Calif Senate Committee Pushes Enron Contempt Cite Forward
Dow Jones Energy Service, 07/11/01

Enron Sues To Block Calif From Forcing Document Release
Dow Jones Energy Service, 07/11/01

Enron Corp. sues to block Senate from forcing document release
Associated Press Newswires, 07/11/01

USA: Enron sues Calif. to block subpoena in price probe.
Reuters English News Service, 07/11/01

Enron Sues California Senate; Panel Urges Contempt (Update2)
Bloomberg, 07/11/01

CSU, UC reach tentative agreement with Enron to deliver electricity
Associated Press Newswires, 07/11/01

Indian state orders probe into Enron's power dispute with government
Associated Press Newswires, 07/11/01

Enron's Lay keen on speedy solution to Dabhol Power issue
AFX News, 07/11/01

Enron Won't Rule Out Sale of Dabhol Gas Unit, Spokesman Says
Bloomberg, 07/11/01



Calif Senate Committee Pushes Enron Contempt Cite Forward

07/11/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- A California Senate committee Wednesday voted to 
forward to the full Senate a contempt charge against Enron Corp (ENE) becuase 
the company refuses to provide certain financial documents for an 
investigation into wholesale power prices in the state. 
If Enron is deemed to be in contempt by the full Senate, the legislators will 
vote on punishments that could include fines against the company or 
incarceration for company executives.
"When Enron decides it is so important to keep its information private, I can 
only assume there is much more there to find than I can imagine," said Sen. 
Steve Peace, D-El Cajon, a member of the Senate Select Committee to 
Investigate Market Manipulation. 
Enron filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop the Senate's subpoena of financial 
records, saying the documents were outside of California's jurisdiction. 
The company is also likely to legally contest the contempt charge, an Enron 
attorney said during Wednesday's hearings. 

The market manipulation committee will forward its contempt report to the 
full Senate by early next week, at the earliest, said Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa 
Ana, chair of the committee. 
If at any point between now and then Enron decides to comply with the 
committee's requests, the contempt charge will be dropped, Dunn said. 
The committee also voted not to recommend a contempt charge for Mirant Corp 
(MIR), which agreed to provide financial documents Wednesday morning shortly 
before the hearing. 
The documents sought by Dunn's committee include information on bidding and 
pricing behavior in the state's electricity markets. The committee originally 
was poised to cite eight electricity generators for contempt, but all except 
Enron have since agreed to provide the requested information. 
-By Jessica Berthold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3872; 
jessica.berthold@dowjones.com

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


Enron Sues To Block Calif From Forcing Document Release

07/11/2001
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

SACRAMENTO (AP)--Enron Corp. (ENE) is suing California officials to stop a 
Senate subpoena of its financial records in a dispute over alleged 
overcharges for its electricity sales to California. 
"They've sent two things to Texas - our money and these documents, and they 
saying we can't get either one back," said Laurence Drivon, special legal 
counsel to the California Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market 
Manipulation.
The suit came hours before the committee will consider asking the full Senate 
to cite the Houston-based company for contempt Wednesday. The other subject 
of possible sanctions, Atlanta-based Mirant Inc., appears to be cooperating, 
Drivon said. 
Committee chairman Joe Dunn, a Santa Ana Democrat, said the committee's 
investigation will continue despite Enron's "pure act of intimidation. We're 
not going to back down." 
Enron's suit said the company's financial papers are outside the committee's 
jurisdiction because most of its operations and paperwork are outside 
California. 
That shouldn't matter, Drivon said, citing last year's successful of 
out-of-state documents during the investigation into the activities of former 
Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. Previous investigations have 
included documents subpoenaed from other nations, he said. 
Companies doing business in California cannot claim immunity from its laws or 
oversight, Drivon and Dunn said. Houston-based Reliant Energy made the same 
argument but then agreed to turn over 1,800 documents.

