A federal district judge in Washington, DC, has ordered the Bush administration to release additional documents and records of the task force that was created by Vice President Dick Cheney to produce a national energy strategy.
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Suspect Sought in Alleged Sabotage at Two Western Grid Towers
A federal warrant was issued Thursday for the arrest of a single suspect identified as being involved in at least one of two incidents of tampering with Western Grid transmission tower footings about 150 miles apart in southeast Oregon and northern California last Monday.
Appeals Court Rules Against Cheney’s Energy Task Force
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has refused an appeal by the administration to overturn a lower court’s discovery order that requires Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force to turn over the names of companies that participated in drawing up the administration’s energy policy.
Appeals Court Rules Against Cheney’s Energy Task Force
The full U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit has refused an appeal by the administration to overturn a lower court’s discovery order that requires Vice President Dick Cheney’s Energy Task Force to turn over the names of companies that participated in drawing up the administration’s energy policy.
PG&E Mum on NEG Sale
PG&E Corp. refused last week to respond to news reports that it is trying to sell its National Energy Group (NEG), its merchant energy business headquartered in Bethesda, MD, but it said asset sales were one of three options being considered to improve the group’s liquidity. NEG told the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of its options in a filing on Aug. 23.
Cold Weather Prompts Traders to Overlook Bearish Storage Data
Natural gas futures continued to defy gravity Wednesday afternoon as traders refused to sell the market despite the announcement by the American Gas Association (AGA) that only 64 Bcf was pulled from storage last week. That lack of selling pressure combined with the cold temperatures across much of the midwestern and eastern United States gave bulls the confidence they needed to boost the April contract higher on its first day as the prompt contract. April finished at $2.427, up 3.8 cents for the session and just off its high for the day at $2.44. At 71,577 contracts, trading volume was light.
When Skilling Left, Titanic Enron Was Sinkproof
Last week was undoubtedly the most action-packed since the scandal enveloping Enron Corp. surfaced last fall, opening with the release of a scathing internal report that identified a corporate climate rife with self-dealing and self-enrichment schemes by Enron top officers, and closing with former CEO Jeffrey Skilling’s stunning testimony before Congress that he “unequivocally” believed Enron was on solid financial footing when he left the company in August 2001. He further disavowed knowing the controversial off-the-book partnerships that led to Enron’s collapse were intended to hide debt and inflate earnings.
FERC ALJ: Parties Have Three Weeks to Settle El Paso Dispute
As was expected, FERC Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner Jr. yesterday refused to appoint a judge to oversee negotiations of a money settlement in the high-profile dispute in which two El Paso Corp. affiliates are accused of illegally rigging bids for pipeline capacity and violating the Commission’s affiliate standards. He said the parties have three weeks to settle the dispute on their own.
Mountain Energy to Stop Supplying Midwest Customers
Mountain Energy Corp., the Midwest gas marketer that has been besieged by lawsuits and a petition seeking to force it into bankruptcy, last week notified its customers in Kansas and Missouri that it will stop supplying them with natural gas after Oct. 31.
High Court Rejects Kansas Tax Case
The Supreme Court last week refused to review a case in whichKansas gas producers could wind up paying millions of dollars incustomer refunds for selling gas in the 1980s at prices that,because they incorporated the state’s ad valorem tax, may have beenabove the allowed legal limit.