Enron CEO: Calif. Law To Delay Portland General Sale
Dow Jones News Service, 02/15/2001

Crt Postpones Hearing On CalPX Back-Billing Suppliers
Dow Jones Energy Service, 02/15/2001
 
Judge Resets Enron Hearing, Cites Expected Federal Decision
Bloomberg News, 02/15/2001

Texas Pilot Project for Electricity Competition Begins Today
Knight-Ridder Tribune, 02/15/2001

Oil Majors Seek Details on Saudi Gas Projects
Reuters, 02/15/2001

Houston Roundup
Chemical Business NewsBase, 02/15/2001

USA: INTERVIEW-NYMEX Head Says No Regrets Over Online Strategy
Reuters, 02/15/2001
 
Macerich Puts Two Shopping Centers Up For Sale
Dow Jones News Service, 02/15/2001

USA: NY Gold Drops to 17-Mth Low Amid Hedging, 1999 low eyed
Reuters, 02/15/2001

Enron Does Not Rule Out Combined-Cycle Power Plant (La empresa no renuncia al 
cicle combinado) 
Expansion, 02/14/2001

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Enron CEO: Calif. Law To Delay Portland General Sale
By Christina Cheddar
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

02/15/2001
Dow Jones News Service 

NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Enron Corp. (ENE) Chief Executive Kenneth Lay said a 
California law has had the unintended effect of delaying Enron's sale of its 
Portland General unit to Sierra Pacific Resources (SRP). 

At the end of January, California legislators ordered the state's utilities 
not to sell power plants before January 2006. The new law might prevent 
Sierra Pacific Power, a unit of Sierra Pacific Resources, from selling its 
power plants because it serves 40,000 customers in California's Lake Tahoe 
area.

Sierra Pacific was trying to sell the assets to finance its acquisition of 
Portland General, Lay said. Sierra Pacific is attempting to get a 
clarification of the legislation from California authorities, he said. 

Lay's confidence level regarding the company's ability to close the Portland 
General sale remains "pretty high, but it's not 98 percent," he said. 

Lay said the delayed sale will not hurt the company's earnings performance. 
In fact, Lay expects Portland General to add to its earnings. 
Lay was speaking at the UBS Warburg Energy Conference here Thursday. 

When asked if credit risks in California could affect Enron's earnings, Lay 
responded there is no scenario in the state that would make the company 
unable to reach its $1.70 to $1.75 a share earnings estimate for 2001. 

Lay explained that the company is taking measures to mitigate its credit 
risk. California's two largest utilities, Southern California Edison Co. and 
Pacific Gas and Electric Co., have been heading toward insolvency after 
purchasing power in the state's deregulated markets at higher prices than the 
utilities could charge their customers. 

Most of Enron's credit risk in California comes from the selling of gas and 
electric power in the state through its wholesale services operation. 

"There's quite a mess out there, and we hope that eventually, that mess will 
get worked out," Lay said. 

During his presentation, Lay also discussed the success of EnronOnline. He 
said EnronOnline has reduced the average cost per trading transaction by 75%, 
as well as help the company increase its trading volumes. Enron, of Houston, 
trades a variety of commodities, including gas, electric, pulp and paper, and 
broadband capacity through EnronOnline. 

-By Christina Cheddar, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-5166; 
christina.cheddar@dowjones.com



Crt Postpones Hearing On CalPX Back-Billing Suppliers

02/15/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service 

LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- A U.S. District Court Judge has postponed until 
Tuesday hearing arguments in a case involving Enron Corp.'s (ENE) request 
that the California Power Exchange not be able to charge the company for 
electricity bills defaulted on by the state's two largest utilities, a 
spokesperson for the CalPX said Thursday. 

The judge also extended until Tuesday a temporary order barring the CalPX 
from billing Enron for the utilities' defaults until the case is heard.

Other power marketers and generators have similar lawsuits filed in federal 
court and with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. 

At issue is a "chargeback" insurance mechanism that is meant to maintain 
participants' confidence in the exchange. Under the mechanism, defaults by 
CalPX debtors are proportionally "charged back" to creditors based on their 
level of participation in the exchange in the three months prior to the 
default. 