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


Enron Corp. sues to block Senate from forcing document release
By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer

07/11/2001
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Enron Corp. is suing state officials to stop a Senate 
subpoena of its financial records in a dispute over alleged overcharges for 
its electricity sales to California. 
"They've sent two things to Texas - our money and these documents, and 
they're saying we can't get either one back," said Laurence Drivon, special 
legal counsel to the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market 
Manipulation.
The suit came hours before the committee will consider asking the full Senate 
to cite the Houston-based company for contempt Wednesday. The other subject 
of possible sanctions, Atlanta-based Mirant Inc., is cooperating, Drivon 
said. 
Mirant spokesman Pat Dorinson said the company has turned over 159,000 pages 
of documents that were being transferred to a repository in Sacramento to 
comply with the subpoena. 
The company and the committee reached an agreement last night on the 
confidentiality concerns, Dorinson said. 
Committee chairman Joe Dunn, a Santa Ana Democrat, said the committee's 
investigation will continue despite Enron's "pure act of intimidation. We're 
not going to back down." 
Enron's suit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court, said the company's 
financial papers are outside the committee's jurisdiction because most of its 
operations and paperwork are outside California. 
That shouldn't matter, Drivon said, citing last year's successful subpoena of 
out-of-state documents during the investigation into the activities of former 
Insurance Commissioner Chuck Quackenbush. Previous investigations have 
included documents subpoenaed from other nations, he said. 
Companies doing business in California cannot claim immunity from its laws or 
oversight, Drivon and Dunn said. Houston-based Reliant Energy made the same 
argument but then agreed to turn over 1,800 documents. 
Enron's suit also says Dunn's committee has not given the company a fair 
hearing, and the committee has not followed due-process protections before 
seeking sanctions. 
Not so, said Dunn and Drivon, adding that they negotiated with generators to 
give them time to comply with the subpoenas. Proof of that, they said, comes 
in the decision to give Williams, AES, Reliant, Dynegy, Duke and NRG an extra 
week past Tuesday's deadline to turn over documents subpoenaed last month. 
In a letter to Dunn, Steven J. Kean, an Enron executive vice president, said 
several municipal districts were profiting from the power crisis. "Yet, 
remarkably, the committee has inexplicably chosen not to include these market 
participants in its investigations." 
Enron officials are concerned the purpose of the investigation, Kean said, is 
to "create a convenient political scapegoat to shoulder the blame for 
California's policy mistakes and changes in market fundamentals." 
However, Enron has agreed to turn over some "non-confidential" documents at 
the Wednesday hearing, Kean said. 
The committee is on the verge of asking the full Senate to impose sanctions 
for the first time since 1929, when the Senate briefly jailed a reluctant 
witness during a committee investigation of price fixing and price gouging 
allegations involving cement sales to the state. 
There are no set penalties, Drivon said - by law, "the Senate can take such 
action as it deems necessary and appropriate." 
Enron is one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas and 
communications companies, with $101 billion in revenues in 2000. It owns 
30,000 miles of pipeline, has 20,000 employees and is active in 40 countries. 
During the first quarter of this year, Enron's revenues increased 281 percent 
to $50.1 billion. 
It is well connected politically. It has supported both President Bush and 
his father, President George H.W. Bush. 
Last month the firm was a corporate sponsor at a congressional fund-raiser 
featuring the president, where contributors in tuxedos and gowns dined and 
drank around a giant gold "W" that reached to the rafters at the Washington 
Convention Center ballroom. 
Enron has also been tied to President Bush's approach to the energy crisis. 
Company chairman Kenneth Lay is a friend and one of the largest campaign 
contributors to Bush and the GOP. Several prominent members of the Bush 
administration hold stock in the company. 
The company is one of several major GOP donors accused of meeting secretly 
with Vice President Dick Cheney as he drafted the Bush administration's 
energy plan. 
---- 
On the Net: 
http://www.enron.com

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



USA: Enron sues Calif. to block subpoena in price probe.

