In a press conference originally set up to update the public about international affairs, President Bush said Friday that he had not had any contact with Enron Corp. officials since the bankruptcy filing, but said he was concerned about the city of Houston and the ex-Enron employees who had lost their “life savings” when the company declared bankruptcy.

Bush noted that there were going to be a “lot of investigations” into what happened both in terms of what happened to the company as well as what can be done to prevent anything like it happening again.

“I’m very concerned about Houston and what happened to the employees who saw their life savings dissipate,” said Bush in answering a few questions about the debacle. However, he did not have any opinion on what he expected would be the outcome of the investigations.

Bush and Enron Chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay are long-time friends, and Lay had once been touted as a possible Energy Secretary candidate. Lay also was one of Bush’s largest personal campaign contributors, and Enron was one of the Republican Party’s leading contributors as well.

In other news, Enron was given permission by Judge Arthur J. Gonzalez of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan to complete two previously planned asset sales that will raise a total of about $309 million. In sales that were expected to close Friday (Dec. 28), Enron planned to sell two wind-power facilities in Texas for about $175 million to American Electric Power Co. (AEP). Affiliate Enron Wind Development Corp., which isn’t part of the bankruptcy case, owns the power generating facilities.

The AEP deal includes 107 wind turbines in West Texas in two newly developed projects, Indian Mesa and Clear Sky. Even though Enron Wind has not filed for bankruptcy, an AEP spokesman said both Enron and AEP “felt that the court should bless” the deal.

In a separate sale, a partnership run by AltaGas Services Inc. and TransCanada Pipelines Ltd.’s TransCanada Energy unit will pay about $134 million for Enron Canada Power Corp.’s right to electricity from a plant in Alberta. Neither of the planned assets are included in Enron’s bankruptcy proceedings.

Gonzalez approved Enron’s request to proceed with the transactions, noting that closing costs and fees will slightly reduce the overall proceeds from the sales. Said Gonzalez in a seven-page order, “Enron has demonstrated good, sufficient, and sound business purpose and justification for the sale of the assets.”

The asset sales were begun by Enron more than a year ago to return the affiliates involved to their “core operations,” the company said. The affiliates involved have not so far filed for bankruptcy, and Enron said its own reorganization may depend on whether the sales will be completed before the end of 2001.

If Enron Wind was able to complete its sale by the end of this year, AEP would be able to take a $6 million depreciation deduction, said the court papers. If the sale is not completed this year, AEP will be able to reduce the purchase price by $6 million, court papers say. If Enron Canada is not able to complete its sale of the Sundance interest, the affiliate — already in danger of filing for bankruptcy — it could default on the sale, thereby making the Sundance assets “worthless,” Enron said in court papers.

According to Enron, “The urgency on the sides of all parties to complete the sales transaction” by Monday “has escalated.”

Enron’s papers, filed Dec. 21, noted that 23 of its 3,500 units are now part of the bankruptcy filing, and that offers are continuing to come in for the units that have not filed for bankruptcy. Enron said offers have been made for its turbines, power plant projects, emission credits issued by California air districts, and oil and gas exploration and development interests. Even though the sale of the non-debtor assets is not subject to court approval, Enron indicated that potential buyers have conditioned the transactions’ closing on having either a court order or the approval of the bankruptcy creditors committee.

Enron also indicated in court papers that other asset sales continue to be negotiated, including the sale of Enron LNG Power Atlantic Ltd. to an undisclosed buyer for $266 million, and Enron Oil & Gas India Ltd. to BG plc of the United Kingdom for $388 million.

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