District

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit Tuesday overturned and remanded a FERC decision which prohibited allocation of interruptible capacity on PG&E Gas Transmission, Northwest based on the total revenue deriving from a bid, saying the Commission failed to explain why it was departing from its own precedents.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon handed Arthur Andersen LLP the maximum sentence in Houston on Wednesday — five years probation and a $500,000 fine — for obstructing justice in its handling of Enron Corp.-related documents that stymied a federal investigation of the company’s finances. Although it seemed minuscule when compared to the substantial market damage caused by the Enron scandal, the punishment was the harshest allowed under law. Andersen attorneys said they would appeal.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon handed Arthur Andersen LLP the maximum sentence in Houston on Wednesday — five years probation and a $500,000 fine — for obstructing justice in its handling of Enron Corp.-related documents that stymied a federal investigation of the company’s finances. Although it seemed minuscule when compared to the substantial market damage caused by the Enron scandal, the punishment was the harshest allowed under law. Andersen attorneys said they would appeal.

The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit upheld FERC’s decision in the Sea Robin Pipeline case, in which the Commission reformulated its test for determining whether a pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico is a nonjurisdictional gathering line or a jurisdictional transmission system. ExxonMobil Gas Marketing had filed an appeal of FERC’s determination that a portion of the 438-mile, 1.3 Bcf/d Sea Robin Pipeline system upstream of the Vermilion 149 station is nonjurisdictional gathering.

Northwest said it has determined that pipeline anomaly digs in the Vernal district will be completed Friday (July 26). As a result, it will end the Notice of Deficiency Period effective with Saturday’s gas day and will reset the Moab (UT) Compressor Station to its southbound design capacity of 358,000 Dth /d. Northwest previously had expected the Vernal work and related flow restrictions to last through Aug. 8 (see Daily GPI, June 25).

Northwest said it has determined that pipeline anomaly digs in the Vernal district will be completed Friday (July 26). As a result, it will end the Notice of Deficiency Period effective with Saturday’s gas day and will reset the Moab (UT) Compressor Station to its southbound design capacity of 358,000 Dth /d. Northwest previously had expected the Vernal work and related flow restrictions to last through Aug. 8 (see Daily GPI, June 25).

In a clear rebuke to FERC, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday ruled the Commission went too far in an order that restricted certain rights of electric utilities involved in an independent system operator (ISO), and violated the Mobile Sierra doctrine in unilaterally requiring reformation of pre-existing wholesale power contracts.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on Friday upheld much of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s mammoth and hotly contested Order 637, which removed prices caps in the short-term capacity release market on a two-year experimental basis.

In an unexpected twist, the SEC on Friday asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York to reject Enron Corp.’s hiring of Stephen F. Cooper as CEO, calling the terms of his million dollar contract and bonus guarantee inappropriate. Enron wants court approval to hire the bankruptcy specialist as an independent contractor as interim CEO and chief restructuring officer with an annual salary of $1.32 million a year and a bonus of at least $5 million once the restructuring is completed.