FERC Commissioner Nora M. Brownell pledged her support Wednesday for a Commission investigation into charges that Enron Corp. may have manipulated energy prices in California’s forward markets, saying the agency needs to “clear up [any] lingering doubt” about this before it can begin to build a “stable, predictable market” in the western state.

“If there’s market manipulation, we need to find it, and we need to deal with it,” she told a group of reporters following FERC’s regular meeting. “They [the public] need an honest assessment of what went on here.”

Her remarks came one day after Chairman Patrick Wood told a Senate committee he would open a FERC probe into the manipulation allegations, and would act on any complaints that the agency received.

Brownell said she doubts Enron alone can be blamed for all the problems in the California energy market. “The expectation…that we’re going to find something that explains the entire dysfunctionality of the California market isn’t there, because you still have this fundamental supply-demand imbalance,” she noted.”This [manipulation by Enron] may have been a factor, but I don’t think it will be the magic answer to what happened in California.”

Brownell said she planned to withhold judgment on Enron until she knew all of the facts. “It is not sufficient to say they [Enron] had a big position” in California energy, so “they manipulated the market.”

Moreover, she refused to speculate about whether Enron energy contracts in California could be voided in the event the Commission finds evidence of market manipulation. Traditionally, she said the courts have had jurisdiction over contract disputes and issues.

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