Handling

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court handling Enron Corp.’s case has given the company another three months to file an overall reorganization plan to help the company emerge from Chapter 11 or liquidate. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch offered Thursday to pay $80 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation concerning two questionable transactions with Enron in 1999.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court handling Enron Corp.’s case has given the company another three months to file an overall reorganization plan to help the company emerge from Chapter 11 or liquidate. Meanwhile, Merrill Lynch offered Thursday to pay $80 million to settle a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) investigation concerning two questionable transactions with Enron in 1999.

The U.S. bankruptcy judge handling Enron Corp.’s bankruptcy proceedings on Monday froze the payments of Enron North America that had been funding operations for other business units. Since Dec. 2, 2001, when Enron filed for bankruptcy, Enron North America has given $632 million to the parent company for disbursement to various units. Although some of the money has been returned, creditors of Enron North America have suggested the subsidiary is being “plundered” and requested a halt to the payments.

Enron Corp. got the go-ahead Wednesday from the U.S. federal bankruptcy judge handling its case to proceed with an auction of its commodities trading operations, setting a Jan. 7 deadline for bids. Enron said it wanted to complete the sale by Jan. 11. Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved expedited procedures to allow Enron to auction hardware, software, employment contracts for traders and other assets.

Enron Corp. got the go-ahead Wednesday from the U.S. federal bankruptcy judge handling its case to proceed with an auction of its commodities trading operations, setting a Jan. 7 deadline for bids. Enron said it wanted to complete the sale by Jan. 11. Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved expedited procedures to allow Enron to auction hardware, software, employment contracts for traders and other assets.

Labor Secretary Elaine Chao said late Wednesday that the department has opened an investigation into Enron Corp. for potential mismanagement and abuse of the pension fund plans of existing and former company employees in the wake of the Houston-based energy trader’s financial meltdown.

California regulators Thursday conditionally approved a $3.5million settlement penalizing Southern California Gas for itshandling of the proposed sale and use of eminent domain powersrelated to one of its small, discontinued Los Angeles-areaunderground storage fields in the LA suburb of Montebello, CA. Thelarge utility company admitted no wrongdoing and is avoiding what,by its own admission, could be the substantially larger costs ofprotracted litigation.

In the aftermath of an extremely critical consultant’s report onits handling of a prospective asset sale, Southern California Gashas reached a settlement with one part of the state regulatorycommission and is separately trying to reopen the possible sale ofits smallest Los Angeles Basin underground natural gas storagefacility in an eastern Los Angeles suburb. An administrative lawjudge (ALJ) with the California Public Utilities Commission isconsidering whether to recommend the deal to the full five-memberCPUC.