Davis reveals makeup of Power Authority
The San Francisco Chronicle, 08/14/01
INDIA PRESS:Dabhol Pwr, Govt Conciliation Talks Begin Sat
Dow Jones Asian Equities Report, 08/14/01
BHP Billiton Examining Merits Of Energy Trading Desk
Dow Jones International News, 08/13/01
USA: EOTT Energy projects higher 2001 profits.
Reuters English News Service, 08/13/01
GERMANY: Enron publishes German gas price indicators.
Reuters English News Service, 08/13/01



NEWS
Davis reveals makeup of Power Authority
Robert Salladay
Chronicle Sacramento Bureau

08/14/2001
The San Francisco Chronicle
FINAL
A.5
(Copyright 2001)

Gov. Gray Davis drew yesterday from his own inner circle and the business world to create a public Power Authority that takes control this week over California's energy future. 
Davis' four appointments will join state Treasurer Phil Angelides in forming the new five-member board, which can issue billions of dollars in bonds, build and purchase power plants and gas pipelines, and ultimately attempt to secure a surplus of energy for California.
"It's partly a matter of filling the hole that the private sector is not filling," Angelides said, "but it's also building a system so we are never again victimized by markets that are unregulated and out of control." 
Davis appointed S. David Freeman, who is expected to be named chairman of the authority's new board. A longtime advocate of public power and energy conservation, Freeman is the former head of the Tennessee Valley Authority and the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power. He is currently one of Davis' closest energy advisers. 
Davis also appointed Sunne Wright McPeak, former Contra Costa County supervisor and president of the Bay Area Council, a business group that studies how economic growth affects the quality of life. She also has worked extensively on water policy and the future of the bay-delta ecosystem. 
John R. Stevens, Davis' former staff director and current energy adviser, also joins the board. 
One Davis appointment yesterday drew cautious concern from consumer advocates because of his links to the energy industry: Donald Vial, a former Public Utilities Commissioner appointed by then- Gov. Jerry Brown. 
Vial currently is the chairman of a San Francisco nonprofit foundation that includes labor and environmental activists, but also executives from some of the country's largest energy firms, utilities and developers. 
The group, the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy, mostly holds seminars with various interest groups on business and environmental issues. Its board of directors include executives from Mirant, Calpine, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Enron Corp., Reliant, AES, and Sempra Energy companies. McPeak also serves on the board. 
Consumer activists said Vial's work with the foundation mostly includes education and public policy research, although they said his connection to the energy industry is troubling. When Vial was a PUC commissioner, from 1983 to 1989, he expressed deep concerns about deregulation, advocates said. 
"I think he was a friend of the consumer and he was a friend of labor," said Nettie Hoge, executive director of The Utility Reform Network based in San Francisco. "He was very opposed to most of deregulation and very distressed about the notion of competition in the electricity area, and felt early on that this was not going to be good for consumers." 
Doug Heller with the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights, said Vial's appointment is "awkward" and raises questions about the mission of the authority. In his statement, Davis said the new power authority's job "is to supplement, not supplant private sector initiatives," but Heller said the authority should swing the other way. 
"We are creating a public power system because the private energy industry has not only failed California it has devastated the state," Heller said. "The public power authority should not be attached in any way to the private companies that have ravaged California." 
A Davis spokesman said Vial was a good choice. 
"You can put his (Vial's) public record when it comes to consumers against anybody's," said Roger Salazar, a spokesman for Davis, adding: "This guy isn't anyone's lackey." 
All of Davis' appointees must be confirmed by the state Senate. 
------------------------------------ 
Power appointments 
Chairman: S. David Freeman 
-- Current job: Senior energy adviser to Gov. Gray Davis. 
-- Experience: Former general manager Los Angeles Department of Water and Power; management positions with New York Power Authority, Tennessee Valley Authority; Sacramento Municipal Utility District.. 
Board member Sunne Wright McPeak 
-- Current job: President of Bay Area Council 
-- Experience: Advisory Drought Planning Panel; Contra Costa County Supervisor, 1978 to 1994; CalFed Bay-Delta Advisory Council vice chairwoman; Bay Area School Reform Collaborative.. 
Board member John R. Stevens 
-- Current job: None 
-- Experience: Adviser to Gov. Gray Davis on energy; staff director to Davis; chief of staff to former Assembly Speaker Antonio Villaraigosa. 
Board member Donald Vial 
-- Current job: Chairman of the California Foundation on the Environment and the Economy. 
-- Experience: Research director, California Labor Federation; director, California Department of Industrial Relations; California Public Utilities Commission, 1983 to 1989.. 
Board member Phil Angelides 
-- Experience: California state treasurer(x) 
(x) By law, the state treasurer serves as the fifth board member. 
Chronicle Graphic

