Markets Utility Stocks May Stall Amid Tech Rebound 
Los Angeles Times, 12/12/00
INDIA: Enron India unit local lenders to cut rates.
Reuters English News Service, 12/12/00

Three Firms to Sell Natural Gas Instead of Selling Products That Use It
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Dallas Morning News - Texas, 
12/12/00

Activate ''Year-In-Review'' Factsheet
Business Wire, 12/12/00

Enron Sheds No Light on Consumer
The Times of India, 12/12/00

Enron deal can be nullified: Retd SC judge
The Times of India, 12/12/00

Green Mountain Applies To Be 10th Texas Elec Supplier
Dow Jones Energy Service, 12/11/00

The New Power Company Certified As A Retail Natural Gas Marketer In Georgia
PR Newswire, 12/11/00

USA: Big names dominate in Internet energy trading race.
Reuters English News Service, 12/11/00

Dynegy's New E-Commerce Site Had $1.5 Bln in November Trading
Bloomberg, 12/11/00





Business; Financial Desk 
Markets Utility Stocks May Stall Amid Tech Rebound 
THOMAS S. MULLIGAN 
? 
12/12/2000 
Los Angeles Times 
Home Edition 
Page C-4 
Copyright 2000 / The Times Mirror Company 
NEW YORK -- Electric utility stocks, driven by strong power demand, falling 
bond yields and defensive-minded investors, have had a remarkable year so 
far. 
The Dow Jones utility stock index is up 36% year to date, while most U.S. 
blue-chip indexes are in the red. 
But in recent weeks many utility stocks have flattened. California's current 
power crisis notwithstanding, analysts note that we are headed into the part 
of the year when electricity demand slackens. 
Is the utility sector played out for now? Is it time to take profits and move 
on? 
Experts who follow electric utilities say much depends on the rest of the 
stock market. It's no accident that major utility indexes hit bottom in the 
second week of March, just as the tech-dominated Nasdaq composite index was 
soaring to its all-time high. 
Now, if tech stocks continue to recover from their spring and summer 
collapse, that could divert money from utility shares, analysts say. When a 
traditionally exciting sector like tech is red-hot, nobody wants to hear 
about utility stocks, said Doris Kelley-Watkins, portfolio manager of the 
Evergreen Utility Fund. 
Many investors who initially piled into utility issues in winter and spring 
were seeking a safe haven as Nasdaq plunged: With their high-dividend yields, 
big utility companies have long been favorite defensive plays. 
But then came the summer peak power-use season, and the country woke up to 
the reality of an electricity shortage. Utility stocks zoomed. The terrific 
gains "were a real boon to investors who came here thinking they were going 
to be bored," Kelley-Watkins said. 
Indeed, stocks of firms such as Dynegy (ticker symbol: DYN), Calpine (CPN), 
Reliant Energy (REI) and Duke Energy (DUK) are up more than 70% so far this 
year. 
Kelley-Watkins, like a number of Wall Street analysts, believes that the 
"easy money" in utility stocks already has been made. Nevertheless, there 
will still be opportunities in the sector as long as generating capacity 
stays tight--which it is sure to do for at least two or three more years, she 
said. 
Some new power plants will be coming online toward the end of 2002, 
Kelley-Watkins added, but the current supply squeeze has been more than a 
decade in the making and will not be quickly solved. 
Hence, some of the biggest gainers this year are utilities that have 
extensive energy-trading operations--Duke and Reliant, for example. They 
could continue to take advantage of soaring demand and unusual volatility, 
Kelley-Watkins said. 
Dynegy and Houston-based Enron (ENE), the nation's biggest wholesale power 
marketer as well as a major trader of natural gas and other commodities, are 
among the Evergreen fund's biggest holdings. 
Kelley-Watkins also thinks that Sempra Energy (SRE), parent of San Diego Gas 
& Electric, has made a good transition from a heavily regulated owner of 
power plants to an energy distributor and transmitter. But she shies away 
from Sempra's giant California cousins, PG&E (PCG) and Edison International 
(EIX, parent of Southern California Edison), which she considers too 
debt-burdened. 
Nobody welcomes a recession, but Timothy M. Winter, analyst at A.G. Edwards 
in St. Louis, said an economic downturn probably would help utility stocks, 
as many remain relatively cheap in terms of price-to-earnings ratios, and 
would continue to be viewed as a defensive haven. 
The presidential election outcome also matters, Winter said. Most Wall 
Streeters think a George W. Bush victory would be a plus for the sector 
because he probably would be more open than Al Gore to new power plant 
construction. 
Winter likes Progress Energy (PGN), formerly Carolina Power & Light, because 
of its dominance in the fast-growing Southeast. His firm also recommends 
American Electric Power (AEP) and Xcel Energy (XEL). 
Michael S. Worms, analyst at Gerard Klauer Mattison in New York, said 
although electric-utility earnings should continue strong into next year, it 
will be hard to duplicate this year's 20% average profit gains. "We had a 
phenomenal year because of tight capacity and high prices," Worms said. 
Utility stocks probably would have done well on such business fundamentals, 
but they also received a strong tail wind from the stumbling tech sector, 
said Worms. 
If tech shares have bottomed, and if the Federal Reserve speeds the market's 
recovery with interest-rate cuts, that will hurt the performance of utility 
stocks, Worms said. 
His top pick is Calpine, even though shares of the San Jose-based energy 
generator and marketer already have had an amazing two-year run, up 200% so 
far this year, on top of a 400% surge in 1999. 
(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC) 
Running Low on Power? 
Utility stocks surged in spring and summer, but the group has stalled 
in recent weeks. 
Dow Jones index of 15 major utility stocks, weekly closes and latest 
Monday: 386.41 
Source: Bloomberg News 