Sources close to the case said they believed the court was waiting for action 
from the FERC before continuing with the case. However, this couldn't be 
immediately confirmed. 

FERC has received a complaint about chargebacks from nine power suppliers.



Judge Resets Enron Hearing, Cites Expected Federal Decision
Bloomberg News, 02/15/2001

Judge Resets Enron Hearing, Cites Expected Federal Decision

Los Angeles, Feb. 15 (Bloomberg) -- A federal judge rescheduled a hearing on 
whether California's power market should be kept from billing its members, 
mostly energy suppliers, because utilities owned by PG&E Corp. and Edison 
International have defaulted on payments.

U.S. District Judge Carlos Moreno continued the hearing to Feb. 20 at 4 p.m. 
A temporary order issued last week to prevent the California Power Exchange 
electricity market from billing members such as Enron Corp. will be extended 
until the hearing.

PG&E and Edison International have defaulted on at least $789 million in 
debts; under exchange rules, all members can be charged when one defaults.

Enron sued in Los Angeles federal court Jan. 31. Other generators -- Avista 
Corp., Enova Corp.'s San Diego Gas & Electric, Sempra Energy, British 
Columbia Hydro & Power Authority's Powerex Corp. and ScottishPower Plc 
PacifiCorp ) also went to court. Moreno indicated last week he will 
consolidate all of the claims into Enron's complaint.

Moreno extended his order to give the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission 
more time to issue its own ruling on whether the Power Exchange can charge 
all its members when one defaults. Nine generators filed their complaint with 
the agency Feb. 8.

--Joyzelle Davis in Los Angeles (213) 617-3855, or
joydavis@bloomberg.net, through the San Francisco newsroom/gcb



Texas Pilot Project for Electricity Competition Begins Today
Terry Maxon

02/15/2001
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Dallas Morning News - Texas 
Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World 
Reporter (TM) 

So, you're mad about your electricity bill and wish you could change to 
another electricity company? Starting Thursday, a lot of Texans can tell 
their current electric company to get lost, and the customers probably will 
lower their electric rates as well.

The state is kicking off a pilot program to see how competition in its 
electricity markets will work. Thursday is the first day that 19 companies 
will be allowed to begin signing up customers. 

June 1 is the first day that these power companies can begin providing 
electricity to customers who decide to switch. The three and a half months 
until then will be used to market their services and sign up customers. 

The limited test will allow 5 percent of all utility customers to pick their 
electricity company -- either their current company or one of many others 
that have signed up to sell electricity in Texas. 

The test is a dress rehearsal for Jan. 1, when all customers of Texas 
"investor-owned utilities" -- companies such as TXU Electric, Reliant Energy 
Inc. and Texas-New Mexico Power Co. -- will have a chance to take their 
business elsewhere. 

"In essence, it's to see that all the rules and ramifications of 
restructuring are working properly," said Terry Hadley, spokesman for the 
Public Utility Commission of Texas. "If there are any bugs, we want to find 
out before the full launch Jan. 1." 

State officials were already nervous about their grand experiment in free 
markets, but the current debacle in California has them even more on edge. 

California, which partially deregulated its electricity markets several years 
ago, now has two public utilities teetering on the edge of bankruptcy and 
unable to pay for electricity they bought. Homes and businesses have faced 
rolling blackouts as the state at times hasn't been able to scrape up enough 
electricity to meet demand. 

While the Public Utility Commission and others have repeatedly said that 
Texas won't repeat the California experience, they're looking to the pilot 
program to expose any flaws. 

For the first month, the state and electric providers will concentrate on 
commercial customers. In mid-March, they'll turn their attention to home 
customers. 

However, Public Utility Commission chairman Pat Wood III said both 
residential and commercial customers may sign up beginning Thursday. 

Commercial users must go through a lottery to be chosen, and the 5 percent 
will be based on total commercial electricity used. 

Residential customers will be added on a first-come, first-picked basis, with 
the cutoff after 5 percent of all residential customers have volunteered for 
the program. 

