Involving

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has affirmed several key rulings involving creditworthy issues that are favorable to shippers on Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has affirmed several key rulings involving creditworthy issues that are favorable to shippers on Tennessee Gas Pipeline Co.

A FERC Administrative Law Judge Tuesday recommended that Enron Corp. be fined $32.5 million for violating federal laws during the western power crisis in 2000-2001. Judge Carmen Cintron also reiterated in her initial decision that Enron’s wholesale electricity trading license be revoked after reviewing testimony that indicated Enron had violated Section 205(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA).

(Editor’s Note: This story originally ran in the March 7 edition of Daily GPI)

El Paso Corp.’s board responded last Thursday to accusations that directors, faced with possible ouster at the company’s shareholder meeting this year, may vote out generous severance packages for displaced officers to dampen any drive by stockholders to unseat the board.

El Paso Corp.’s board responded Thursday to accusations that directors, faced with possible ouster at the company’s shareholder meeting this year, may vote out generous severance packages for displaced officers to dampen any drive by stockholders to unseat the board.

In what may be the prelude to a key ruling involving pipeline credit issues, FERC said PG&E Transmission, Northwest Corp. (PG&E-GTN) was correct last fall when it determined that Denver, CO-based marketer, e prime Inc., was no longer creditworthy under the pipeline’s tariff guidelines, and threatened to suspend service to the company. However, the agency deferred ruling on whether PG&E-GTN had the authority to demand from e prime a 12-months pre-payment of service to continue as a shipper.

An equipment problem involving steam to the main turbine at the Palo Verde Nuclear Generating Station in Arizona caused a shutdown of Unit 2, APS Generation said on Friday. The 1,270 MW unit (APS share = 380 MW) performed as designed in this situation and shut down automatically. While all of the equipment operated normally during the shutdown, the details are being investigated and it is expected that the unit will return to service early next week, APS said. Units 1 and 3 continue to operate at full power. In the meantime, APS reported that it has adequate supply to meet its customer needs. “Our reserves are sufficient to meet customer demands during the outage,” said Jim Levine, executive vice president of APS Generation. “Our customers will have the energy they need to keep their homes cool and their lights on.” APS Generation, a subsidiary of Pinnacle West Capital Corp., operates Palo Verde on behalf of the station’s six other owners.

Since the “near-term problems” involving the California power market and added funding for low-income energy assistance seem to have become less pressing, Chairman Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) announced last week that the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee will move up its consideration of comprehensive legislation that will address long-term energy issues.