Kevin

Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) Commissioner Kevin Wright would like to see state lawmakers adopt legislation that would give the ICC guidance as the state commission starts to consider an ambitious renewable portfolio standard (RPS) recently proposed by Gov. Rod Blagojevich.

Two Enron executives, Kevin Howard and Michael Krautz, were arrested Wednesday on charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to FBI agents about a fraudulent scheme involving a video on-demand contract between Enron and Blockbuster, the retail video store chain.

Enron Corp’s top two in its ailing broadband division have left the company to pursue other opportunities — Ken Rice, 43, the Broadband Services chairman, and Kevin Hannon, 41, the president and COO. They both had been rumored to be leaving since the unit has lost money since its inception. In April, Enron eliminated 250 employees in the broadband division, and earlier this year, a major deal with Blockbuster Inc. fell through. The broadband unit is now moving into the wholesale services division. The broadband executive team loss follows the departure last month Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling (see Daily GPI, Aug. 15). Chairman Kenneth Lay resumed the CEO post following Skilling’s resignation, and announced the promotions of Greg Whalley, 39, to president and COO and Mark Frevert, 46, to vice chairman (see Daily GPI, Aug. 29). Whalley and Frevert will serve with Lay in the Office of the Chairman at Enron, which is responsible for strategic planning at the Houston-based company.

FERC Chairman Curt Hebert Jr. last week tapped Kevin P. Madden,a well-known and popular official at the Commission, to be generalcounsel. He succeeds Doug Smith, who left the Commission on Friday.Madden has held a number of posts during his 21-year tenure atFERC, most recently as deputy director of the Office of Markets,Tariffs and Rates. Prior to that, he had been director of theOffice of Pipeline Regulation since 1988. He also served as anattorney adviser and trial attorney in the Office of GeneralCounsel during his years at FERC. “I chose Mr. Madden from a largefield of potential candidates both outside and within theCommission. His contributions will be crucial to our futureachievements, especially during this critical juncture of electricmarkets,” Hebert said.

FERC Chairman Curt Hebert Jr. last week tapped Kevin P. Madden,a well-known and popular official at the Commission, to be generalcounsel. He succeeds Doug Smith, who left the Commission on Friday.