07/11/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 11 (Reuters) - Energy giant Enron Corp. filed a 
lawsuit on Wednesday against a California legislative committee investigating 
it for possible price gouging in the state's volatile power market. 
The Senate Select Committee, leading the probe, last month found Enron and 
fellow energy merchant Mirant Corp. in contempt for refusing to hand over 
papers documenting their wholesale power sales.
"Today Enron has filed suit against the Select Committee seeking to have an 
impartial neutral court determine Enron's rights and obligations under the 
Select Committee subpoena," Enron said in a statement after filing its suit 
in Sacramento Superior Court. 
While agreeing to provide "certain information and documents sought in the 
Committee's subpoena", the Houston-based company again refused to hand over 
confidential business documents. 
Enron argued the committee has no legal jurisdiction over wholesale 
electricity prices, which are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory 
Committee (FERC), and that the committee's proceedings violate the company's 
legal rights. 
The company also questioned whether the committee's actions "are designed to 
uncover the facts underlying the price spikes in California's...power market, 
or to create a convenient political scapegoat to shoulder the blame for 
California's policy mistakes and changes in market fundamentals." 
Enron's tough stand against the committee's subpoena prompted a contempt 
ruling on June 28, the first time in 72 years California has cited a company 
for contempt. 
Enron's lawsuit landed while the committee was gathered to vote on whether 
the contempt ruling should be reported to the full state senate, which has 
the power to slap sanctions on the company and can even fine or imprison its 
officers. 
In addition to Enron and Mirant, state officials have accused Reliant Energy 
Inc. , Duke Energy Corp. , Williams Cos. , and Dynegy Inc. of overcharging 
California power agencies and utilities some $8.9 billion for wholesale 
electricity over the past 14 months. 
Power prices in the state soared tenfold over the past year, prompting 
warnings from California Governor Gray Davis that the state is on track to 
spend $46 billion for electricity this year compared with $7 billion in 1999. 
Davis has blasted FERC commissioners for failing to ensure just and 
reasonable power prices in California and threatened to take the matter to 
federal court unless it is awarded refunds for the full $8.9 billion at 
stake. 
Independent energy merchants have blamed the price spike on the state's 
poorly designed electricity deregulation law and a failure to build enough 
power plants to meet the growing needs of its residents and industries.

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


Enron Sues California Senate; Panel Urges Contempt (Update2)
2001-07-11 17:26 (New York)

Enron Sues California Senate; Panel Urges Contempt (Update2)

     (Adds committee vote in 2nd paragraph, lawmaker comment in
7th paragraph.)

     Sacramento, California, July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp.,
the world's largest energy trader, sued a California state Senate
committee to quash a subpoena for internal documents, accusing the
panel of trying to blame the company for the state's power woes.
     The Senate panel responded by voting for a second time to
recommend the full state Senate hold Enron in contempt and impose
fines or other punishments if the company refuses to turn over the
documents. The vote was 6-0.
     Enron is fighting a committee subpoena issued last month
demanding thousands of pages of documents relating to the
company's energy trading in California. The panel is probing
whether generators manipulated the power market. Soaring wholesale
prices last year left utilities unable to buy power, and the state
began purchasing energy on their behalf.
     ``It is exceedingly difficult to discern whether the
committee's actions are designed to uncover the facts underlying
the price spikes in California's wholesale market, or to create a
convenient political scapegoat,'' Enron Executive Vice President
Steven Kean wrote in a letter to the committee.
     The full Senate won't receive the committee's recommendation
until next week, giving Enron time to turn over the documents,
said Committee Chairman Senator Joseph Dunn, a Democrat.
     ``The next move is now up to Enron,'' Dunn said.

                         The Lawsuit

     Enron's suit claims that federal regulators have sole
jurisdiction over wholesale energy trading and that the Senate
subpoena is too broad, according to a copy of the suit released by
Enron. Enron also accused the committee of singling it out for
blame when dozens of companies sold power to the state.
     The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation
in the Wholesale Energy Market voted last month to hold Enron
Corp. and Mirant Corp. in contempt after they refused to turn over
documents the committee was seeking. The committee gave the
companies until today to comply.
     Mirant has already turned over 160,000 pages of documents,
said Larry Drivon, special counsel to the committee. The committee
voted to nullify the contempt charge against the company.
      California claims energy generators and traders overcharged
the state by $8.9 billion. Talks ordered by the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission to settle those allegations broke down
earlier this week without an agreement.
     Energy generators and traders had offered California a total
of $716 million in refunds.
     FERC Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner asked federal
regulators to determine appropriate refunds, if any.
     California Governor Gray Davis said that if the state isn't
awarded the full $8.9 billion in refunds, it would file suit
against the energy companies.
     ``If you think California is going to settle for $1 billion
in refunds, we will see you in court,'' Davis said yesterday.