GRAPHIC-CHART: Running Low on Power?, Los Angeles Times; 
Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

INDIA: Enron India unit local lenders to cut rates.

12/12/2000
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.

BOMBAY, Dec 12 (Reuters) - The Indian unit of U.S. energy giant Enron said on 
Tuesday that four local lenders have agreed to cut their rates on loans to 
its project which is under fire from critics for producing costly power. 
ICICI , Canara Bank, State Bank of India and Industrial Finance Corporation 
of India have all agreed to cut rates by 450 basis points to 16.5 percent, a 
spokesman of Dabhol Power Company told Reuters.
Dabhol Power Company is 65 percent owned by Enron and is implementing a 
two-phase 2,184 MW power project in Maharashtra. Phase one of the project is 
already in operation. 
The cuts will help in lowering the tariff at which Enron sells power to the 
Maharashtra government, he said. 
The spokesman said the firm is considering a reduction in tariff but did not 
reveal details. 
Last week, Industrial Development Bank of India agreed to drop rates by a 
similar margin. 
The spokesman did not specify when the cuts by the financial institutions 
would come into effect. 
The state government wants the project to be reviewed but is yet to take a 
final view. 
Enron says the high tariff would come down next year when it switches over to 
the cheaper fuel of natural gas from naphtha. 
The project cost of $1.9 billion is financed 70 percent through debt. 
Enron's project is among the few foreign power projects to have begun 
operations since India opened up its power sector in 1992.

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

Three Firms to Sell Natural Gas Instead of Selling Products That Use It
Terry Maxon

12/12/2000
KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Dallas Morning News - Texas
Copyright (C) 2000 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World 
Reporter (TM)

