As additional firms emerged Monday on the growing list of companies receiving grand jury subpoenas last week from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco for a widening federal probe, staff members of the state senate’s investigative committee looking at alleged manipulation of California energy markets said it will hold a hearing Nov. 18 to examine the role natural gas played in the state’s 2000-2001 power crisis.

An investigative report in Sunday’s San Francisco Chronicle said the probe by the state senate Select Committee to Investigate Manipulation of Wholesale Energy Markets goes beyond the long-standing allegations aimed at El Paso Corp and its merchant energy subsidiary. The hearing will look at efforts by marketers and traders, such as Enron Corp., to drive up wholesale natural gas costs during the crisis period.

Citing the Nevada state attorney general’s lawsuit last week, making allegations that Enron, El Paso and others may have conspired in alleged interstate pipeline schemes to boost wholesale gas prices in California, the state legislative investigators are honing in on the gas side of the issue.

“Do we believe Enron had a role in El Paso’s control of the natural gas pipeline?” Yes we do,” said state Sen. Joe Dunn, chairman of the select committee, as quoted by the Chronicle. Dunn noted that “getting it all laid out” (the schemes) is what he intends to do in the upcoming legislative hearing.

A suspected “link” between El Paso and Enron is speculated in the San Francisco news report to be in the form of hedges Enron set up with El Paso Merchant Energy when the affiliate had a large chunk of the interstate capacity locked up on El Paso’s system to the California-Arizona border. Enron and the others with the hedges stood to gain if the border wholesale price soared, which it did in the winter of 2000-2001.

Meanwhile, AES showed up in a Los Angeles Times report over the weekend as a third firm, along with Duke Energy and Williams, receiving the subpoena as part of an expanding federal grand jury investigation in San Francisco of alleged manipulation of California energy markets.

Williams officials, meanwhile, in a teleconference on its settlement with California, responded to questions on the subpoena they received, saying it asked the type of questions usually asked in an antitrust investigation. They also said the data requested was similar to requests it has received in other investigations into California energy prices.

Reliant Resources on Monday morning issued a short press release confirming that it had received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California. “The subpoena requests information concerning the California energy markets,” Reliant said, adding that it will cooperate with the U.S. attorney.

A spokesperson for Mirant on Monday confirmed to Reuters that the Atlanta-based power company also received a subpoena from the U.S. attorney in the Northern District of California related to its role in the California energy market.

Spokespeople from Dynegy and San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp. indicated they were unaware of the subpoena and/or they couldn’t comment on whether their respective company had received one.

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