A key to the Texas program is the "price to beat," the basic rate that the 
utilities can charge. That price will be a 6 percent reduction from the 
electric rates charged by the utilities before the pilot program begins. 

The investor-owned utilities also include Central Power & Light, Southwestern 
Electric Power Co., Entergy, SESCO and Southwestern Public Service Co. 

Other companies can charge whatever they please, but as Mr. Hadley noted, 
they probably won't get too far charging more than the "price-to-beat" rates 
of the utilities. 

When the Texas Legislature passed Senate Bill 7 in 1999 to start retail 
competition in electricity, the price-to-beat rate was set up to give 
competitors a chance to compete against the entrenched utilities. 

Mr. Hadley said the price to beat provides other electric retailers 
"something to work against." In addition, the 6 percent reduction from the 
utilities' current rates would be "enough of a cut to provide a customer a 
benefit, but not so low as to prevent competition," he said. 

Of course, the utilities don't have their hands tied in areas outside their 
current monopoly territory, and most plan to compete aggressively for 
customers. 

For example, TNP Enterprises Inc., parent of Texas-New Mexico Power, has 
created a subsidiary, First Choice Power Inc., to lead its fight in the 
electric wars. 

Jim Niewald, First Choice director of marketing, said the company will use 
the pilot period as a learning time, to test ways to compete and to market 
its products. 

"We're going to take a sort of moderate approach. We're not going to be real 
aggressive. On the other hand, we're not going to be sitting back totally," 
Mr. Niewald said. 

TXU spokesman Chris Schein said the Dallas-based company sees the pilot 
period as a time to work out kinks and discover if there are any inherent 
problems in the way that electricity competition in Texas works. 

"It's important to remember that the pilot program is less of a marketing 
event than it is an opportunity for TXU and the rest of the state to test 
systems. The real marketing opportunity begins Jan. 1, 2002," Mr. Schein 
said. 

"We are treating this as an opportunity to make sure our systems are 
communicating with all the state's systems to make the customers' choosing 
process as seamless as possible," he said. 

While TXU will be trying to sign up customers in the parts of Texas that it 
doesn't now serve, it also has to deal with the price-to-beat rate freeze 
that will keep it from offering discounts in its current service area, 
including Dallas-Fort Worth, Central Texas and other spots. 

TXU is hoping that its existing customers want more than the lowest price, 
Mr. Schein said, "in the same way that not every customer chooses a car based 
on price. If that were true, Kia would be the best-selling car in the U.S." 

TXU will be promoting its quality of service and a package of bundled 
services that it hopes will be attractive. For those who care about the 
environment, TXU will offer "green power," or electricity generated by wind 
or other nonfossil sources. 

Also entering the fray will be Green Mountain Energy Co., which sells nothing 
but green power. 

"We are looking forward to bringing Texans the opportunity to support cleaner 
air by purchasing power made from cleaner and renewable sources," Green 
Mountain chief executive officer Dennis Kelly said in a prepared statement. 

"One of the most powerful benefits of electric choice is the ability for 
people to choose how their power is made," he said. 

"As more people understand that making electricity causes more air pollution 
than any other industry," he continued, "they will look for a simple way to 
purchase electricity that includes clean renewable sources like wind, sun and 
hydropower." 

Enron Corp., the Houston energy giant, has three companies that will compete 
for customers in the deregulated world. 

Two of its subsidiaries will target large customers: Enron Power Marketing 
Inc. will sell to wholesale customers such as utilities and other electric 
retailers, and Enron Energy Services Inc. will go after large commercial and 
industrial customers. 

For residential customers and small businesses, Enron has teamed up with IBM 
Corp. and America Online to sell electricity through the New Power Company. 
New Power is part of New Power Holdings Inc., a public company. 

"Different customers need different products, so we've created specialized 
businesses for what the market needs," Enron spokesman Mark Palmer said. 

For big customers, Enron can afford real-time pricing that charges less for 
off-peak periods, more for peak periods. 

It can offer discounts for customers who agree to have their electricity 
interrupted when needed. 

However, residential customers mainly want to see a fixed, cheap rate, Mr. 
Palmer said. 