Here's how expensive natural gas has become: Three companies decided Monday 
they could make more money from selling their natural gas than from selling 
products using natural gas. 
Natural gas prices hit yet another all-time high Monday, closing at $9.413 
per million British thermal units on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That 
represented an 83-cent increase from Friday's close, up 9.6 percent.
Two fertilizer manufacturers, Terra Industries Inc. and Mississippi Chemical 
Corp., said they were selling natural gas that normally would go to make 
nitrogen, ammonia or other products. 
And oil company Seneca Resources Corp. said gas normally used to boost heavy 
oil production in a California field would be sold instead. 
Jeff Shorter, vice president of TXU Energy Trading in Dallas, said he's not 
surprised to hear companies are selling their natural gas rather than using 
the gas to make their products. 
"I don't think that's the last of them either," Mr. Shorter said. 
He said he expects other companies to come to the same decision as Terra. 
There are a number of companies that have fully hedged their natural gas 
purchases at lower prices, and can make a profit that "far exceeds" what they 
can earn from selling their core business products, he said. 
He noted that the prices in spot markets Monday were even higher than in 
NYMEX trading. Gas for Midwest delivery ranged from $11 to $13 and $14, and 
New York gas was at $12 and higher. 
"Typically, in the winter time we have a great deal of volatility which you 
don't see in the futures market," Mr. Shorter said. 
Spot prices have been much higher in the West, where restricted natural gas 
supplies, shut-down generators and low levels of water for hydroelectric 
plants have contributed to skyrocketing electricity prices. 
Terra, based in Sioux City, Iowa, said it closed one of two ammonia plants in 
Verdigris, Okla., and its Blytheville, Ark., plant this month, so it could 
sell the natural gas used by those plants. It is profiting about $2 to $3 per 
MBtu on the gas it is reselling. 
"The natural gas price increase since our December requirements were 
purchased for Verdigris permitted us to sell a portion of those purchases and 
generate higher gross profits than could be realized from selling the 
products manufactured with the natural gas," said Michael L. Bennett, Terra 
executive vice president and chief operating officer. 
On Nov. 30, Terra said it was closing its Beaumont plant because it couldn't 
make a profit at current gas prices. 
Terra said then that its production costs would exceed selling prices when 
natural gas prices climbed above $6. When the decision was announced Nov. 30, 
NYMEX gas prices closed at $6.673 an MBtu. Since then, the prices have risen 
nearly $3. 
Terra said it would re-evaluate the situation toward the end of December. 
Mississippi Chemical said it was selling all of its futures contracts for 
natural gas to lock in the current prices. It said it would post a $16 
million pre-tax gain by selling the gas contracts. 
The company's president and chief executive officer, Charles O. Dunn, said 
selling the natural gas was in Mississippi Chemical's "best interests." 
"We remain committed to the nitrogen business and our customers, but we also 
have to take advantage of opportunities to optimize cash flow during these 
challenging times," Mr. Dunn said. "It is our belief that the current 
unprecedented natural gas prices are unlikely to be sustained during the 
intermediate term." 
Seneca Resources, based in Buffalo, N.Y., said Monday it would sell the 
natural gas it had been using for its steam injection project at a California 
oil field. It expects to post a pre-tax profit of about $31,000 a month, it 
said. 
"In light of the current natural gas shortage in California, we felt it was 
important to curtail our steaming operations and allow that gas to be used to 
heat homes and generate electricity," Seneca president James Beck said. 
In at least one case, high electricity prices have induced a company to sell 
off the electricity for which it has contracted rather than continue 
operations. 
On Sunday, Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp. said it would close its Pacific 
Northwest smelters until at least Oct. 1, 2001, and was selling the 
electricity those plants would have used. 
Although it must pay laid-off employees a portion of their salaries, the 
power sales from December alone will bring Kaiser $52 million. 
Mr. Shorter of TXU and Mark Palmer, spokesman for Houston energy company 
Enron Corp., said the arrival of cold weather and the sharply higher natural 
gas prices have brought more companies to their doors asking for help in 
managing their energy costs. 
"Volatility is good for us," Mr. Palmer said. 
Mr. Shorter said the price of natural gas has justified a switch from natural 
gas to fuel oil for a number of their customers. 
Supplies of natural gas have remained adequate, but companies that didn't 
prepare for winter energy costs will feel a financial hit, Mr. Shorter said. 
"You're going to see a real economic strain in a lot of geographic regions -- 
if not nationally -- on the economic viability of a lot of these companies" 
that had no program to manage energy risks or had plans that were 
"ill-advised or improperly timed," he said. 
Terra senior vice president Mark Rosenbury said Monday the company will look 
at gas prices between Christmas and New Year's to see if it can profitably 
buy natural gas and reopen the shuttered plants. 
Mr. Rosenbury said he sees the current spike in natural gas prices as "an 
aberration" and expects prices to fall to historical norms of $2 to $3 fairly 
soon. 
"Maybe it's longer than I think. But the cost of finding, producing and 
selling natural gas doesn't command the price it's at today," he said.

