Investor

The California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) last Thursday said that it will develop a cap on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for the state’s investor-owned utilities and the non-utility companies that provide electric power to customers within their service territories. The commission also set the foundation for a process that will explore a range of flexible compliance options in order to minimize the cost of meeting the cap.

Following seven days on the witness stand, the cross-examination of former Enron Corp. investor relations chief Mark Koenig in the trial of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was finally completed on Monday. Koenig told the jury the special purpose entities (SPE) designed by former CFO Andrew Fastow were criticized internally at least two years before the company went bankrupt.

The two-man defense team representing Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling grilled the company’s ex-investor relations chief for the sixth day in a row Thursday, attempting to lay the groundwork to prove their clients did nothing illegal in the months preceding the company’s bankruptcy.

Enron Corp.’s former investor relations chief, Mark Koenig, stood his ground under tough cross examination Tuesday, contending it was wrong for the company to revise its earnings upward to meet Wall Street expectations.

The Edison Electric Institute (EEI), which represents investor-owned utilities, opposes any effort by Congress to limit utility access to natural gas for electric generation, dictate what fuel should be used to produce electricity or federally mandate the efficient dispatch of generation plants, EEI President Tom Kuhn told a Senate panel Tuesday.

Reliant Energy has reached an agreement to sell its three New York City power plants to an investor group led by Madison Dearborn Partners and US Power Generating Co. for $975 million.

General Electric on Monday announced that it and Canada’s largest institutional investor, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec, have agreed to buy the Southern Star Central natural gas pipeline system from AIG Highstar Capital for an estimated $362 million, plus the assumption of $476 million in debt and preferred stock.

News that famed investor Warren Buffett plans to plow more money into the nation’s power industry by investing in transmission lines and power plants and will take other steps to bolster power reliability in the U.S. has FERC Chairman Patrick Wood feeling pretty good as he prepares to depart the federal agency, since these are top priorities for the Commission.

Calling its remaining midstream and marketing assets “vital” to Devon Energy Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) business, investor relations chief Vince White said Thursday that the company has no plans to sell any of them.