Sorry, I did not include these with this morning's distribution.



Individual.com, Mon, 3/26:  "Assembly Investigates Gas Prices"

Individual.com, Mon, 3/26:  "Calif. May See Rise in Power Bills"

Individual.com, Mon, 3/26:  "BPA to Link New Generation to Northwest Energy 
Grid"

Individual.com, Mon, 3/26:  "[B] Enron says sale of utility Portland General 
is unlikely (Wrap)"
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Assembly Investigates Gas Prices



By DON THOMPSON
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation  -
State lawmakers began investigating
Friday whether market manipulation helped drive up California's
natural gas prices, hearing from a consumer who spoke of the
``terrific shock'' she got from a recent bill.


Natural gas costs six times more in California than in other
states, said Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg, chairman of the
Assembly Energy Oversight Subcommittee.


Natural gas that sells for $5.25 elsewhere sells for nearly $30
at the California border, said Steinberg, D-Sacramento.


``We're going to examine every possible reason for the price
spike,'' he said.


The hearing by Steinberg's subcommittee and the Natural Gas
Costs and Availability Subcommittee opened with testimony from
utility customers.


Gladys Cook of Sacramento told the committee her Pacific Gas and
Electric Co. natural gas bill rose from about $47 or $57 a month
last year at this time to $344.63 in February and $112 this month.


``It was just a terrific shock, especially after the Christmas
holiday and everything,'' said Cook, who lives with her 87-year-old
mother, a retired teacher. Cook said they turned down the heat and
water heater to try to reduce their bills.


Officials from PG&amp;E, Long Beach Energy, San Diego Gas &amp; Electric
and Southern California Gas were also expected to testify.


Lawsuits filed this week by Long Beach and Los Angeles accuse
several utility companies of meeting at a Phoenix hotel in 1996 and
deciding to block construction of gas pipelines that could have
helped the state avoid its power crisis. The companies deny any
collusion.


High natural gas prices are just one factor in the state's
energy crisis.


A tight electricity supply, caused in part by maintenance at
California power plants and scarce hydroelectricity in the Pacific
Northwest, has contributed to rolling blackouts four times this
year, including twice statewide this week.


The hearing comes on the heels of a state audit released
Thursday that says California's 1996 deregulation law encourages
market manipulation by electricity buyers and sellers.


And the California Independent System Operator, which oversees
most of the state's power grid, told the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission that electricity suppliers have overcharged it and the
state Power Exchange at least $6.2 billion since May for power the
two bought on behalf of utilities.


The excessive charges will continue during high demand this
summer unless the commission steps in, the ISO said. The ISO buys
emergency electricity to avoid blackouts.


The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which Gov. Gray Davis
and many lawmakers contend isn't doing enough to control
California's energy prices, declined to send a representative to
the Assembly hearings. However, other regulators were slated to
testify.


The state Senate plans hearings next month to investigate
whether electricity suppliers withheld power to raise prices.
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Calif. May See Rise in Power Bills



By JENNIFER COLEMAN
Associated Press Writer
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) via NewsEdge Corporation  -
The state's power purchases for two
struggling utilities could cost $23 billion by the end of next
year, leaving customers paying at least 50 percent more for
electricity, The Associated Press has learned.


State officials told several key legislators Friday that the
state's efforts to help credit-poor Southern California Edison and
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. could hit $23 billion by 2003, a
legislative source told the AP on condition of anonymity.


That's far more than lawmakers and Gov. Gray Davis estimated
when they approved legislation authorizing the state's power
purchases.


At the time, they projected they would need $10 billion in
revenue bonds to buy power for the two utilities over a decade. The
bonds would be repaid by the utilities' customers over several
years.


Davis has said repeatedly he is confident the state's power
crisis can be resolved without further rate hikes, but the source
said cabinet secretary Susan Kennedy, Finance Director Tim Gage and
Deputy Chief of Staff John Stevens all warned lawmakers that
customers' rates would have to be raised at least 50 percent to
cover the new projections.


That increase would come on top of a 9 percent to 15 percent
increase the Public Utilities Commission approved in January, as
well as an additional 10 percent increase already scheduled for
next year.


Davis spokesman Steve Maviglio confirmed that Kennedy spoke with
top Democrats on Friday but declined to elaborate.


The source said the calculations were by the administration, not
the PUC, which would have to implement any rate increases.
Lawmakers weren't told over what time frame such an increase would
need to be implemented, the source said.


Consumer advocate Harvey Rosenfield of the Foundation for
Taxpayer and Consumer Rights promised a rebellion at the ballot box
in 2002 if rates continued to rise.


``If this goes through, this is the beginning of the ratepayers'
revolt,'' he said.


The PUC is expected on Tuesday to address how customer rates
will be divided between the state and the utilities.


SoCal Edison and PG&amp;E both have pushed for rate increases, and
PG&amp;E has said its current rates would be insufficient to cover its
bills and the state's. Both say they've lost more than $13 billion
since summer due to high wholesale electricity costs that
California's 1996 deregulation law prevents them from collecting
from their customers.


