Alleged

Once hailed as a national model for helping industry voluntarily lower air emissions, the Southern California-based RECLAIM emission credits program crashed last Wednesday with the arrest on criminal fraud charges of one of its founders. A number of major western energy companies are listed as victims of what authorities call a basic $80 million Ponzi scheme. One of the victims, San Jose, CA-based Calpine Corp., told NGI on Thursday that it has settled with the emissions credit exchange for an undisclosed amount.

California Attorney General Bill Lockyer said he plans to file a lawsuit against bankrupt Houston-based Enron Corp. for alleged wholesale energy market gaming strategies in 2000-2001. This would be the state’s first specific lawsuit targeted only at Enron coming out of the wholesale energy market meltdown of three years ago.

Williams has agreed to refund $140 million to California’s utilities for alleged overcharges for power sales made during the state’s energy crisis in 2000 and 2001. Southern California Edison and bankrupt Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the refund will boost their ongoing financial recovery.

Williams has agreed to refund $140 million to California’s utilities for alleged overcharges for power sales made during the state’s energy crisis in 2000 and 2001. Southern California Edison and bankrupt Pacific Gas & Electric Co. said the refund will boost their ongoing financial recovery.

A federal warrant was issued Thursday for the arrest of a single suspect identified as being involved in at least one of two incidents of tampering with Western Grid transmission tower footings about 150 miles apart in southeast Oregon and northern California last Monday.

Oklahoma City-based independent producer Aspen Group Resources Corp. is suing its former chairman and CEO for alledgedly misappropriating funds and engaging in a “patter of conduct to conceal his activities” from the company board.

Oklahoma City-based Aspen Group Resources Corp., a small independent producer focused on the Midcontinent region of the United States and western Canada, revealed last Friday that it has filed a lawsuit in the District Court of Canadian County, OK, against Jack Wheeler, the company’s former chairman and CEO. Aspen alleges that Wheeler misappropriated funds and assets and “engaged in a pattern of conduct to conceal his actions from the board of directors.”

FERC plans to rule on the “Big Four” cases dealing with the alleged manipulation of the California natural gas and electricity markets at its next regular meeting on March 26, Chairman Pat Wood said last Wednesday.

As part of its continuing investigation into the alleged manipulation of western energy markets, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has sent out data requests to the top natural gas marketers seeking information related to gas prices submitted to energy trade newsletters (such as NGI) that publish gas price indexes.