Concluded

A Senate committee investigation has concluded a “systemic and catastrophic failure” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other industry watchdogs allowed Enron Corp. to get away with its fraudulent activities for as long as it did.

A Senate committee investigation has concluded a “systemic and catastrophic failure” by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and other industry watchdogs allowed Enron Corp. to get away with its fraudulent activities for as long as it did.

Following two days of meetings that concluded late Thursday, the board of directors of Reliant Energy Inc. voted to remove Steve Letbetter as chairman and CEO of the regulated business, which is undergoing a name change to CenterPoint Energy. Once set to become the non-executive chairman of CenterPoint, he also stepped down from the board of directors.

Following two days of meetings that concluded late Thursday, the board of directors of Reliant Energy Inc. voted to remove Steve Letbetter as chairman and CEO of the regulated business, which is undergoing a name change to CenterPoint Energy. Once set to become the non-executive chairman of CenterPoint, he also stepped down from the board of directors.

Zeus Development Corp. said Tuesday that after extensive research it has concluded that compressed natural gas (CNG) ocean transport is competitive with liquefied natural gas (LNG) and subsea pipelines for gas reserves containing 0.3 to 3 Tcf and located 300 to 1,500 nautical miles from market. The Houston-based independent energy research firm said conclusions were drawn from analysis conducted during a joint industry project by18 companies completed earlier this month.

FERC staff concluded in a report to Congress last week that the Commission’s wholesale price caps during the last half of 2001 in the western power market had little or no economic impact because prices of surplus power resold by utilities in the spot market on average were only $35/MWh compared to the cap at $92/MWh.

The natural gas futures market kicked off 2002 on Wednesday in much of the same way it concluded 2001 — by funneling to new lows amid undeniably bearish fundamentals. Traders didn’t need the release of fresh storage data (pushed back until today at 2 p.m. EST) to tell them that supplies are plentiful. Meanwhile, the downtrend remains intact and the current spate of cold weather is showing signs of moderating. The February contract took the news squarely on the chin, tumbling 10.5 cents to close at $2.465.

A two-month-long investigation into Illinois’ high gas prices has concluded that there was no market manipulation, with most of the increases “due largely to factors that affected supply and demand.” The Illinois Commerce Commission released its findings last week, and found that utilities had provided price hike warnings, but consumers did not comprehend their magnitude until winter heating bills arrived.

A two-month-long investigation into Illinois’ high gas prices has concluded that there was no market manipulation, with most of the increases “due largely to factors that affected supply and demand.” The Illinois Commerce Commission released its findings this week, and found that utilities had provided price hike warnings, but consumers did not comprehend their magnitude until winter heating bills arrived.