Charged

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) last week charged Enron Corp. and Hunter S. Shively, manager of Enron’s central futures trading desk, with using EnronOnline (EOL) to manipulate the natural gas market, causing a spike in prices at the Henry Hub and affecting the futures price on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). The CFTC also said Enron operated EnronOnline as an illegal futures exchange.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Wednesday charged Enron Corp. and Hunter S. Shively, manager of Enron’s central futures trading desk, with using EnronOnline (EOL) to manipulate the natural gas market, causing a spike in prices at the Henry Hub and affecting the futures price on the New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex). The CFTC also said Enron operated EnronOnline as an illegal futures exchange.

Former Enron Corp. CFO Andrew Fastow was charged with fraud, money laundering and conspiracy Wednesday in Houston in connection with the company’s collapse last year, and the U.S. government plans to freeze and require the forfeiture of about $37 million of his assets, according to the Department of Justice’s Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson.

Eastern Canadians are not only being denied access to most natural gas produced offshore of Nova Scotia, they also are being made to pay a premium for the limited supplies they can divert from exports to New England, the National Energy Board (NEB) has been told. The complaint was made by New Brunswick’s assistant deputy energy minister, Donald Barnett. It forms part of the provincial government’s case for an exception to be made from free trade in gas with the U.S. in order to hold back supplies traveling on Maritimes & Northeast through eastern Canada. Hearings have been called for July 15 in Fredericton, NB.

Eastern Canadians are not only being denied access to most natural gas produced offshore of Nova Scotia, they also are being made to pay a premium for the limited supplies they can divert from exports to New England, the National Energy Board (NEB) has been told. The complaint was made by New Brunswick’s assistant deputy energy minister, Donald Barnett. It forms part of the provincial government’s case for an exception to be made from free trade in gas with the U.S. in order to hold back supplies traveling on Maritimes & Northeast through eastern Canada. Hearings have been called for July 15 in Fredericton, NB.

Two more former employees of Coastal Corp. (now part of El Paso Corp.) have been charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the company through a futures profits allocation scheme. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an administrative action against Clay Krhovjak of Bellville, TX, and Paul Cochran of Houston, charging that the two engaged in a trading scheme over a five-month period in 1996 to allocate profitable trades belonging to Coastal to accounts controlled by other unnamed scheme participants. The CFTC believes the two made off with about $89,228 in stolen profits.

Two more former employees of Coastal Corp. (now part of El Paso Corp.) have been charged with stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the company through a futures profits allocation scheme. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) has filed an administrative action against Clay Krhovjak of Bellville, TX, and Paul Cochran of Houston, charging that the two engaged in a trading scheme over a five-month period in 1996 to allocate profitable trades belonging to Coastal to accounts controlled by other unnamed scheme participants. The CFTC believes the two made off with about $89,228 in stolen profits.

California-based independent merchant generators charged less than the average of purchases by California’s Department of Water Resources (DWR), according to a consultant’s analysis of state power purchases in the first quarter.

Utilities are playing “switching games” with consumers whoattempt to use lower-cost competitors or who attempt to use onlineenergy companies, charged the nonprofit United HomeownersAssociation yesterday. The watchdog group, which based its analysisof natural gas deregulation on two major U.S. markets —Washington, D.C. and Atlanta, GA — said the cost savingsavailable under energy deregulation actually may be denied toconsumers, or take so long that the consumers finally give up.