CSU, UC reach tentative agreement with Enron to deliver electricity
By CHELSEA J. CARTER
Associated Press Writer

07/11/2001
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

LONG BEACH, Calif. (AP) - California's two public university systems have 
reached a tentative settlement with Enron Energy Systems Inc. to buy cheap 
power, bringing to an end a federal lawsuit accusing the Houston company of 
wanting to sell the electricity at a higher cost. 
Enron has tentatively agreed to extend its contract with California State 
University and the University of California for two years, Chancellor Charles 
B. Reed told CSU's board of trustees Wednesday.
The agreement means the university systems will continue receiving 
electricity directly from Enron rather than from Southern California Edison 
and Pacific Gas & Electric. 
"The agreement means considerable savings for the universities and allows us 
to continue with our energy conservation efforts," said Richard West, CSU's 
executive vice chancellor and chief financial officer. 
In a prepared statement, Enron confirmed the tentative agreement. 
"Enron has always been a strong advocate of the benefits of direct access, 
and we are pleased to be able to extend our contract for two years with 
UC/CSU," said Marty Sunde, vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, said in a 
written statement. 
Although a tentative agreement has been reached, West said the university 
systems were continuing to negotiate price and other terms of the contract 
extension. The agreement is expected to be finalized by December. 
Executives of Enron were attempting to get out of delivering power for the 
final year of a four-year deal with CSU and UC. Enron, which buys power from 
producers and sells it on the market, said the contract would cost the energy 
company $12 million a month because of skyrocketing wholesale power prices. 
Enron said the state should free it from its obligation and taxpayers should 
pick up the tab. 
The state argued the company wanted to increase its profit. 
A federal judge ordered Enron to continue supplying power to the two 
university systems in April. Enron appealed the ruling to the 9th U.S. 
Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco. 
UC's annual electric bill is about $87 million and its natural gas bill is 
about $26 million. CSU annually pays about $40 million for electricity and 
$20 million for natural gas.

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


Indian state orders probe into Enron's power dispute with government
By KUMUDINI SALYANKAR
Associated Press Writer

07/11/2001
Associated Press Newswires
Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

BOMBAY, India (AP) - An Indian state ordered an investigation Wednesday into 
a dispute between the state's utility company and U.S. power supplier Enron 
Corp. over the purchase of electricity, news reports said. 
A judge will investigate various aspects of the agreement between a 
subsidiary of Enron and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, Press Trust 
of India quoted state Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh as saying. He said the 
terms of the probe would be decided within a month.
Hours earlier, Enron Corp. Chairman Kenneth Lay said he was hopeful of a 
solution to the dispute, in which Enron accuses the state-run power utility 
of defaulting on payments. The utility denies that it defaulted and accuses 
Dabhol Power Company, Enron's Indian unit, of charging exorbitant prices. 
Indian politicians have called for renegotiating the 1995 purchase agreement. 
Federal and Maharashtra state officials are holding talks with Enron and the 
state utility to resolve the dispute. 
"I am hopeful there will be some solution to the problem," Lay told reporters 
after meeting political leaders in Bombay at the end of his three-day stay in 
India. 
"The federal government has a very large role to play," said Lay. "The 
government listened to my points but it's not for me to say what they will 
decide." 
He said he met lenders, government officials and political leaders in New 
Delhi, India's capital, and Bombay. 
Enron in mid-May issued a notice to the state utility, warning it to stop 
defaulting on payments and threatening to halt work on a new dlrs 3 billion 
power plant, the biggest-ever foreign investment in India. 
The utility countered by demanding that Enron offset overdue December and 
January bills of dlrs 48 million with a dlrs 85.31 million fine it levied on 
the power company for not being able to supply power when required. 
The second phase of Enron's liquefied natural gas power plant was scheduled 
for completion at the end of the year at Dabhol, 335 kilometers (210 miles) 
south of Bombay. 
"The whole idea is to resolve the problem," Lay said. "It's a very large 
project and the country badly needs power. Once the LNG project comes up, 
power will be much cheaper." 
(str/rtb, nnm/lak-ss)

