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Anxious Houston-based employees Friday were waiting for formal news that their employer, Enron Corp., had filed for bankruptcy, expected to be the largest in U.S. history, and also to learn whether layoffs will begin in the United States as they have in Europe. Across the country, others kept an eye on whether Enron would file a lawsuit against its short-term merger partner Dynegy Corp. for backing out of the transaction last week. Meanwhile, companies that had once dealt with the former trend-setting energy trader continued tallying their own expected losses should Enron go under, and analysts began looking at the pieces, attempting to comprehend and explain a situation gone terribly wrong.

The “evolution” of natural gas storage into an arbitrage tool increasingly utilized by marketing companies may be leading some industry observers to misinterpret the results of the American Gas Association’s (AGA) weekly storage report and the changes in storage levels over time, according to TXU Chairman David Biegler.

An “evolution” in the uses and managers of gas storage capacity may be leading some industry observers to misinterpret the results of the American Gas Association’s (AGA) weekly storage report and the changes in storage levels over time, according to TXU Chairman David Biegler. However, customers and regulators should rest assured that despite the increasing variety of uses for storage, it remains a secure source of supply for the traditional utility, he said.

The New York Independent System Operator (NYISO) is asking FERC to approve a market design in New York electricity markets based on an unforced capacity (UCAP) methodology, which it says will offer an incentive for generators to improve the efficiency of their generating assets. More broadly, the ISO expects the UCAP proposal to bring it one step closer to the development of a common installed capability (ICAP) market design among the various Northeastern ISOs.

Pacific Gas & Electric declared a systemwide Stage 3 high-inventory OFO for today. Positive imbalances exceeding a 4% tolerance are subject to penalties of $5/Dth.

Duke Energy reported on Monday it would be willing to acceptless money for the power it sold in California during January andFebruary, as long as assurances are made by the CaliforniaIndependent System Operator (Cal-ISO) and the California PowerExchange (Cal-PX) that it will be paid. Duke said if guarantees aremade, it will waive the credit premiums on its bids and accept theFederal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) clearing price fortransactions during those months.

Five groups on the Sonat system (Birmingham Group, South MainZone 2, Atlanta Group, South Main Zone 3 and East of Wrens) becamesubject to an OFO Type 3 Monday.

Electric restructuring should be left up to the states and besubject to a minimum of federal government involvement, accordingto one survey just completed for the Electric Consumers’ Alliance(ECA). Meanwhile, another survey by RKS Research & Consultantsfinds commercial customers are increasingly demanding of betterservice and lower rates from their electricity suppliers in stateswhere competition already has begun.

Columbia Energy Group (CEG) announced yesterday a marketingjoint venture with Metromedia Energy, Inc. (MME). The venture,called Columbia Metromedia Energy, is subject to execution of adefinitive agreement and other conditions and is expected to beoperational by the end of the first quarter of 2000. No financialterms were announced.