"Homeowners aren't interested in real-time prices, interruptible service or 
incentives to shut down," he said. 

Others who have received state certification or are awaiting approval are 
Reliant Energy Retail Services LLC and Reliant Energy Solutions, associated 
with Houston-based utility Reliant; Shell Energy; AES NewEnergy Inc.; Entergy 
Solutions Ltd.; Sempra Energy Solutions; and Xcel Energy.



Oil Majors Seek Details on Saudi Gas Projects
02/15/2001

LONDON, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Western oil companies head to Saudi Arabia this 
weekend to meet Saudi leaders in a bid to seek reassurances about Riyadh's 
plans for foreign investment in the kingdom's multi-billion dollar gas sector.

Influential foreign minister Prince Saud al-Faisal has issued an invitation 
to chief executives from  ExxonMobil (XOM.N), BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch/Shell 
(RD.AS)(SHEL.L), and TotalFinaElf (TOTF.PA), industry sources said.

The companies are keen to get more details about three huge gas projects that 
could provide a foothold in the Saudi upstream sector for the first time 
since nationalisation in the 1970s.

Some of the oil majors are worried about the scope of the projects and about 
some apparent resistance from state firm Saudi Aramco to their involvement in 
areas which the national company feels remains its territory. 

"There's a feeling that Aramco and the oil ministry may be putting up some 
resistance to the scope of the projects," said an industry insider. 

"The companies want more financial and logistical details," he said. "There's 
a worry that the extent of the upside for the companies is getting very 
limited."

Others remain more sanguine, saying negotiations remain at an early stage. 
"It's still at an early stage and all these companies are still keen to forge 
ahead," said one company official.

Foreign minister Prince Saud is in charge of the negotiations and is the 
driving force behind the move to get the companies back into Saudi Arabia. 

The firms are being asked to help develop known gas reserves and also invest 
in downstream projects fed by gas supplies, such as power and desalination.

The more valuable oil sector, where Aramco holds large volumes of mothballed 
capacity, remains strictly off limits to the foreign companies.

Industry insiders said Riyadh is looking for detailed plans on how to go 
forward with the three gas projects for which three consortiums have already 
been sketched out.

But the companies ideally would like to see more information before making 
detailed proposals. 

"The data available so far has been sketchy and the projects are not well 
defined," said an industry source. 

Saudi hopes to sign memorandums of understanding with the investors by April 
1. Ten shortlisted firms have been given access to Saudi Aramco's data room 
in Dhahran. 

The other companies are Phillips (P.N), Chevron (CHV.N) Texaco (TX.N), Conoco 
(COCa.N) Enron/Oxy (ENE.N), ENI (ENI.MI) and Marathon (MRO.N).


 
Houston Roundup

02/15/2001
Chemical Business NewsBase: Chemical Market Reporter 
Copyright (C) 2001; Source: World Reporter (TM) 

El Paso Energy Corp and Coastal Corp have finalised a $24 bn merger, creating 
the fourth-largest energy company in the US. 

Approval required El Paso Energy to sell assets in offshore pipelines valued 
at $112 M.

Both companies involved in the merger reported record year-end earnings. 

Only ExxonMobil, the pending Chevron-Texaco combination, and Houston-based 
Enron Corp are larger than the new El Paso Energy Corp. 


USA: INTERVIEW-NYMEX Head Says No Regrets Over Online Strategy.
By Gelu Sulugiuc

02/15/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Departing New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) 
Chairman Daniel Rappaport is confident that enymex - NYMEX's online venture - 
will soon become the premier online energy trading platform, he said Thursday 
in an interview. 

While the new venture, now slated to launch in May, has suffered several 
delays, Rappaport says he has no regrets about rebuffing an approach last 
year from rival platformIntercontinentalExchange (ICE), which is now up and 
running.

Rappaport, who will turn 47 in a few weeks, will have to watch from afar to 
see if his strategy succeeds. He steps down from the helm of the world's 
biggest physical commodity exchange next month. 

"I agonized over (the decision to step down) for a long time," he said. "But 
I just wasn't prepared to sign on and commit for another three years." 

