Plague

Enron’s devastation has spread through the industry like the plague with many of the top gas marketers teetering on the edge of extinction in the third quarter. Some chose not to provide volume information to NGI out of what one analyst called “justifiable paranoia” over releasing any data in this time of extreme scrutiny by regulators and credit rating agencies. Meanwhile, others began to show steep declines in volumes that will surely grow exponentially next year.

Enron’s devastation has spread through the industry like the plague with many of the top gas marketers teetering on the edge of extinction in the third quarter. Some chose not to provide volume information to NGI out of what one analyst called “justifiable paranoia” over releasing any data in this time of extreme scrutiny by regulators and credit rating agencies. Meanwhile, others began to show steep declines in volumes that will surely grow exponentially next year.

Rosemead, CA-based Edison International’s merchant energy companies under the Edison Mission Energy (EME) family were slammed with credit rating downgrades to BB- from, in some cases, BBB- by Standard & Poor Ratings Services (S&P) reflecting heavy debt payments and restructuring facing it while wholesale power prices remain depressed, further worsening the chances of bringing more order to its chaotic financial house.