 
have diversified as much as possible by looking for stocks in varied sectors 
and not just in technology. I have also bought two REITs [real estate 
investment trusts] for their high-dividend yields, which I probably would not 
have considered in the past." 
Indeed, several panel members have sold shares in companies like data-storage 
giant EMC (EMC), telecommunications company Lucent Technologies (LU) and 
computer-hardware titan Sun Microsystems (SUNW), in favor of energy, utility, 
financial, retail and health-care stocks. Some of their favorites: power 
companies Enron (ENE) and Xcel Energy (XEL), credit-card giant MBNA (KRB), 
medical-testing firm Quest Diagnostics (DGX) and specialty retailer Chico's 
FAS (CHS). Jack Sulser, a retired U.S. foreign-service officer and one of our 
most active panel members this year, has even added the stock of a stodgy 
trucking company - Werner Enterprises (WERN) - to his holdings. 
But it isn't just the buying habits of our panel members that have changed 
during the past year; their expectations are different as well. With the 
Standard & Poor's 500's giddy 20% to 30% annual returns in the late 1990s a 
now distant memory, our panelists generally say they'd be pleased to end this 
year modestly in the black (most of them lost money last year). Still, our 
roundtable doesn't expect the market to start a sustained rally until the 
fourth quarter at the earliest. "Until some key companies start making their 
quarters, we are going to move sideways," says Kent Newsome, a Houston 
lawyer. "I don't see any significant upside for the rest of the year." 
Another area of agreement: Most panelists have taken a rather dim view of 
Wall Street analysts, especially the ones who kept their Buy ratings on 
technology stocks throughout the Nasdaq collapse. Panel members generally 
applaud the efforts by securities regulators and politicians to make analysts 
more accountable to the public. But several panelists also say investors need 
to ask themselves why they followed the analysts over the cliff so blindly. 
Says Rey Pana, a retired IBM executive: "Let the buyer beware." If you'd like 
to join the Smartmoney.com Investor Panel, send an email to Staff Editor 
Matthew Goldstein. Include your occupation, a daytime and evening telephone 
number, a brief summary of your investment strategy and a list of the major 
stocks you own. 
For more information and analysis of companies and mutual funds, visit 
SmartMoney.com at http://www.smartmoney.com

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


AReM Says Sweet Bailout Deal for Edison Eliminates Competitors, Rebuilds 
Monopoly and Keeps Consumers Hostage

07/16/2001
PR Newswire
(Copyright (c) 2001, PR Newswire)

Energy Service Providers Vehemently Oppose ABX2 82 
SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 16 /PRNewswire/ -- The Alliance for Retail Energy 
Markets (AReM) today announced its strong opposition to ABX2 82, the state 
Assembly Democrats' most recent alternative to the Southern California Edison 
MOU.
As drafted, this new legislation seeks to immediately close the door on 
direct access and prevent the restoration of retail choice until at least 
2003. This will effectively remove the ability of customers to take control 
of their own energy supply needs, thereby rendering them hostage to the 
utilities. 
"This bill is about putting Edison back on its feet and putting Edison's 
competitors out of business," said Rick Counihan of Green Mountain Energy 
Company. "Customers' right to choose the best energy option to meet their 
needs, and the needs of the environment, is being trampled in the name of 
restoring a monopoly." 
Furthermore, ABX2 82 raises questions about the status of existing contracts 
and current customers who may be forced, under the provisions of this bill, 
to return to extremely high priced power under the utilities. 
"In many ways this bill is worse than AB X1 because it threatens to nullify 
extension contracts for current direct access customers," said Aaron Thomas 
with AES NewEnergy. "This would force customers to return to utility service 
which would require the state to buy even more power than it has already." 
AReM stressed that it is long overdue for policy makers to promote an 
equitable and workable retail energy market. The legislature must immediately 
amend this legislation and replace it with a policy that is not created at 
the expense of large and small retail customers. 
"Legislators have argued that it is important for California to take control 
of its energy destiny," said Andrea Weller of Strategic Energy. "Too bad they 
are not willing to let Californians take control of their energy destinies." 
Alliance for Retail Energy Markets (AReM) is a coalition whose member 
companies serve nearly all of the California customers who have chosen a 
competitive energy provider instead of their traditional utility provider. 
AReM members include AES NewEnergy, Inc., Calpine, Commonwealth Energy Corp., 
Enron Energy Services, Inc., GreenMountain Energy Company, The New Power 
Company, New West Energy, Shell Energy Services, and Strategic Energy, L.L.C. 
MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here 
http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X92216507


/CONTACT: Tracy Fairchild, +1-916-442-2331, or +1-916-835-9007, or or Erica 
Manuel, +1-916-442-2331, or +1-916-201-5029, both of Alliance for Retail 
Energy Markets/ 15:38 EDT 
Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 


Dutch Power Mkt Pressure On Watchdog, Generators, Mounts
By Arent Jan Hesselink
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