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


Activate ''Year-In-Review'' Factsheet

12/12/2000
Business Wire
(Copyright (c) 2000, Business Wire)

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 12, 2000--Activate emerged as a leading 
digital media services company, Webcasting a record number of live events and 
winning two industry awards to cap a year of dramatic growth. 
A majority-owned operating company of CMGI, Activate's business has grown 
15-30X across all key metrics, both in volume and scope of work. Over 8,000 
businesses employed Activate's broad range of digital media services, 
including production and distribution of online live and on-demand events for 
both business communications and consumer events. In addition, Activate 
experienced over 100 million streams in 2000.
"This has been quite a year for Activate," said Jeff Schrock, CEO and founder 
of Activate. "We've been fortunate to be involved in this industry from the 
very beginning and it has been exciting to see the digital media explosion 
over the last year. Activate's goal continues to be providing our customers 
with high-quality, cost-effective digital media solutions and we were 
fortunate to end the year on a high note, receiving two industry awards from 
Computerworld and Network World for our network performance and service 
offerings." 

Notable Activate milestones for 2000 include... 

NETWORK 

-- Recognizing the broadband evolution, Activate focused on key 
network innovations, including cell-based server architecture. 
Activate's advanced network boosts bandwidth efficiency, 
increasing the company's peak capacity and refining Activate's 
load balancing and caching techniques. These enhancements 
contributed to Activate's Blue Ribbon win in Network World's 
Streaming Media Review, beating Akamai, iBeam and Digital 
Island. 

-- Coordination and cross-connection with other content 
distribution networks (CDNs), including Mirror Image, Enron, 
Digital Island, and AT&T. These skills led to a significant 
role in MSN's multi-network Webcast of Madonna's London 
concert, which was produced by sister company Navisite. 

AUDIENCE REACH 

-- With over 40,000 Webcasts in 2000, Activate streamed more live 
events than any other service provider, including Akamai, 
iBeam and Digital Island. Live events ranged from concerts for 
the Backstreet Boys and corporate announcements for Compaq, 
Amway and Microsoft to Seattle Seahawks game Webcasts and a 
political rally for Ralph Nader. 

-- Activate experienced new peaks in bits-per-second simultaneous 
transmission, total simultaneous viewers and total bytes 
transferred. These peaks resulted from combined audiences of 
hundreds of simultaneous events during Activate's highest 
traffic periods, averaging over 25 million streams per 
quarter. 

-- Acknowledging the impact of the World Wide Web, Activate 
partnered with European streaming media provider Unit.net to 
ensure global reach. 

BUSINESS EXPANSION 

-- Activate expanded into a 60,000 square foot production and 
operations center in Seattle, and additional operational and 
sales locations in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, 
Boston and Chicago. This growth complements the continued 
growth of Toronto-based Activate Canada, the leading streaming 
media provider in the Canadian market. 

INDUSTRY REACH 

-- Financial: Since Regulation FD went into effect, Activate 
established a 75 percent market share in the financial space, 
broadcasting nearly 4,000 earnings calls in the third quarter. 

-- Entertainment: Activate's digital media solutions were a 
breakthrough hit with the entertainment industry, including 
partnerships with BMG, MTVi and Miramax. From pop and rock to 
jazz and hip-hop, Activate provided digital media services for 
today's hottest artists including Jay-Z, P!NK and Christina 
Aguliera. 

-- Advertising: Activate partnered with AdForce and Engage to 
expand streaming advertising, developing live and on-demand ad 
insertion solutions. 

About Activate 

Activate is a leading digital media infrastructure services company. 
Activate's services include: event Webcasting for business communications and 
consumer live events, live 24x7 Webcasting for radio, TV and Internet-only 
programming, and on-demand Webcasting of audio and video content to enhance 
any Web site. Major clients include Microsoft, Dell, Unocal, AIMR, 
Rivals.com, National Public Radio, and CTV Sportsnet.com. Activate received 
the Blue Ribbon award from Network World's Streaming Media Review and has 
been named by Computerworld as one of the top 100 emerging companies to watch 
in 2001. A majority owned operating company of CMGI, Inc., Activate is based 
in Seattle with offices in New York, San Francisco and Toronto. For more 
information about the company or its services, please visit www.activate.net 
or call 206/830-5300.


