Denials

Several energy sellers recently offered firm denials to Texas regulators that they attempted to manipulate energy markets in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) by utilizing tactics adopted by former energy trading giant Enron Corp. in California or by executing trades designed to artificially boost trading volumes and revenues. In a few cases, generators acknowledged to the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) that they completed a few isolated contemporaneous or prearranged trades, but that such activity was on the up-and-up and for valid business reasons only.