Ken

I know it has been several years since we spoke, but I wanted to thank you for your kind note, and to personally thank you for the opportunities that Enron has provided to me over the years.

I am one of those few who was already with HNG in 1984, and still vividly remember the day that you arrived.  The building was immediately permeated by a sense of urgency and excitement.  That pace was relentless - and addictive.  I also remember in detail the Internorth merger in 1985, and feel proud to have played a part, however small it was, in that transaction.

The late 1980's and the early 1990's will probably always be my favorite years of my working life.  There were so many initiatives in Enron in their infancy.  Although it was an initiative that faced insurmountable economics and ultimately failed, I am grateful that Enron gave me the opportunity to participate in the natural gas vehicle adventure.  I never really understood until that adventure the full meaning of the old axiom that the lessons learnt best are those learnt from adversity and from making mistakes!!

I will try to remember Enron with those years through the mid-1990's in mind.  I have to say that I consider those to be the best years, because I have witnessed a degradation of the corporate culture in the past few years.  That is clearly a subjective assessment, and should be treated as such.  I am under no illusions:  Enron is a business entity operating in markets and environments that are relentlessly competitive, with a primary responsibility to its shareholders.  But I and many of my colleagues who also have long tenure at Enron and its predecessors share this assessment.  I am always amused by the irony of the stated value "Ruthlessness, callousness and arrogance do not belong here", since these appear to be the key defining personal characteristics of most of the senior management of ENA in recent years.

And unfortunately, the very sale of HPL by Enron has been for some an example of the degradation of corporate culture.  For myself, I know what to expect - I know that with corporate divestitures comes the need to control information as the transaction evolves.  But for the "rank and file" - those who live from paycheck to paycheck - it has not been a pleasant experience.  They maintained their professionalism (indeed many of them probably worked harder than anybody else to make the transaction happen).  In return, there has been an appalling lack of timely information and misinformation from Enron management and HR department with respect to their benefits and career choices.  HR in particular has been totally non-responsive to individual inquiries in the past few months - not returning phone calls and emails from HPL employees with questions, even after the transaction was announced.  Even as recently as the past couple of days, only upon receipt of their termination packages did several dozen employees discover that they had been misinformed by HR with respect to some aspects of their remaining Enron benefits.

For myself, my years at Enron will remain a high point of my career.  It is a badge of honor in the energy industry to have been a dealmaker at Enron, particularly for as many years as I was there.  I know Enron will continue to set the standards by most measures in this industry, and, for what its worth, I humbly wish you continued success.