PHOTO (3) 
Copyright ? 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 	

INDIA PRESS:Dabhol Pwr, Govt Conciliation Talks Begin Sat

08/14/2001
Dow Jones Asian Equities Report
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- Dabhol Power Co., a unit of U.S. energy major Enron Corp. (ENE), and the government of India will begin their first round of conciliation talks Saturday in a bid to resolve a long-standing payment dispute, reports The Financial Express. 
DPC had invoked the government of India's counter-guarantee earlier this year on account of nonpayment of electricity bills worth $48 million by its sole buyer, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board. Under the counter-guarantee, the government of India is liable to pay the foreign equity holders in DPC in the event of the failure of the Dabhol power project.
The DPC's counsels will argue their case before a panel of three conciliators, of whom one is appointed by DPC and one by the government, while the third has been jointly chosen by both parties. 
"We are quite hopeful and will try to solve things through the conciliation route. However, if this process fails, we will settle the dispute by the arbitration route," the newspaper quoted Dabhol Power Company's managing director, K. Wade Cline, as saying. 
Enron holds a controlling 65% stake in DPC. The Dabhol power plant, which has an installed capacity of 740 megawatts, is located in the western Indian state of Maharashtra. The plant has not been operating since May 29, after MSEB stopped drawing power, saying DPC's tariffs were exorbitant and unaffordable. MSEB also refused to pay several of its bills. The DPC-MSEB dispute is in court. 
Web site: http//www.financialexpress.com 
-By Himendra Kumar; Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-461-9426; himendra.kumar@dowjones.com -0- 14/08/01 04-59G

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

BHP Billiton Examining Merits Of Energy Trading Desk

08/13/2001
Dow Jones International News
(Copyright (c) 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)

MELBOURNE -(Dow Jones)- Australia-based mining heavyweight BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) said Tuesday the creation of an energy trading desk is one of several options being considered by the newly merged group. 
"BHP Billiton's new marketing function is examining a range of value creation opportunities to deliver enhanced customer solutions based on the group's exposure to energy-based commodities, including the concept of an energy trading desk," a company spokeswoman told Dow Jones Newswires.
"BHP Billiton is both a major producer of energy and major consumer of energy," she said. 
"Our desire is to maximize the value of our energy position. Given the early stage of the merger integration, it isn't possible to provide further details of the activities in this area at this time," the spokeswoman said. 
A report Monday in U.K. daily The Times said BHP Billiton is establishing an energy trading business in Singapore, signaling the group's commitment to its oil and gas assets. 
The newspaper also reported that the trading unit will seek to balance the company's exposure to energy markets across its oil, gas and mining businesses. 
BHP Billiton's strategy is to emulate U.S. power giant Enron (ENE), which used its long position in electricity to sell hedging and derivative products to energy users, the report said. 
At 0157 GMT, shares in BHP Billiton were up 14 cents or 1.5% at A$9.44. The broader market was marginally weaker. 

-By Veronica Brooks, Dow Jones Newswires; 
61-3-9614-2663; veronica.brooks@dowjones.com

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

USA: EOTT Energy projects higher 2001 profits.

08/13/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

HOUSTON, Aug. 13 (Reuters) - Crude oil marketer and transporter EOTT Energy Partners L.P. announced on Monday higher second-quarter profits and said its full year earnings will exceed estimates due to its acquistion in June of certain energy assets. 
Houston-based EOTT reported second-quarter net income of $4.1 million, or 15 cents per share, compared with $3.3 million of recurring net income, or 12 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.
Wall Street analysts on average expected the company to earn 14 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. 
EOTT noted that at the end of June it purchased energy processing, storage and transportation assets from affiliates of energy marketer and trader Enron Corp. for $117 million. 
"As a result of this acquisition and the consistent performance of our businesses, we are raising our full year 2001 earnings target from 60 cents to 95 cents per unit," the company said. The current First Call estimate for the company's profits this year is 61 cents a share.

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


GERMANY: Enron publishes German gas price indicators.

08/13/2001
Reuters English News Service
(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

FRANKFURT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - U.S. energy trader Enron on Monday published its price quotes for annual gas supply contracts that cover 14 network regions throughout Germany. 
The firm said in a statement it started sending out the quotes in its EnronGasmarktFax to all municipal utilities (Stadtwerke) in mid-July. The fax lists Enron's gas supply price quotes across networks in 14 regions throughout Germany.
The pre-tax prices are for typical municipal annual purchasing contracts per kilowatt hour and take into account the oil-gas link, the company said. 
The list of quotes includes grid operators BEB in Nienburg at 2.99 pfennigs/kilowatt hour, RWE Gas in Herten at 3.27 pf/kWh, Bayerngas in Kempten at 3.59 pf/kWh and VNG in Magdeburg at 3.24 pf/kWh. 
Enron said it aims to encourage transparency and liquidity in Germany's liberalising gas market and attract local utilities that are looking to change gas supplier. 
"We hope that this instrument - as well as our price indicators for cross-border gas transport on our website www.enrononline.com - will lead to a more transparent and with it more liquid and market-calculated prices in the German gas market," the company said.

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