Violating

Donald Burwell, an ex-El Paso Corp. natural gas trader, pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Houston to violating a provision of the Commodity Exchange Act for his involvement in providing inaccurate trading information to industry publications. Burwell, whose trial was scheduled to begin March 6, agreed to cooperate with the government in similar cases.

Pacific Gas & Electric declared a systemwide Stage 3 high-inventory OFO for Wednesday. The order carries penalties of $5/Dth for violating a zero tolerance on positive daily imbalances.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has fined Peoples Energy affiliate Peoples Energy Services (Pesco) $40,000 for violating the consumer protection provisions of the state’s Alternative Gas Supplier Law by selling gas customers a “fixed rate” plan with prices that were not fixed and with other inadequately disclosed provisions, such as a clause that allows the company to drop the customer because of high gas supply costs.

The Illinois Commerce Commission (ICC) has fined People Energy affiliate Peoples Energy Services (Pesco) $40,000 for violating the consumer protection provisions of the state’s Alternative Gas Supplier Law by selling gas customers a “fixed rate” plan with prices that were not fixed and with other inadequately disclosed provisions, such as a clause that allows the company to drop the customer because of high gas supply costs.

A FERC Administrative Law Judge last Tuesday recommended that Enron Corp. be fined $32.5 million for violating federal laws during the western power crisis in 2000-2001. Judge Carmen Cintron also reiterated in her initial decision that Enron’s wholesale electricity trading license be revoked after reviewing testimony that indicated Enron had violated Section 205(c) of the Federal Power Act (FPA).

Pacific Gas & Electric declared a systemwide Stage 2 high-inventory OFO for Thursday. Penalties are $1/Dth for violating a stringent zero tolerance for positive daily imbalances.

Southern California Water Co. and a Washington State public utility district (PUD) are charging that “one or possibly two” FERC commissioners may have violated the federal agency’s rules against ex parte communications by participating in a conference call with Wall Street analysts in which the commissioners apparently addressed pending challenges to power contracts entered into with power suppliers.

Pacific Gas & Electric issued a systemwide Stage 2 low-inventory OFO for Tuesday. The order carries penalties of $1/Dth for violating a negative imbalance tolerance of zero.

Retribution will be more expensive for companies violating FERC’s rules in the future, according to a final rule issued by the Commission last Monday. The rule adjusts certain of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s penalties by 10% to cover inflation.