Chief

Another chief executive of a major merchant energy company has called it quits. Following its successful exchange offer for all the remaining shares of NRG Energy, parent company Xcel Energy announced that David H. Peterson, chairman, president and CEO of NRG, will retire. Leonard A. Bluhm, executive vice president and CFO, also resigned.

Dynegy Inc. has closed its acquisition of Northern Natural Gas Pipeline Co. (NNG) and named a former Enron Corp. executive — and the pipeline’s former chief — as president. Dynegy acquired NNG under the terms of its failed merger agreement with Enron after settling a lawsuit with its former rival earlier this month (see Daily GPI, Jan. 7). Enron maintains the option to repurchase the pipe from Dynegy until June 30, 2002 and will provide transition services through the end of the repurchase period.

The Enron flu continues to spread, this time, taking down a former executive with the company. Texas Public Utilities Commission (PUC) Chairman Max Yzaguirre, once CEO of Enron de Mexico, resigned Thursday following months of controversy surrounding his appointment. Yzaguirre was appointed to the top state regulator post last June, but has been under scrutiny since his appointment; he has been criticized by several groups because of perceived conflict-of-interest charges (see Daily GPI, June 15, 2001).

Supporting the current CEO of the state’s electric transmission grid operator, Cal-ISO, and the ultimate need to make it a regional, multi-state entity, the state operator’s former stakeholder board chair, Jan Smutny-Jones, was among the energy industry representatives subjected to public depositions by a California senate investigative committee last week in a process that will continue later this month with further hearings. Subsequent hearings are suppose to look at some of the grid operator’s market practices, particularly allegations that it is giving “preferential treatment” to the state power-buying agency, the Department of Water Resources (DWR).

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. has extended by two weeks the deadline for an initial decision in the case in which Transwestern Pipeline is alleged to have arranged more lucrative negotiated-rate deals last winter prior to posting available firm transportation capacity to its web site — a move that extracted higher rates and limited the capacity availability for recourse-rate shippers for service to California.

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. has extended by two weeks the deadline for an initial decision in the case in which Transwestern Pipeline is alleged to have arranged more lucrative negotiated-rate deals last winter prior to posting available firm transportation capacity to its web site — a move that extracted higher rates and limited the capacity availability for recourse-rate shippers for service to California.

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis L. Wagner stunned his courtroom last week when he abruptly ended the affiliate-abuse phase of the hearing exploring charges against El Paso Natural Gas and affiliate El Paso Merchant Energy after attorneys refused to put El Paso Corp. Chairman William Wise and other top corporate executives on the stand to be questioned by California regulators.

FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis L. Wagner stunned his courtroom yesterday when he abruptly adjourned the affiliate-abuse phase of the hearing exploring charges against El Paso Natural Gas and affiliate El Paso Merchant Energy after the company refused to put El Paso Corp. Chairman William Wise and other top corporate executives on the stand to respond to questions from Wagner.

FERC is scheduled this week to rule on recommendations recently forwarded to the Commission by Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis L. Wagner after two weeks of settlement talks related to California’s bid to collect $8.9 billion in refunds failed to produce a final deal between the state and generators.