CONTACT: Activate Brooke Davis, 206/830-5716 brooked@activate.net or The 
Weber Group Rachel Dressler, 503/552-3742 rdressler@webergroup.com 
07:01 EST DECEMBER 12, 2000 

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

Enron Sheds No Light on Consumer
DARRYL D'MONTE

12/12/2000
The Times of India
Copyright (C) 2000 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM)

BY any reckoning, the ongoing controversy over the price of electricity 
produced by the US multinational, Enron, in Maharashtra, demonstrates how the 
power elite in this country has been guilty of waiving all normal checks and 
balances in its haste to favour this single producer. Indeed, as Abhay Mehta, 
the author of the incisive expose of the project titled Power Play says, 
there is little point berating the American company for taking us for a ride 
when politicians from parties across the spectrum and a galaxy of bureaucrats 
and public agencies vied with each other in rolling out the red carpet. 
Maharashtra energy minister Padamsinh Patil has now contradicted his 
coalition chief minister's assurance that the second phase of the project 
would be reviewed. This is not the customary double-talk of politicians but 
the tacit acknowledgement that Mr Patil's National Congress Party mentor 
Sharad Pawar was responsible as chief minister for pushing through Enron's 
first phase despite countless objections to what is simply the biggest 
purchase contract in India's history and one of the largest in the world. In 
1993, Mr Pawar went on record that issues such as the import of fuel, total 
foreign exchange outgo and presumably the power tariff were minor issues to 
be clarified and that the Foreign Investment Promotion Board would take a 
decision on them at the time of final review.
These are precisely the issues that are coming home to roost. With the 
built-in escalation clauses in the infamous power purchase agreement, which 
permits increases in tariffs with a hike in the dollar exchange rate among 
other factors, the price of power is now over Rs 7 per unit and it is certain 
to rise further. This will impose a crippling burden on consumers not only 
householders but, ironically enough, industries, negating the very economic 
growth that private producers like Enron were supposed to foster. When Mr 
Pawar capitulated to virtually every demand of the US company, the capital 
cost was already over twice that of comparable projects elsewhere in the 
world. 
Although Enron is often described as one of the world's leading power 
companies, it is mainly engaged in distributing gas. In 1993, only one per 
cent of its revenue was earned on producing power. Its use of imported 
liquefied natural gas as fuel for the Dabhol plant was some four times more 
expensive than coal, of which India has an abundance. The World Bank, itself 
an ardent votary of privatisation, criticised the project on several grounds. 
Since it would amount to one-fifth of the Maharashtra State Electricity 
Board's capacity, it was likely to have an adverse financial impact, the Bank 
stated. Consumers would not be willing to pay such a high price and it 
concluded, on economic grounds, that the project was not viable. The Central 
Electricity Authority (CEA) also pointed out that the project departed from 
the norm, especially in denominating prices in US dollars. However, Mr Pawar 
decided to bypass the CEA and overcome the objections of the World Bank and 
others. 
At the time, the opposition parties in Maharashtra, the BJP and Shiv Sena, 
accused Mr Pawar of corruption in shepherding the project through. Mr 
Gopinath Munde of the BJP made his famous boast that they would throw the 
project in the Arabian sea. When they came to power in 1995, they appointed a 
committee to examine whether the project served the state's interests. The 
committee accused the previous government of committing a grave impropriety 
under circumstances which made the Enron/MSEB arrangement on Dabhol lack 
transparency. It came to the irresistible conclusion that several unseen 
factors and forces seem to have worked to get Enron what it wanted. On this 
basis, the state government cancelled the first and second phases. 
The cancellation raised several protests. Manmohan Singh claimed that it 
could not be done. Then US ambassador Frank Wisner warned of the consequences 
(he joined Enron as a director the very day after he finished his stint in 
India). However, the redoubtable Rebecca Mark of Enron flew down to meet Bal 
Thackeray, the self-proclaimed remote control of the BJP-SS coalition, for a 
second time. On this occasion, she must have used her considerable persuasive 
powers to convince the Sena leader to backtrack on the cancellation and the 
government announced renegotiations. 
The total payments to Enron under the new agreement was a staggering $35 
billion over the project's lifetime and in a blatant misrepresentation, the 
government claimed it had lowered the tariff. The final straw was in May 1996 
when Mr Vajpayee's 13-day minority government ratified the Centre's 
counter-guarantee to Enron on its very last day in office. When the CITU and 
Abhay Mehta filed a public interest petition in the Mumbai high court against 
the project, the arguments given by Enron's lawyers and those representing 
the government were tendentious to the point of being farcical. Chief 
minister Manohar Joshi filed an affidavit to make out that his government's 
earlier allegations of fraud were made on the basis of newspaper reports. 
Enron got its way and the project went on stream. 
Even granting that several states were bending over backwards to attract 
foreign investment in the early nineties, the concessions which were extended 
to Enron were not merely extravagant but unconstitutional. The financial and 
legal guarantees committed the Indian state in a manner which no 
self-respecting country would endure. Much of the political-bureaucratic 
class connived at this subversion of the rule of law. The power purchase 
agreement in particular violated the Electricity Supply Act. The Maharashtra 
government's finance department had admitted in 1994 that if the central 
government paid the company any sums by way of its guarantee, these would be 
deducted from the state's RBI account. 
It is this unconstitutional agreement which ought to serve as the basis for 
questioning the entire Enron agreement in court. It is obvious that it is 
against the public interest and it could conceivably be demonstrated that the 
power elite has acted in its own interest and against that of the Indian 
people. There is already a precedent in Pakistan where a power purchase 
agreement with Enron which had a substantially lower cost per MW than 
Dabhol's was cancelled. Two MoUs which the Karnataka government signed with 
another US power company, Cogentrix, were also terminated.

