Relations

As part of a large bundle of new appointments late Friday, California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger filled three of the five seats on the oversight board of the California Independent System Operator (CAISO) and reappointed one of the five members of the California Energy Commission (CEC). All of the selections require confirmation by the California Senate.

Following seven days on the witness stand, the cross-examination of former Enron Corp. investor relations chief Mark Koenig in the trial of Enron founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling was finally completed on Monday. Koenig told the jury the special purpose entities (SPE) designed by former CFO Andrew Fastow were criticized internally at least two years before the company went bankrupt.

The two-man defense team representing Enron Corp. founder Kenneth Lay and former CEO Jeffrey Skilling grilled the company’s ex-investor relations chief for the sixth day in a row Thursday, attempting to lay the groundwork to prove their clients did nothing illegal in the months preceding the company’s bankruptcy.

Enron Corp.’s former investor relations chief, Mark Koenig, stood his ground under tough cross examination Tuesday, contending it was wrong for the company to revise its earnings upward to meet Wall Street expectations.

To be sure, relations between FERC and the states can get testy at times. But it would be the wrong call for FERC to give up on trying to work with the states in crafting energy policy, John Moot, general counsel at the federal agency, said last week.

Some top personal and political advisers to California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger are turning up as part of the public relations/lobbying team for one of the major proponents of a liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal along the state’s coast, Australian resources giant, BHP Billiton, according to a political analysis report in Monday’s San Francisco Chronicle.

Calling its remaining midstream and marketing assets “vital” to Devon Energy Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) business, investor relations chief Vince White said Thursday that the company has no plans to sell any of them.

Calling its remaining midstream and marketing assets “vital” to Devon Energy Corp.’s exploration and production (E&P) business, investor relations chief Vince White said Thursday that the company has no plans to sell any of them.

Entergy Corp. has hired Jerald V. Halvorsen to head its Washington, DC, government relations office. Halvorsen will be retiring later this year as president of the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, the interstate gas pipeline industry’s main advocacy group in the nation’s capitol. He has been president of INGAA since 1987. Halvorsen will join Entergy as vice president, federal governmental affairs on Sept. 1 and will succeed S. M. Henry Brown Jr., who will retire Dec. 1. Prior to joining INGAA, Halvorsen was vice president for government affairs of the American Trucking Association. He also served as senior vice president for congressional affairs of the National Coal Association. He began his career with Consolidated Edison Co. in New York City in 1969, serving as coordinator of environmental affairs. Entergy owns and operates power plants with about 30,000 MW of electric generating capacity and delivers electricity to 2.6 million utility customers in Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas.