Embattled

Embattled El Paso Corp. assured investors that its liquidity position remains “strong” in the wake of Moody’s Investor Service’s decision Wednesday to lower its rating on the company’s $23 billion in debt to near junk status.

With embattled CFO Andrew Fastow and other corporate executives joining him, Chairman Kenneth Lay attempted to answer yet again the growing list of questions that are swirling around Enron Corp.’s third quarter announcement of equity reductions and related-party transactions. However, it seemed in the end that listeners were still hungry for more information on the Houston-based company’s balance sheet, as well as its plans to stop the slide in stock prices.

Embattled Nicor Inc. said Wednesday the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has opened an informal inquiry into the accounting practices of its retail joint venture with Dynegy Inc. and a natural gas supply cost plan that already is under investigation by Illinois regulators.

A federal bankruptcy judge in New York last week endorsed Enron Corp.’s selection of bankruptcy specialist Stephen F. Cooper as acting CEO of the embattled company, after the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) abandoned its opposition to his appointment.

The embattled Canada-to-New York Millennium Pipeline project has been assailed for nearly every conceivable reason, or so it was thought. As the nation last week dealt with the shock of the deadly terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., it took a New York state resident only one day after the double assaults to protest the proposed Millennium line on the grounds that it posed a prime target for terrorists.

The embattled Canada-to-New York Millennium Pipeline project has been assailed for nearly every conceivable reason, or so it was thought. As the nation continues to deal with the shock of the deadly terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., it took a New York state resident only one day after the double assaults to protest the proposed Millennium line on the grounds that it poses an enviable target to terrorists.

Utilipro Inc., an 80% AGL Resources-owned customer-caresolutions provider, announced yesterday it is cutting staff andreorganizing because energy deregulation is taking hold too slowly.

There appears to have been a minor shake-up at the Natural GasSupply Association (NGSA) last week. It came during Skip Horvath’sfirst week as president of the producer group that’s still reelingfrom the effects of an embezzlement scandal uncovered earlier inthe year.