Claims

In a regulatory U-4 filing last August to the National Association of Securities Dealers (NASD), a former UBS PaineWebber adviser based in Houston said he believes he was fired after he told some of his clients to sell their Enron Corp. stock. Chung Wu said in an Aug. 31, 2001 filing that he had sent an e-mail to more than 10 of his clients Aug. 21, 2001 voicing concerns about Enron’s future and advising them to sell. He was fired the same day.

Claiming it has a more cost-effective, quicker solution, California’s regulatory commission last week filed the outline of its plan for reorganizing bankrupt Pacific Gas and Electric Co. with a federal bankruptcy court in San Francisco. Creditors would be paid off by the end of January next year, at which time utility electricity rates would be lowered, ultimately saving consumers billions of dollars.

Despite the economic downturn and considerably milder weather, NiSource Inc. posted net income of $66.9 million ($0.32 per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of 2001, compared to a net income loss of $4.2 million ($0.02 loss per diluted share) for the equivalent quarter in 2000. The company also had a strong full year, turning a loss in 2000 into a sizeable gain in 2001. The company reported $216.2 million ($1.03 per diluted share) in 2001 net income, compared to $150.9 million ($1.12 per diluted share) in 2000.

Despite the economic downturn and considerably milder weather, NiSource Inc. posted net income of $66.9 million ($0.32 per diluted share) for the fourth quarter of 2001, compared to a net income loss of $4.2 million ($0.02 loss per diluted share) for the equivalent quarter in 2000. The company also had a strong full year, turning a loss in 2000 into a sizeable gain in 2001. The company reported $216.2 million ($1.03 per diluted share) in 2001 net income, compared to $150.9 million ($1.12 per diluted share) in 2000.

Claims against the bankrupt Enron Corp. from its trading partners continued to mount last week, as new companies went public with their estimated exposure levels. So far energy companies have admitted to net exposure of up to $983 million.

Based on current operating conditions and future prices for coal and natural gas, CONSOL Energy CEO J. Brett Harvey told investors Thursday at the Friedman Billings Ramsey 8th Annual Investor Conference in Washington, DC, that he expects the company to earn about 2 cents/share below Wall Street estimates of $0.52/share for the six-month transition period ending Dec. 31.

Unlike their neighbors in regulated states, consumers are paying higher prices and receiving less service in electricity-restructured states, according to a report released Thursday by the Consumer Federation of America (CFA). The non-profit CFA, composed of 285 pro-consumer groups, reported that “policymakers now face the prospect that the costs of ensuring retail competition in electricity markets will greatly exceed any efficiency gains, so electricity prices will rise, not decline.”

On-again, off-again wrangling with natives over land claims and resource development has erupted yet again in an area undergoing a boom in gas exploration in northeastern British Columbia, setting back one gas project but not noticeably slowing down the overall pace of producer expansion.

On-again, off-again wrangling with natives over land claims and resource development has erupted yet again in northeastern British Columbia, setting back one natural gas project but not noticeably slowing down the overall pace of producer expansion.