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

Enron deal can be nullified: Retd SC judge

12/12/2000
The Times of India
Copyright (C) 2000 The Times of India; Source: World Reporter (TM)

MUMBAI: Retired high court judge Hosbet Suresh has stated that the agreement 
signed between the Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) and the Dabhol 
Power Company (DPC), a subsidiary of US-based Enron, can be nullified. The 
DPC spokesperson was not available for comment. 
The state government would be within its rights to cancel the 1993 Power 
Purchase Agreement on grounds of protection of public interest, he said.
``The power that the Enron plant produces is twice as expensive as its 
nearest competitor and seven times as expensive as the cheapest electricity 
available in Maharashtra. The fixed charges, whether MSEB buys electricity or 
not, alone works out to Rs 1,000 crore a year for Phase I and nearly twice 
the amount for Phase II and the amount is to be paid for the next 40 years ! 
What public interest does it serve ?'' Mr Suresh asked in his opinion given 
to the Enron Virodhi Andolan. 
The implications of this agreement is to ``exploit'' the people, he said in 
his five-page statement, adding that ``the government has an obligation to 
end such exploitation''. 
Questioning the erstwhile Shiv Sena-BJP government's decision to withdraw the 
court case against the DPC, Mr Suresh sought to bring forth the 
inconsistencies during the alliance rule. The Sena-BJP had challenged the PPA 
declaring it as a ``fraud'' as it was not in keeping with public policy, 
consumer interest and interest of the state. ``This suit was withdrawn 
without any of the contentious issues on law and on facts being decided. The 
government renegotiated without complying any of the requirements under the 
law,'' Mr Suresh observed. 
``The concealment of relevant facts from the public, the unsatisfactory 
explanation for withdrawing the suit .... all lead to one thing namely that 
the government at no time had any regard for public welfare...,'' he said. 
Mr Suresh also pointed out to the earlier petition filed by BJP leader Ramdas 
Nayak who had challenged the contract to Enron as it was awarded without the 
process of competitive bidding. Mr Nayak's petition, however, was dismissed 
on August 19, 1994 and all subsequent petitions which sought to challenge the 
PPA were also given similar treatment, he said, adding ``without the courts 
going into he validity of the agreement''. 
``Electricity is not a matter of commerce. It is a necessity like light, 
water and air. There can be no monopoly in this. If someone wants to trade on 
these elements, he may do so provided he does not exploit the people,'' Mr 
Suresh said.

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

Green Mountain Applies To Be 10th Texas Elec Supplier

12/11/2000
Dow Jones Energy Service
(Copyright (c) 2000, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