NYMEX, along with its COMEX subsidiary, trades futures and options contracts 
on crude oil, heating oil, unleaded gasoline, gold, silver, natural gas, 
electricity, copper and aluminum. 

enymex will first offer trading in crude oil, petroleum products and natural 
gas. Later it will expand to electricity, coal, metals and other products. 

enymex is well positioned to succeed, Rappaport said. Among its advantages 
are the NYMEX brand, liquidity from NYMEX traders and clearing services. 

"Not a single exchange from those now operating online offers real clearing," 
he said. 

In a field of more than 30 Internet energy exchanges, observers usually point 
to Enron Corp.'s EnronOnline (www.enrononline.com) and ICE (www.intcx.com) as 
success stories so far. But Rappaport counts neither as competitors enymex 
has to worry about. 

EnronOnline trades an average of $3.5 billion a day, but does not accept 
third party trades, so Rappaport doesn't put it in the same category as 
enymex. 

ICE has enough liquidity to be a leader among fledgling independent online 
exchange, but its numbers are far from those of an established exchange like 
NYMEX. 

In its first week trading crude options this year, ICE traded 3 million 
barrels. NYMEX routinely trades more than 400 million barrels of crude in a 
single day. 

That's exactly the kind of competition the partners in ICE hoped to eliminate 
when they invited NYMEX to join the venture early last year, Rappaport said. 

"Legally, we wouldn't have been able to launch enymex if we were part of 
ICE," he explained. 

With backing from some of the world's leading energy firms, ICE is in talks 
with London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE) for a possible merger, 
in a move designed to attract more liquidity to the fledgling online 
exchange. 

After a failed hostile takeover a few years ago, NYMEX has itself reiterated 
its interest in buying a controlling stake in the IPE this year, but only if 
the London exchange welcomes such a move. So far, the IPE has not signaled 
that it would accept NYMEX's overtures, Rappaport said. 

NEW CHAIRMAN TO TAKE NYMEX TO IPO 
Under Rappaport, NYMEX demutualized and became a for-profit organization last 
year. 
The new chairman, to be elected March 20, will have to lead the exchange 
through a private placement and on to an IPO. 

"The new chairman has to go on a road show to sell the exchange," Rappaport 
said. 
NYMEX will offer a 10 percent stake in itself in the private placement, in a 
move to gauge the value of the exchange, Rappaport said. 

Long-time NYMEX insiders Vincent Viola and Gerald Rafferty are running for 
the chairman position. 

Viola is a former floor trader and vice-chairman of NYMEX who owns the New 
York brokerage firm Pioneer Futures. 

Rafferty has been a member of NYMEX for 30 years. He owns the Rafferty Energy 
Group, which in turn owns two brokerage companies. 

As for Mr Rappaport, he said he'll spend more time with his family, as well 
as take on other unspecified projects.



Macerich Puts Two Shopping Centers Up For Sale
By Pat Maio
Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

02/15/2001
Dow Jones News Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- Macerich Co. (MAC) is selling two shopping centers 
in California, according to a shopping center trade report Thursday. 

The real estate investment trust plans to sell Villa Marina Marketplace in 
Marina del Rey and the Carmel Plaza in Carmel, according to a newswire report 
by the New York-based International Council of Shopping Centers.

Macerich, Santa Monica, Calif., which owns interests in 46 malls totaling 
more than 41.5 million square feet, plans to use proceeds from the sale to 
repurchase shares. 

Macerich executives were not immediately available for comment. 

Macerich is also trimming energy costs. On Wednesday, the company signed a 
10-year energy management contract with Enron Corp.'s (ENE) energy services 
business. Enron will manage the supply of electricity and natural gas and 
provide energy management services to the majority of the company's malls. 

Separately, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, a Netherlands investment firm, 
raised its stake in Macerich to 8.18% from 5%, according to a Securities and 
Exchange Commission filing on Thursday. 

Shares of Macerich recently traded Thursday at $20.99, up 25 cents, on volume 
of 52,600 shares, compared with daily average volume of 191,000 shares. 

