Probe

Sen Joseph Lieberman (D-CN) on Monday called on the Interior Department inspector general to conduct a broad review of potential conflicts of interest between Deputy Secretary J. Steven Griles and oil and natural gas companies.

The market oversight division of the Public Utilities Commission of Texas(PUCTT) has launched an investigation into bid activity in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) markets late last month to determine whether any market participant exacerbated significant power price spikes seen at that time.

Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle (D-SD) last week called on the Department of Energy (DOE) to begin a federal investigation into the causes for the recent spike in natural gas prices across the nation and particularly in his home state of South Dakota.

Jeffrey Richter, who formerly supervised the company’s West Power Trading Division for the California spot electricity market, pleaded guilty in San Francisco federal court Tuesday for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and for making false statements to federal officials. A U.S. attorney warned the investigation is continuing and there could be others involved.

Another year, and still the revelatory stories about Enron Corp.’s apparent misdeeds continue. Federal investigators combing through the convoluted stack of special purpose entities (SPEs) now are examining whether the company misled investors not only about its energy trades, but also covered up the actual value of its “real” assets — natural gas pipelines and power plants.

Capping off a year-long probe into Arthur Andersen’s role in the collapse of Enron Corp., the House Energy and Commerce Committee last Tuesday referred criminal charges to the Justice Department against former Enron auditor’s in-house counsel, Nancy Temple, for allegedly providing false testimony last January to a congressional panel that was investigating the shredding of Enron documents.

Capping off a year-long probe into Arthur Andersen’s role in the collapse of Enron Corp., the House Energy and Commerce Committee Tuesday referred criminal charges to the Justice Department against the former Enron auditor’s in-house counsel, Nancy Temple, for allegedly lying last January to a congressional panel that was investigating the shredding of Enron documents.

Duke Energy and Williams confirmed Friday that they received individual subpoenas from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in San Francisco as part of an ongoing federal grand jury investigation of natural gas and electricity suppliers in California. It was unclear how many other merchant energy companies, besides Duke and Williams received the summons Friday. The workings of the grand jury, of course, are secret.

A special committee of directors that has been probing the extent of CMS Energy Corp.’s involvement in questionable round-trip energy trading activity is expected to disclose its findings to the company’s full board of directors on Oct. 31, said CFO Thomas J. Webb last Tuesday. The company’s outside auditor, Ernst and Young, will review the work of the special committee and its corporate financial re-audit in November, and will report the results to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) probably in December.