Dismisses

A federal court in Ohio on Friday tossed out claims that American Electric Power (AEP) failed to disclose that traders had reported false information on natural gas trades to index publishers.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) claimed a legal victory last week after a court dismissed antitrust charges by the Intercontinental Exchange regarding the use of Nymex settlement prices in ICE clearing procedures. But ICE also found something to like in the court decision, which left the key issues for the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to decide.

The New York Mercantile Exchange (Nymex) and the IntercontinentalExchange (ICE), Nymex’s chief rival in the energy markets, released contradictory statements Thursday regarding a court decision in their legal battle over the use of Nymex futures settlement prices. Nymex claimed victory, but ICE said the key issue in the dispute was left undecided.

A federal court has dismissed a $600 million complaint against several natural gas suppliers brought by Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources, the holding company for Nevada’s two major private-sector electric utilities, according to an announcement by Sierra Pacific Wednesday. The company said in a subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is reviewing the court decision and its options for further action, if any.

A federal court has dismissed a $600 million complaint against several natural gas suppliers brought by Reno-based Sierra Pacific Resources, the holding company for Nevada’s two major private-sector electric utilities, according to an announcement by Sierra Pacific Wednesday. The company said in a subsequent Securities and Exchange Commission filing that it is reviewing the court decision and its options for further action, if any.

Three criminal charges against an ex-Dynegy Corp. natural gas trader and one criminal charge against a former El Paso Merchant Energy executive were thrown out last week by a district judge in Houston who ruled that the charges, which all related to reporting false natural gas price information to an industry publication, were too broad.

For the second time this week, a Houston district court judge has dismissed a criminal charge against a former energy trader accused of reporting false natural gas pricing information to an industry publication. Judge Nancy Atlas late Wednesday dismissed one count of false reporting against former El Paso Merchant Energy executive Todd Geiger, which mirrors the court’s dismissal of three false reporting counts against former Dynegy trader Michelle Valencia a day earlier (see Daily GPI, Aug. 28).

Three of the seven criminal charges against ex-Dynegy Corp. natural gas trader Michelle Valencia were dismissed Wednesday by a district judge in Houston who ruled that the charges were too broad. U.S. District Judge Nancy Atlas granted a motion to drop the charges of false-price reporting because she said they were “unconstitutionally over broad.”

Aquila officials have dismissed allegations in an anonymous letter from a group of the company’s own employees that charges that company executives falsified earnings and manipulated corporate accounting in an effort to boost executive compensation. The letter has been forwarded to a special audit committee for an investigation, and the audit committee has notified the Securities and Exchange Commission of the matter.