-By Pat Maio, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3776; patrick.maio@dowjones.com



USA: NY Gold Drops to 17-Mth Low Amid Hedging, 1999 low eyed

02/15/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

NEW YORK, Feb 15 (Reuters) - Gold futures slid below $260 an ounce in New 
York Thursday, hitting contract and 17-month spot basis lows as producer and 
fund selling sent small speculators who had bought earlier rushing for the 
exits. 

"It seems to be spread around," said bullion dealer Bernard Penner at Enron 
Metals. "Some of the U.S. banks as well as the larger U.S. merchants have 
certainly put their imprimatur on this."

Dealers said a strengthening dollar got the ball rolling in the morning, 
adding to pessimism in the gold market. The current mood has been likened to 
that of 1999, when bullion hit a 20-year low just $4 below Thursday's late 
spot price. 

April gold fell $4.30, settling at $256.90 an ounce, up a bit from a contract 
low at $256.30. 

The move accelerated after midday, when stop-loss orders were triggered on 
breaking the morning low around $259. Estimated volume was a heavy 40,000 
contracts. 

"When it broke the lows, the locals got out of their longs," said Donald 
Tierney of Pell Brothers Trading. 

"We had some stops and a vacuum. That's why you had the new lows." 

On the spot continuation charts, gold futures bottomed at $255.60, the lowest 
since Sept 20, 1999, following bullion's fall to a 16-month low fix at 
$258.55 in late London trade. Spot bullion closed at $255.75/6.25, down from 
Wednesday's close at $259.75/0.25. 

Dealers said gold companies had been selling forward and using options 
strategies to protect the price of their unmined gold reserves, which 
consequently burrowed spot prices deeper into troublesome territory for the 
struggling industry. 

The price of gold is already below the cost of production for less efficient 
producers and at $250 an ounce would be near the average break-even for even 
some low-cost mining companies. 

"They continue to keep it under pressure. It looks like some producer hedging 
much earlier in the day that came to be hedged or sold out during the balance 
of in day," said Penner, meaning dealers were still going to the market to 
cover hedges done by their customers. 

Also like late 1999, overselling this year means there are few bears left to 
keep up the attacks on gold. 

On the COMEX, the last time gold was near this oversold was September 1999, 
when bullion was around that August's 20-year low at $251.70 an ounce. It 
then skyrocketed $80 to $338 on short covering by overhedged mining companies 
and speculators. 

Traders await the weekly Commitments of Traders report from the Commodity 
Futures Trading Commission Friday afternoon to see if funds have added to 
last Tuesday's hefty 52,706-contract (164 tonne) net short position. 

Meanwhile, price sensitive consumers have also sought bargains below $260 an 
ounce. Fears about Indian demand falling sharply have abated a bit, as the 
top-consuming nation starts the long process of recovery from last month's 
earthquake. 

March silver briefly caught gold's downdraft, then steadied above a slight 
new contract and 3-1/2-year continuation low at $4.49. It ended up 0.3 cent 
at $4.518. 

Spot silver fixed at a 6-week low at $4.515 an ounce and was last at 
$4.51/53, unchanged from Wednesday's close. 

Dealers said the jittery silver market seemed content to range trade in the 
short-term within reach of the early January bottom at $4.48, bullion's 
cheapest price since August 1997. 

NYMEX March palladium rose $9.85 to $985 an ounce. Spot palladium was last 
shown at $975/$995. April platinum rose $2.70 to $595.10 an ounce. Spot 
platinum last fetched $595.10/601.10.


Enron Does Not Rule Out Combined-Cycle Power Plant (La empresa no renuncia al 
cicle combinado) 
Expansion, Feb 14, 2001

Enron, the US energy group, has not ruled out plans to build a combined-cycle 
power plant in Mora la Nova, in Tarragona in Spain. The company announced its 
decision yesterday after local authorities imposed a three-month moratorium 
on the project for the completion of environmental impact studies.
 
The company said that it will take advantage of the three-month moratorium to 
listen to local communities and explain details of the project to local 
residents and interested parties. The moratorium was imposed at the request 
of villages close to the planned site of the plant, ecologists and 
vine-growers.