Sweeping

In a sweeping unprecedented move Wednesday, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission ordered more than 140 suppliers and affiliates to furnish information on whether they engaged in Enron-like strategies to manipulate energy trading during the height of the California energy crisis in 2000-2001. The agency, in short, wants sellers to western markets to “admit or deny” under sworn oath whether they unfairly gamed the market.

SEC Chairman Harvey L. Pitt last Thursday proposed sweeping changes in corporate financial oversight. He said the failure of Enron and its auditor Arthur Andersen clearly exposes the defects in the country’s “vaunted system of disclosure, financial reporting, corporate governance and accounting practices,” and the need to develop an entirely new method of financial regulation “that will restore public confidence in the integrity of the accounting profession.”

Seeking to flesh out several key points of a sweeping market monitoring and mitigation plan for California’s ailing energy markets, FERC recently said that it expects California’s Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) to ensure the presence of a creditworthy buyer for all transactions made with any generator that offers power in compliance with a must-offer requirement included in the monitoring and mitigation plan.

Seeking to flesh out several key points of a sweeping market monitoring and mitigation plan for California’s ailing energy markets, FERC last week said that it expects California’s Independent System Operator (Cal-ISO) to ensure the presence of a creditworthy buyer for all transactions made with any generator that offers power in compliance with a must-offer requirement included in the monitoring and mitigation plan.

Taking aim at what it called the state’s six “oldest and dirtiest” power plants, Massachusetts last week issued a sweeping set of new regulations that call for significant reductions of a whole host of pollutants being emitted by the plants. Significantly, the new standards also position Massachusetts as the only state in the nation to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

Taking aim at what it called the state’s six “oldest and dirtiest” power plants, Massachusetts on Monday issued a sweeping set of new regulations that call for significant reductions of a whole host of pollutants being emitted by the plants. Significantly, the new standards also position Massachusetts as the only state in the nation to limit carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.

In the immediate aftermath of the California Public UtilitiesCommission’s sweeping moves to stabilize the state’s electricityoperations, the regulators and the governor’s staff are sloggingthrough endless details that will have to be worked out ifcash-strapped investor-owned utilities are going to be able to paythe state and generators and still have enough left over to covertheir own costs.

The Texas Railroad Commission passed a sweeping measure lastweek that for the first time in the state’s history dramaticallyoverhauls how the state handles abandoned oil and gas wells. At thecore of the plan is a requirement that financial assurance, such asa bond or a letter of credit, be in place for a well entering itsthird year of inactivity.

The Texas Railroad Commission yesterday passed a sweepingmeasure that for the first time in the state’s history dramaticallyoverhauls how the state handles abandoned oil and gas wells. At thecore of the plan is a requirement that financial assurance, such asa bond or a letter of credit, be in place for a well entering itsthird year of inactivity.