HOUSTON -(Dow Jones)- Green Mountain Energy Co. said Monday it has filed an 
application with the Texas Public Utility Commission to become a retail 
electric provider when Texas launches retail electric competition Jan. 1, 
2002. 
At least nine other companies also have filed applications, but Green 
Mountain said it is the first energy company to apply for a Texas license to 
sell renewable power, such as wind, sun or hydropower.
"We are looking forward to the prospects of doing business in Texas, and we 
are excited to see regulatory rules being put in place to promote 
competition, creativity and innovation in the marketplace," said Gillan 
Taddune, Green Mountain's Texas regional manager. 
The PUC has approved one REP application from a large industrial company, but 
the Dallas-based firm, TXI Power Co., only wants to buy electricity to supply 
its own plants. 
Other non-utility companies that have filed applications to be certified as 
Texas retail electric providers, or REPs, include: Sempra Energy Solutions, a 
unit of Sempra Energy (SRE); Enron Energy Services and Enron Power Marketing, 
both units of Enron Corp., (ENE); New Power Co., formed this year by Enron, 
International Business Machines (IBM) and America Online Inc. (AOL); and 
Shell Energy Services Co., a unit of Royal Dutch/Shell Group (RD). 
Affiliates of existing Texas utilities have also filed to become REPs. 
First Choice Power, a subsidiary of TNP Enterprises Inc. has filed. TXU Corp. 
(TXU), the state's largest investor-owned utility and Reliant Energy (REI), 
the second largest, also recently filed two applications to create two REPs, 
one to sell power to large commercial and industrial customers and one to 
sell power to smaller customers. 
More companies are expected to begin the certification process in Texas 
before the end of the year as market rules are finalized. Independent 
suppliers watching the Texas market include: AES NewEnergy Inc., a unit of 
AES Corp. (AES); and Exelon Energy (EXC). 
To be certified, an entity must hold an investment grade credit rating, have 
$50 million of net worth or have cash resources of $100,000. 
REPs will be subject to PUC enforcement actions, including penalties, 
suspension and revocation for violations. 
A pilot program involving 5% of the state's power customers will begin in 
June. -By Eileen O'Grady, Dow Jones Newswires; 713-547-9213;
eileen.ogrady@dowjones.com

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

The New Power Company Certified As A Retail Natural Gas Marketer In Georgia

12/11/2000
PR Newswire
(Copyright (c) 2000, PR Newswire)

PURCHASE, N.Y., Dec. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- TNPC, Inc. (NYSE: NPW), parent of The 
New Power Company, the first national residential and small business energy 
provider, today announced it had received its certificate as a retail Natural 
Gas Marketer from the Georgia Public Service Commission. The New Power 
Company will begin to serve natural gas consumers in Georgia in 2001. 
The New Power Company was formed by Enron, the largest trader and marketer of 
electricity and natural gas in North America. In June, the Company acquired 
approximately 300,000 natural gas and electricity accounts in eight states 
from the Columbia Energy Group, which includes approximately 83,000 natural 
gas customers in Georgia - roughly 6 percent of the market.
The New Power Company began acquiring electricity customers in select utility 
markets in Pennsylvania and New Jersey in October 2000. In addition, the 
Company has been awarded 299,000 electricity customers by PECO Energy Company 
under its "Competitive Default Service" program. 
About TNPC, Inc. 
TNPC, Inc. (NYSE: NPW), through its subsidiary, The New Power Company, is the 
first national provider of electricity and natural gas to residential and 
small commercial customers in the United States. The Company offers consumers 
in restructured retail energy markets competitive energy prices, flexible 
payment and pricing choices, improved customer service, and other innovative 
products, services and incentives.


/CONTACT: Investors - June Filingeri, Vice President, Investor Relations, 
Jfilinge@newpower.com, 914-697-2431, or Media - Gael Doar, Director of 
Communications, gdoar@newpower.com, 914-697-2451, both of TNPC, Inc./ 17:29 
EST 

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

USA: Big names dominate in Internet energy trading race.
By Gelu Sulugiuc

12/11/2000
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2000.