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


Enron's Lay keen on speedy solution to Dabhol Power issue

07/11/2001
AFX News
(c) 2001 by AFP-Extel News Ltd

BOMBAY (AFX) - Enron Corp chairman Kenneth Lay said he is keen for a speedy 
solution to the ongoing challenges surrounding the Dabhol power project. 
Enron, Maharashtra State Electricity Board, General Electric Co and Bechtel 
are the joint venture partners in Dabhol Power Co Ltd, which is setting up 
the power project in Maharashtra.
Media reports indicate that Lay is in India to discuss various options for 
the project, including a possible takeover of Dabhol Power by the government. 
Lay said: "I did not want to leave the country this time without reaffirming 
my interest in and support for India. I hope that we will be able to find a 
resolution to this problem that allows us all to move forward." 
The project faced hurdles due to MSEB's inability to pay dues for power 
purchased from Dabhol Power. 
The state government has also asked for a reduction in the tariff on power 
sold by Dabhol Power. 
jd/jkm/ 
For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com

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



Enron Won't Rule Out Sale of Dabhol Gas Unit, Spokesman Says
2001-07-11 15:48 (New York)

Enron Won't Rule Out Sale of Dabhol Gas Unit, Spokesman Says

     Houston, July 11 (Bloomberg) -- Enron Corp., which is seeking
a way to resolve a dispute over a $3 billion Indian power project,
hasn't ruled out selling its liquefied natural gas operations
there to government-owned Gas Authority of India Ltd., spokesman
John Ambler said.
     Enron is building liquefied gas facilities to process fuel
for Dabhol Power Co., the Enron unit that owns the power project
in Maharashtra state. Enron and the Indian government have
discussed a sale of the gas facilities, the Business Standard
newspaper reported on its Web site, citing unidentified people.
The report followed a visit to India by Enron Chairman Kenneth
Lay, who has been holding talks with officials in New Delhi.
     ``In the discussions we had with the central government, a
whole range of possibilities was discussed,'' Ambler said. ``We're
definitely not on any kind of single track.''
     The Business Standard report also said the government and Lay
discussed the possibility of India's National Thermal Power Corp.
taking over Dabhol. India National Thermal would get a 16 billion
rupee ($339 million) tax break because it's a local company,
allowing it to sell power at lower rates, the paper said.
      Enron owns 65 percent of Dabhol Power, India's largest
private foreign investment. The utility and its sole customer, the
state-owned Maharashtra State Electricity Board, are in the midst
of a 7-month-old dispute over 3 billion rupees ($64 million) in
unpaid bills by the board, and the price Dabhol charges for power.
     The gas terminal is part of a $2 billion expansion of the
Dabhol plant. Some contractors, saying they haven't been paid
since April, halted work on the power plant. Construction of
liquefied gas facilities wasn't affected because another crew is
handling that work.
     The Dabhol plant now burns naphtha, a chemical refined from
crude oil. Switching to natural gas will lower power prices,
Ambler said. High prices are the crux of the Maharashtra board's
dispute with the utility. The board says Dabhol charges more than
double the rates of other Indian generators.
     Dabhol has long-term liquefied gas contracts totaling 2
million metric tons a year with Oman Liquefied Natural Gas Co.,
Oman's state owned gas company, and Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction
Ltd., a unit of state-owned Abu Dhabi National Oil Co. of the
United Arab Emirates.
     In a statement issued as he was leaving India today, Lay said
Enron had been ``involved in a range of meetings with political
leaders, government officials, business leaders and other
interested parties'' designed to resolve the Dabhol dispute.
     General Electric Co. and private construction company Bechtel
Group are partners in the Dabhol project, which is being financed
by loans backed the U.S. and Japanese governments, as well as
Indian lenders, Lay said. Forty ``of the world's top
corporations'' are involved in the project, he said.
     Shares of Houston-based Enron fell 22 cents to $49 in late
trading.