Glad to have you here!
The information that you seek is this:
Ken Lay gave a list of 8 names that he suggested to the Bush Admin to the FERC board - 2 of those were put on the board and the chairman, a man named Curtis Herbert was canned and Pat Wood was put in his place. Read Molly Ivins column regarding this here:
http://www.sltrib.com/2003/Aug/08212003/commenta/commenta.asphere's another well written article here:
http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1015-03.htmand finally, from the "liberal" Independent Power Producers news:
http://64.233.167.104/search?q=cache:4MWHjHYBjWsJ:www.ippbc.com/details.asp%3Fid%3D2310+ken+lay+pat+wood+ferc&hl=enFERC mom on Enron trader's guilty plea"
Sunday, October 27, 2002
"FERC mom on Enron trader's guilty plea" FERC mom on Enron trader's guilty plea October 17, 2002 5:52:00 PM ET (Refiles to fix typographical error in headline) By Tom Doggett WASHINGTON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - A former top Enron Corp electricity trader admitted on Thursday that he schemed to defraud California during the state's power crisis, but federal energy regulators refused to say whether that strengthened California's demand for $9 billion in refunds. The Justice Department said one-time chief Enron energy trader Timothy Belden manipulated the wholesale electricity market, allowing his company to "exploit and intensify the California energy crisis and prey on consumers at their most vulnerable moment." Belden, 35, appeared in federal court in San Francisco where he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and was freed on bail. He faces a maximum sentence of up to 5 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. His attorney said Belden would cooperate with prosecutors, who said they were continuing to investigate Enron's trading schemes. Pat Wood, chairman of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which is overseeing the California refund case, declined comment. "It's a pending case before our commission that is being adjudicated as we speak. And these issues have been raised in that proceeding," Wood told reporters at a news conference where the plea agreement was announced by the Justice Department. Wood, the former head of the Texas utility commission, was appointed to FERC by President George W. Bush. His selection to the agency that regulates utilities, pipelines and the electricity market, was endorsed by Ken Lay, the former head of Houston-based Enron. Wood has maintained he has no ties to Enron and proved his independence by imposing limits on California wholesale power prices one year ago. Ever since the California power crisis began in late 2000, state officials have accused Enron and other large power marketers of price-gouging that padded corporate profits while the state reeled from rolling blackouts. In a nearly two-year-old case before FERC, California is demanding $8.9 billion in refunds from Enron and a dozen other suppliers. Wholesale power prices soared tenfold during the crisis, as did natural gas, which is used to fuel electricity generating plants. A FERC administrative law judge will rule in California's refund case by December, Wood said. FERC's four commissioners will then vote on whether to accept, reject or modify the judge's decision. FERC, CFTC PROBES Under pressure from lawmakers, FERC earlier this year launched a broad investigation into manipulation of the California market. The probe involves Enron as well as other energy giants such as Dynegy Inc. (DYN), El Paso Corp. (EP), Reliant Energy (REI) and Williams Cos (WMB) -- many of which have seen their debt downgraded and stock price slide due to the cloud over the industry. "We do hope to wrap up our report to the public and to the Congress on the energy manipulation issues in the western energy markets by February of next year," Wood said. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is also investigating the western power market, in addition to federal grand juries in Houston and San Francisco. Federal prosecutors said that Belden's trading schemes helped Enron receive prices for electricity above price caps set by the California's electric grid operator and FERC. Thanks in large part to Belden's trading strategies, his power trading unit generated $800 million in revenue in 2001 -- a sharp rise from just $50 million in 1999, prosecutors said. The trading strategies included so-called megawatt laundering, in which Enron deliberately moved electricity outside California borders then resold it into the state to sidestep price caps. Another technique involved selling the state electricity after creating phantom congestion on power transmission lines in California, thus earning a special payment from the state, prosecutors said. "Belden and other Enron officers and employees, directly and indirectly, engaged in trading strategies that involved the submission of false and fraudulent schedules, bids, and information to the Power Exchange and California Independent System Operator," federal officials said in a statement. Separately, Commodity Futures Trading Commission chairman James Newsome said Belden's guilty plea did not indicate that Enron's illegal trading activities affected electricity futures contracts traded on the New York Mercantile Exchange, mainly because there was little volume in the contracts at the time. However, Newsome refused to say whether Enron's trading influenced natural gas futures contracts traded on NYMEX. "I'm not going to comment about other parts of the investigation that are underway," Newsome told reporters. The CFTC has jurisdiction of regulated commodity exchanges like NYMEX and the Chicago Board of Trade, and can investigate fraud in the over-the-counter market where much of Enron's illegal trading activity took place. REUTERS
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