NEW YORK, Dec 11 (Reuters) - All bar the biggest of the much-heralded online 
energy exchanges are struggling to generate liquidity as the oil community 
sticks with tried and trusted trading habits, analysts and traders said. 
While most of the 30 online energy exchanges that have sprung up over the 
last year keep liquidity figures close to their chest, analysts say that the 
big names - IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) and EnronOnline - are pulling 
clear.
"You can juice up numbers any way you want, but the one that's succeeding 
today is ICE," said Peter Fusaro, president of energy e-commerce consultants 
firm Global Change Associates. "The others are floundering because they have 
no liquidity." 
ICE which enjoys the backing of such industry heavyweights as BP, Royal 
Dutch/Shell and TotalFinaElf, traded a total of 200 million barrels of crude 
and products in the month after it began operating in October. 
Like all the new energy platforms - which mainly host "over-the-counter" 
contracts traded outside regulated exchanges, - this is dwarfed by volumes 
posted on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX). 
Volumes on Friday alone on NYMEX crude for January delivery reached almost 40 
million barrels of crude oil and almost 25 million barrels of heating oil. 
Smaller online exchanges such as RedMeteor.com and HoustonStreet Exchange 
hosted online trades of just 3.5 million barrels and 2.5 million barrels 
respectively of heating oil in the entire month of October, industry sources 
said. 
TIED TO TRADITION 
Oil volumes have taken time to pick up because many traders are reluctant to 
give up brokers and switch to the internet, afraid of making costly mistakes 
trading online. 
"There are brokers that have been around for a long time and have established 
personal and business relationships with traders," said Tom Knight, an 
independent online trading consultant. 
Oil's recent dizzying price volatility has also deterred traders from using 
online exchanges, fearing that a swift market move could turn a profitable 
Web trade into a ruinous one in a matter of minutes. 
"You can't take your trade off (the online exchange) fast enough," a trader 
who uses EnronOnline and Altra said. 
Old habits dying hard in the oil community means the younger markets of 
natural gas and power hold the key to the new platforms' liquidity growth. 
Leading the way is EnronOnline, which boasts an average daily volume of $10.5 
billion and 35,000 transactions in more than 30 commodities, smashing initial 
targets of a $30-$40 billion yearly trading volume. 
Main competitor Dynegydirect has posted a total transaction volume of only 
$1.5 billion since it began trading Nov. 1. 
Traders and analysts said that EnronOnline is already becoming so big that it 
can set the tone for the natural gas cash market by itself. 
"On the ICE, players don't want to make a better offer than Enron," a trader 
said. "The only thing that's still not swayed by Enron numbers is NYMEX." 
THREE MODELS 
Among three competing business models, Dynegydirect and EnronOnline provide a 
market where players can only trade with the company that operates the site. 
Other platforms, like ICE, act like an intermediary, but provide only 
financial products such as swaps and options. 
A third group that includes RedMeteor.com, Altra and HoustonStreet focuses on 
physical markets and acts as a clearinghouse for oil, natural gas and 
electricity trading. 
Despite the slow start for some sites, analysts agree that more energy 
trading will migrate online as commission costs go down. 
Knight predicted that within five years more than 50 percent of crude and 
refined products trading will be done online, with gas and power shifting to 
the Web even faster. 
Yet only a few Web exchanges will enjoy the windfall. Analysts forecast that 
a wave of mergers and consolidations will leave only a small number of 
profitable online exchanges. 
NYMEX hopes its own online exchange, enymex, will be part of that group, but 
it will face stiff competition when it finally launches in the second quarter 
of 2001. 
"It will be difficult for enymex to compete six months for now with ICE and 
EnronOnline," Fusaro said.

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

Dynegy's New E-Commerce Site Had $1.5 Bln in November Trading
12/11/0 17:37 (New York)

Dynegy's New E-Commerce Site Had $1.5 Bln in November Trading

     Houston, Dec. 11 (Bloomberg) -- Dynegy Inc., a U.S.
electricity and natural-gas trader, said its Internet trading
site, Dynegydirect, had more than $1.5 billion in transactions in
in November, its first month of business.
     More than $1 billion of the business came from new customers,
Dynegy spokesman Steve Stengel said. Dynegydirect's customers
trade exclusively with Dynegy, not with each other. The Web site
has more than 400 companies buying and selling North American
power, natural gas and natural gas liquids.
     Dynegydirect plans to start trading coal, emission allowances
and weather derivatives in the first quarter. International energy
products and bandwidth are scheduled to be added in the second
quarter.
     Shares of Houston-based Dynegy rose $4.19 to $53.75.
     EnronOnline, the 1-year-old on-line market owned by Enron
Corp., the world's biggest energy trader, trades about $2.4
billion a day, or about $12 billion a week.
     IntercontinentalExchange, an Internet market for energy and
precious metals backed by 85 energy and financial companies,
traded about $6 billion in oil, natural-gas and electricity in its
first week in mid October.
     ICE brings buyers and sellers together to negotiate trades.
On EnronOnline, only Enron trades with other companies.
     Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg News, competes with ICE
and others with its PowerMatch trading system.

--Margot Habiby in Dallas, (214) 740-0873 or
mhabiby@bloomberg