07/16/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

AMSTERDAM -(Dow Jones)- The pressure on Dutch energy market watchdog Dte to 
force electricity generators to disclose commercially sensitive plant status 
information is mounting. 
Monday, electricity traders wrote an open letter through VOEG, a free trade 
association for electricity and gas, that generators in the Netherlands be 
forced to publish information on power plant outages.
"I have been saying it for ages: generators should let the market know what 
they're doing at their plants," said a trader with a large utility, while 
another said VOEG's proposal, if agreed, would lead to a "more stable, honest 
market." 
VOEG is reacting to recent hikes in prices for Dutch spot electricity. Those 
prices have soared in recent weeks, reaching levels of up to EUR1,200 a 
megawatt-hour on some days from around EUR35.00/MWh on a normal day. 
Traders have been speculating that unreported generator outages are at least 
part of the reason for the price hikes. Unscheduled outages are especially 
problematic in the Dutch market because of the small volumes traded. 
Reserve plant is difficult to bring on line quickly and readily-available 
imported power is limited by congestion on the country's transmission lines. 
When generators or suppliers are forced to cover short positions at short 
notice, the result is therefore usually extreme. 
Also, traders have said they suspect generators of deliberately pushing up 
prices by cutting output. 
Generators have always denied such allegations and no conclusive evidence has 
ever been presented against them. 
Clyde Murley, spokesman for Reliant Energy Inc (REI), which owns the Dutch 
generator UNA, said information on the status of UNA's plant is "just too 
commercially sensitive to make public." He said the generator doesn't approve 
of VOEG's ideas, but declined to be drawn on their possible consequences. 
A spokeswoman for Belgian-based Electrabel SA (B.ELE), also active as a 
generator in the Netherlands, also said it "categorically doesn't want to 
disclose such information." 
Dte spokesman Hans Jacobs, declined to comment on VOEG's letter. Jacobs said 
Dte is mapping market opinions on the way the Dutch electricity market 
functions, in response to the electricity price hikes VOEG is responding to. 
"We expect that process to be concluded at the end of this month," Jacobs 
said. "We will then consider possible measures." 
He added though that the Dte hasn't ruled out forcing generators to publish 
outage details, whether or not such outages are caused by maintenance. 
Monday's letter isn't the first on this subject to fall on Dte's doormat Last 
week, a group of foreign power traders on the Dutch market sent a similar one 
to the watchdog. Signatories to that letter included such parties as Enron 
Corp ENE), Aquila Inc (ILA) and TXU Corp (TXU), and Dutch companies Eneco and 
Remu. 
Generators active in the Netherlands aren't required to publish any 
information over outages, in contrast to the Nord Pool market that covers 
Denmark, Norway, Sweden and Finland. 
Since deregulation, European countries such as the U.K., Germany and Spain 
have allowed generators a far greater degree of confidentiality over 
controlling market sensitive information than exists in most financial 
markets. 
There are four generators active in the Netherlands: U.S-based Reliant Energy 
Inc. (REI), Belgium's Electrabel SA (B.ELE), Germany's E.On AG (EON) and 
Dutch firm Essent NV. All of them have entered the Dutch market by buying a 
local generator. 
-By Arent Jan Hesselink, Dow Jones Newswires; 31 20 6260770; 
arentjan.hesselink@dowjones.com

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


U.S. Northwest Power Claims Put Utilities at Odds, Paper Says
2001-07-16 13:08 (New York)


     Washington, July 16 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp.'s Portland
General Electric and Avista Corp.'s Avista Energy are among
utilities in the U.S. Northwest that face claims by other regional
electricity providers that they were overcharged by $611 million,
the Oregonian reported.
    Such claims could pit one utility against each other as they
try to protect their customers. The utilities requesting refunds,
which include the Bonneville Power Administration and Tacoma
Power, were forced into paying unfair prices because of
California's energy crisis, the paper said, citing filings with
the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
     Some of the companies requesting refunds are on Tacoma's list
of targets. The situation would require sorting out every
transaction that occurred in the region, the paper said, citing
Rod Johnson, PGE's vice president for power supply.
     Unlike California, where power was bought and sold in a
central spot market, most sales in the Northwest were bilateral
contracts between willing buyers and sellers, the paper said.
Utilities didn't have to buy the power if they didn't like the
price, the paper said, citing Don Godard, manager at Grant County
PUD.


India Rejects Enron Proposal for NTPC to Buy Dabhol, Paper Says
2001-07-16 02:55 (New York)


     New Delhi, July 16 (Bloomberg) -- India said the state-run
National Thermal Power Corp. won't buy Enron Corp.'s stake in its
local unit Dabhol Power Co., the Business Standard reported,
citing Press Trust of India, a news agency.
     Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay at a meeting with India's Power
Minister Suresh Prabhu last week made the proposal, the paper
said. The minister rejected it on grounds National Thermal is not
in the business of taking over loss-making power companies.
     Enron's Lay also suggested the government could use National
Thermal, the country's largest power generator, and other state-
run utilities such as Power Trading Corp. to buy power generated
by Dabhol as a way to lower costs.
     National Thermal produces a quarter of India's electricity.
Power Trading owns the nation's power grid.
     Dabhol, 65 percent owned by Enron, and Maharashtra State
Electricity Board, its only customer, have been quarrelling for
the past seven months over unpaid bills. The board has stopped
buying power from Dabhol and construction work on the $3 billion
plant was halted last month after lenders stopped funding it.