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Four power suppliers responded Friday to FERC’s show cause order, producing extensive and detailed records and saying those records supported their earlier testimony offered in the Commission’s investigation of alleged market manipulation in the western power market.

Two announcements by Aquila Inc.’s board of directors late Thursday spun the company’s stock to its lowest level in 14 years Friday, ending with a loss of 14% in heavy trading. Shares were off $1.75 and ended the day at $10.50. A year ago, the company — then named UtiliCorp — was trading at $35.55. Investors fled on two announcements: the board is reviewing Aquila’s dividend policy “as a means of addressing concerns relating to its credit ratings”; and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an “informal” data request on the company’s “round-trip” trades.

CMS Energy Corp. COO David Joos reassured analysts last week that despite a downgrade by Moody’s Investors Service and the unexpected withdrawal of Arthur Andersen LLP to complete urgently needed financials for its bank refinancing due today (June 17), the company has enough liquidity through at least mid-July, and even longer if other assets such as the Panhandle Eastern Pipe Line Co. subsidiary have to be tapped for loans.

U.S. District Judge Melinda Harmon late Friday instructed jurors in the Arthur Andersen LLP trial in Houston that they may reach a unanimous verdict and find Andersen guilty even if they do not all agree on which Andersen employee had the criminal intent. The ruling, in which the judge acknowledged that she had no legal precedent directly on point, sided with a prosecution brief on how to respond to a jury query. Her decision could move the once deadlocked jury toward a verdict — which court observers said most likely would be a guilty finding.

A national retail customer survey by North Salem, NY-based RKS Research and Consulting found that residential consumers like the familiarity of their local utility and don’t mind paying more for new products and services as long as the charges aren’t tacked on to their monthly bills. The study, however, also concluded that utilities will need to overhaul some longstanding practices in order to compete successfully with established retail suppliers, contractors, and competing energy providers.

The supply side of the Canadian natural gas industry added a key ally in its fight against proposals to restricting gas exports to the U.S. Northeast. Despite losing a pipeline project because of producer determination to dedicate Nova Scotia production to U.S. markets, Enbridge Inc. has come out on the side of producers in a battle against a new appeal from the New Brunswick government for intervention at the National Energy Board. The province is demanding rights to review and potentially block all natural gas export transactions.

Two announcements by Aquila Inc.’s board of directors late Thursday spun the company’s stock to its lowest level in 14 years Friday, ending with a loss of 14% in heavy trading. Shares were off $1.75 and ended the day at $10.50. A year ago, the company — then named UtiliCorp — was trading at $35.55. Investors fled on two announcements: the board is reviewing Aquila’s dividend policy “as a means of addressing concerns relating to its credit ratings”; and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has issued an “informal” data request on the company’s “round-trip” trades.

After failing to locate a purchaser for Canadian-based energy trader Engage Energy, Duke Energy confirmed last week that it has decided to close down the division and consolidate some of its operations. The Canadian natural gas and power marketing operation was a division of Westcoast Energy, which Duke purchased in March (see NGI, March 11).

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last Wednesday gave Copiah County Storage Co., a subsidiary of Duke Energy’s Market Hub Partners, its long awaited approval to build a 3.3 Bcf salt dome natural gas storage facility in Copiah County, MS. Market Hub Partners started its first open season for the project more than two years ago (see NGI, April 17, 2000).