Thanks

Lee Papayoti




---------------------- Forwarded by Lee L Papayoti/HOU/ECT on 05/31/2001 11:53 AM ---------------------------
From:	Kenneth Lay/ENRON@enronXgate on 05/30/2001 03:00 PM
To:	Tom Acton/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Janie Aguayo/HOU/ECT@ECT, Amelia Alland/HOU/ECT@ECT, Lauri A Allen/HOU/ECT@ECT, Aric Archie/NA/Enron@Enron, Karl E Atkins/NA/Enron@ENRON, Jeffrey A. Austin/ENRON@enronXgate, Henry Batiste/HOU/ECT@ECT, Rusty Belflower/NA/Enron@ENRON, Daxa Bhavsar/ENRON@enronXgate, Michael C Bilberry/HOU/ECT@ECT, Brad Blevins/HOU/ECT@ECT, Debbie Boudar/NA/Enron@ENRON, Greg Brazaitis/HOU/ECT@ECT, Willie Brooks/NA/Enron@Enron, Rosa Brown/Corp/Enron@Enron, Jerry Bubert/NA/Enron@Enron, Esther Buckley/HOU/ECT@ECT, Candy Bywaters/ENRON@enronXgate, Bob Camp/GCO/Enron@Enron, Howard B Camp/HOU/ECT@ECT, Molly L Carriere/HOU/ECT@ECT, Clem Cernosek/HOU/ECT@ECT, Nick Cocavessis/ENRON@enronXgate, Jane Coleman/ENRON@enronXgate, Mary Comello/Corp/Enron@Enron, Robert Cook/HOU/ECT@ECT, William D Cosby/GCO/Enron@Enron, Paul Couvillon/Corp/Enron@Enron, Robert Crockett/HOU/ECT@ECT, Calvin Dodd/GCO/Enron@Enron, James I Ducote/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cheryl Dudley/HOU/ECT@ECT, Lal Echterhoff/HOU/ECT@ECT, Michael Eiben/HOU/ECT@ECT, Anita Eisenbrandt/ENRON@enronXgate, Melanie Facundo/HOU/ECT@ECT, Bob Fisher/NA/Enron@Enron, Irene Flynn/HOU/ECT@ECT, J R Fosdick/GCO/Enron@Enron, Melissa Graves/ENRON@enronXgate, Ron Green/HPL/Enron@Enron, Rebecca Griffin/NA/Enron@Enron, Karen Gruesen/ENRON@enronXgate, James R Haden/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cynthia Hakemack/HOU/ECT@ECT, John Handley/HOU/ECT@ECT, Gary A Hanks/HOU/ECT@ECT, Reid Hansen/GCO/Enron@Enron, Cathy L Harris/HOU/ECT@ECT, Ana Maria Hernandez/ENRON@enronXgate, Katherine Herrera/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Lisa Hesse/HOU/ECT@ECT, Nathan L Hlavaty/HOU/ECT@ECT, Charles Howard/NA/Enron@ENRON, Trisha Hughes/HOU/ECT@ECT, Monica Jackson/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Kenneth W Kaase/HOU/ECT@ECT, Kevin Kuehler/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Gary W Lamphier/HOU/ECT@ECT, Nancy Landry/ENRON@enronXgate, Stacy Lesmeister/ENRON@enronXgate, Wayne E Lightfoot/ENRON@enronXgate, Gerald Lofton/HOU/ECT@ECT, Blanca A Lopez/ENRON@enronXgate, Bac Thi Ly/GCO/Enron@Enron, Sean Maki/ENRON@enronXgate, Juanita Marchand/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cheryl Marshall/HOU/ECT@ECT, Eric Mason/Enron Communications@Enron Communications, Saidia Matthews/NA/Enron@ENRON, Mark McCoy/Corp/Enron@Enron, Theresa McKinney/HOU/ECT@ECT, Constance McKinsey/ENRON@enronXgate, Julie Meyers/HOU/ECT@ECT, Yvette Miroballi/ENRON@enronXgate, Jack Mitchell/ENRON@enronXgate, Michael W Morris/HOU/ECT@ECT, Travis Moss/NA/Enron@Enron, Joanie H Ngo/HOU/ECT@ECT, Thu T Nguyen/HOU/ECT@ECT, Michael Olsen/ENRON@enronXgate, Lee L Papayoti/HOU/ECT@ECT, Megan Parker/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Jennifer D Pattison/HOU/ECT@ECT, Dena Pawlowski/ENRON@enronXgate, Eugene Peabody/GCO/Enron@Enron, Jack Peebles/ENRON@enronXgate, Adriana Peterson/HOU/ECT@ECT, John Peyton/HOU/ECT@ECT, Mary Poorman/NA/Enron@Enron, Tess Ray/ENRON@enronXgate, Brian Redmond/ENRON@enronXgate, Donald P Reinhardt/ENRON@enronXgate, Charlene Richmond/HOU/ECT@ECT, Chris Riegler/Corp/Enron@Enron, Brian M Riley/HOU/ECT@ECT, Leslie Robinson/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Carlos J Rodriguez/HOU/ECT@ECT, Robert Rose/NA/Enron@ENRON, Barbara Sargent/HOU/ECT@ECT, Vicente Sarmiento/GCO/Enron@Enron, Steve HPL Schneider/HOU/ECT@ECT, Tom Shelton/HOU/ECT@ECT, Jack Simunek/HOU/ECT@ECT, Mary M Smith/HOU/ECT@ECT, Susan Smith/ENRON@enronXgate, Kenny J Soignet/HOU/ECT@ECT, Karl Stewart/HOU/ECT@ECT, Vance L Taylor/ENRON@enronXgate, Edward Terry/HOU/ECT@ECT, Yolanda S Thomas/ENRON@enronXgate, John Towles/NA/Enron@ENRON, Keith Tyree/NA/Enron@ENRON, Kimberly Vaughn/HOU/ECT@ECT, Elsa Villarreal/HOU/ECT@ECT, Joyce Viltz/ENRON@enronXgate, Judy Walters/ENRON@enronXgate, Michael Walters/HOU/ECT@ECT, Katie Washington/NA/Enron@Enron, George Weissman/HOU/ECT@ECT, Emma Kam Welsch/HOU/ECT@ECT, Larry White/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Bud Wolcott/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Erica Wright/ENRON@enronXgate, Sabrae Zajac/HOU/ECT@ECT, Joe Zernicek/GCO/Enron@Enron
cc:	 
Subject:	Thank You

I want to take this opportunity before the transfer of Houston Pipeline Company assets and employees to American Electric Power to thank each of you for your teamwork and success in our years together.

Some of you were here when I joined your company in 1984, but many of you arrived during the Enron era and might not know the full story of my arrival.  I was president of Transco Energy at the time and was probably in line to be the chairman.  I did not expect to ever join another energy company.  Yet the directors of Houston Natural Gas felt like a new management team was needed for their company to prosper in a rapidly changing industry environment.  The quality of people I saw at HNG convinced me that the company would be a good platform from which to make major changes.  And the results over the last 17 years could not have been better.

Houston Pipeline Company has been a major contributor to developing Enron into what it is today.  Your professionalism, ideas, dedication and commitment toward this company have been instrumental in making our success possible.  For this, you will not only be a critical part of Enron's history, but you will also always deserve Enron's gratitude.

I wish you nothing but the very best in your next endeavors, even as I am sure you will not need my good luck wishes.  As always, your professionalism and dedication will be your best allies when facing new challenges and opportunities.

Sincerely,

 



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