PG&amp;E's and Edison's credit was cut off by electricity
wholesalers in January, and the state has been spending $40 million
to $50 million a day since then to keep the lights on for their
customers _ about $4.2 billion in taxpayer money so far.


State Controller Kathleen Connell warned this week that the
state's power-buying is gutting California's budget surplus and
putting the state at financial risk. Wall Street has also been
wary. The Standard &amp; Poor's credit-rating agency put the state on a
credit watch ``with negative implications'' when the power
purchases began.


California has faced an energy crunch for months, fueled by high
natural gas prices, soaring wholesale electricity costs and a tight
power supply due in part to California plant maintenance and scarce
hydroelectric power in the Pacific Northwest.


The Assembly on Friday opened hearings into the skyrocketing
natural gas costs that will include an investigation into whether
market manipulation helped drive up prices.


Pacific Gas and Electric Co. customer Gladys Cook of Sacramento
told the committee her natural gas bill rose from about $50 a month
last year at this time to $344 in February and $112 this month.


``It was just a terrific shock, especially after the Christmas
holiday and everything,'' she said.


Natural gas that sells for $5.25 elsewhere sells for nearly $30
at the California border, said Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg,
chairman of the Assembly Energy Oversight Subcommittee.


The cities of Los Angeles and Long Beach filed lawsuits this
week accusing several gas companies of conspiring to drive up
prices by limiting supply. The lawsuits say the companies decided
in a Phoenix hotel room in 1996 to block construction of gas
pipelines that could have helped the state avoid its power crisis.


Rick Morrow, vice president of customer service for Southern
California Gas Co., denied executives at the meeting were
conspiring to drive up gas prices.


``There was no mystery to the meeting,'' he said. ``What is
being alleged is absolutely false.''
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BPA to Link New Generation to Northwest Energy Grid



PORTLAND, Ore., March 23 /PRNewswire/  via NewsEdge Corporation  -
The Bonneville Power
Administration signed agreements with Goldendale Energy Inc. this week to
connect the power from a proposed 248-megawatt gas-fired combustion turbine to
the Northwest energy grid.


"BPA is eager to act quickly to bring a new power resource online at a
time when the Northwest and the entire West Coast are suffering from an
extreme shortage of energy," said BPA's Acting Administrator Steve Wright.
"This project can help meet the Northwest's energy needs as well as help
contribute to bringing down high energy costs."


The Goldendale Energy Project is to be built in Goldendale, Wash. The
developers expect to have the new combustion turbine plant running by
July 2002. The merchant plant will sell its output into the wholesale market.
Some power may serve the nearby Goldendale Aluminum Smelter.


In the agreement signed between BPA and Goldendale Energy Inc., the energy
company will pay BPA $1.6 million to construct, operate and maintain a
230-kilovolt terminal at BPA's Harvalum Substation. Klickitat County Public
Utility District will build a new 9.2 mile transmission line from the
generation project to the substation. The terminal will make it possible for
the new power to be integrated into the Federal Columbia River Transmission
System. BPA has agreed to have the terminal operational by Jan. 15, 2002.


SOURCE  Bonneville Power Administration



CONTACT:  Mike Hansen of Bonneville Power Administration, 503-230-4328
Web site:  http://www.bpa.gov
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[B] Enron says sale of utility Portland General is unlikely (Wrap)





New York, March 23 (BridgeNews) - Enron Corp. said its proposed sale of

Oregon utility Portland General Electric Co. will probably be dropped because 
a
California law prevents buyer Sierra Pacific Resources from selling power
plants to fund the purchase.


The company's President and Chief Executive Officer Jeff Skilling said
during a phone conference Friday that there is only a 5% chance that it will 
be
able to sell PGE. He added that Enron is not in a rush to sell the Oregon
utility since it is a profitable business.


Nevada electric utility Sierra Pacific agreed to buy PGE for $3.1 billion
in cash and assumed debt in November 1999, and the transaction was expected to
close in the second half of 2000. Enron decided to sell PGE since a regulated
utility no longer fit with its strategy to buy and sell energy on wholesale
markets.


But a new California law that prevents power generators from selling power
plants has stalled the deal. Sierra Pacific, which has some operations in
California, intended to sell some of its plants to AES Corp. finance the
acquisition.


The Nevada Legislature also is considering a moratorium on power plant
sales, according to Sierra Pacific spokeswoman Faye Anderson. She said Sierra
Pacific is still confident the deal will close by the end of the second
quarter.


Enron also said it will begin trading a liquefied natural gas contract on
its Enron Energy Services Web site this summer. The LNG business in North
America has been booming in the last year, and Skilling said he expects it 
will
continue to improve as U.S. natural gas supplies are squeezed.


Skilling said Enron still expects to earn between $1.75 and $1.78 per share
this year. He also said the company's fundamentals are sound, and he doesn't
understand why the stock has fallen to the $50s from a high of $90.75 in
August.


"It's a bad market, but Enron is in good shape,"  Skilling said.


On Friday, shares of Enron rose nearly 8% to close at $59.40.  End


[slug: ENRON-PORTLAND-GENL]