Sued

Spurned but not passive, Atlanta-based Mirant Corp. Wednesday sued NRG Energy, Inc., the company it covets, for rejecting what is being described as an $8 billion takeover bid.

A U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit unanimously determined that Consolidated Edison, Inc. (ConEd) could not be sued by Northeast Utilities’ shareholders for the $1.2 billion difference between the consideration that would have been paid upon consummation of the company’s scuttled merger with Northeast Utilities and the market value of Northeast Utilities’ common stock at the time of the merger agreement.

A coalition of 15 states and the city of New York on Wednesday sued the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) for what they said were violations of Congressionally enacted mandates to adopt stronger energy saving standards for 22 common appliances that use large amounts of electricity, natural gas and oil.

Ten conservation groups last Wednesday sued the Bush administration for extending 37 undeveloped oil and natural gas leases off the Central California coast after concluding that no significant environmental harm would result from the action.

Ten conservation groups on Wednesday sued the Bush administration for extending 37 undeveloped oil and natural gas leases off the Central California coast after concluding that no significant environmental harm would result from the action.

The federal Internal Revenue Service earlier this month sued Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), alleging the utility received $4.2 million in 1998 and 1999 income tax refunds and claimed even more based on accounting methods that the IRS now contends were bogus. The allegations were made in a lawsuit filed in a federal district court, noting that PNM supposedly made the claims on the advice of its accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP.

The federal Internal Revenue Service earlier this month sued Public Service Company of New Mexico (PNM), alleging the utility received $4.2 million in 1998 and 1999 income tax refunds and claimed even more based on accounting methods that the IRS now contends were bogus. The allegations were made in a lawsuit filed in a federal district court, noting that PNM supposedly made the claims on the advice of its accounting firm, Deloitte & Touche LLP.

Neighboring California utilities, Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. and Edison International’s Southern California Edison Co., traded accusations during the opening last week of evidentiary hearings in an 18-month-old state regulatory investigation of the wholesale natural gas market during the state’s energy crisis in 2000-2001.

San Diego-based Sempra Energy and its two utilities, Southern California Gas Co. and San Diego Gas and Electric Co., were accused of driving up wholesale natural gas prices, along with several other natural gas companies, in a lawsuit filed in a California Superior Court in San Diego Thursday. Separate suits were filed by the city/county of San Francisco and the county of Santa Clara.