Hearing

A Houston jury on Monday began hearing the first case that rocked the merchant sector in the past two years, but it didn’t involve Enron Corp. The jury seated Monday will determine whether a former Dynegy Inc. executive, who pleaded innocent, committed fraud with two fellow executives, who already have pleaded guilty.

El Paso Natural Gas and affiliate El Paso Merchant Energy LP have called on FERC to issue a final decision by the end of the year on a Commission judge’s rulings that the pipeline withheld transportation capacity from customers during the California energy crisis and abused the agency’s market-affiliate rules.

El Paso Natural Gas and affiliate El Paso Merchant Energy LP have called on FERC to issue a final decision by the end of the year in the high-profile complaint case, which charges the El Paso pipeline with withholding capacity from customers during the California energy crisis and abusing the Commission’s market-affiliate rules.

In the report on the adjournment of the FERC hearing investigating alleged market affiliate abuses by El Paso Natural Gas and its affiliates, which ran in NGI’s Daily Gas Price Index for Tuesday, Aug. 7: Note El Paso executives did not refuse to respond to questions from Judge Wagner. El Paso attorneys declined to put the executives on the stand — which would have subjected them to questions from the California Public Utilities Commission and others — as part of the case, saying El Paso’s case was closed. The attorneys said, however, the executives were willing to respond to the judge’s questions. Wagner did not ask any questions.

In a partisan House Resources Committee hearing on President Bush’s proposed National Energy Policy last Wednesday, Republican House members played up the energy crisis and called for more exploration and production, Democrats called for more conservation and research, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton attempted to stay above the fray, offering insights into the proposed North Slope pipeline and controversial Eastern Gulf Lease Sale 181, among other things.

In a partisan House Resources Committee hearing on President Bush’s proposed National Energy Policy Wednesday, Republican House members played up the energy crisis and called for more exploration and production, Democrats called for more conservation and research, and Interior Secretary Gale Norton Wednesday attempted to stay above the fray, offering insights into the proposed North Slope pipeline and controversial Eastern Gulf Lease Sale 181, among other things.

El Paso Natural Gas has called on FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. to take steps to prevent the further release to the media of “highly sensitive marketing materials” that it has been required to turn over as part of discovery in a complaint case brought against it.

In a two-and-a-half hour hearing last Thursday, the IllinoisCommerce Commission brought together various representatives fromgovernment bodies as well as state utilities to discuss and posequestions regarding the current crisis involving high natural gasprices.

In a two and a half hour hearing last Thursday the Illinois Commerce Commission brought together various representatives from government bodies as well as state utilities to discuss and pose questions regarding the current crisis involving high natural gas prices.