Enron Chronology - Democratic Underground

Carl Brennan

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Sat Feb-05-05 02:35 PM
Original message

Enron Chronology

Edited on Sat Feb-05-05 02:37 PM by Carl Brennan

Now that Enron is back in the news:

The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than their democratic State itself. That, in its essence, IS Fascism--Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Below is a chronology of the Enron Scandal. Please add to, or critique this. Pass along to all interested parties.

Date :
Wed, 6 Feb 2002 22:36:23 -0800 (PST)

Bush/Enron Chronology

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1978

Lay contributes handsomely to Bush's 1978 congressional campaign, a full sixteen years before Bush told the press he got to know the man on 10 January 2002. ("Bush Caught Red-Handed in Lie to American People", <http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/>)

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1977-2001

Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson is a partner in the law firm of King & Spalding, which represents Enron ("Caught Red-Handed in Lie to American People", <http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/>) Thompson worked for the law firm of King & Spalding from 1977 to 1982, served as a U.S. Attorney under the Reagan administration, and returned to King & Spalding as a partner in 1986. Thompson remained at King & Spalding until his appointment as Deputy Attorney General in 2001. According to King & Spalding's Web site, the firm has done extensive work for Enron. King & Spalding's work for Enron and other energy companies is detailed here. ("Caught Red-Handed in Lie to American People", <http://www.mediawhoresonline.com/>)

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1988

George W. Bush pitches an Enron gas pipeline in Argentina. Neil Bush uses defrauded investors' money from Silverado to drill for oil in Argentina. ("Don't Cry for Bush, Argentina", <http://www.motherjones.com/mother_jones/MA00/argentina.html>; "Bush Friend Arrested for Illegal Arms Trafficking", <http://www.thegully.com/essays/argentina/010607bush_menem.html>) A few weeks after the U.S. presidential election in 1988, Terragno received a phone call from a failed Texas oilman named George W. Bush, who happened to be the son of the president-elect. "He told me he had recently returned from a campaign tour with his father," the Argentine minister recalls. The purpose of the call was clear: to push Terragno to accept the bid from Enron (http://www.ei.enron.com/presence/latin_america.html)....George W. wasn't the only Bush plying the family name in Argentina. His brother Neil had tried to funnel $900,000 in loans from Silverado Savings and Loan, where he served as a director, into a failed attempt to drill for oil in Argentina. The S&L eventually collapsed, costing taxpayers nearly $1 billion to bail out, and federal regulators banned Neil from certain banking activities.

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1990

June 11: Bush and other members of Harken Energy's audit board (including Harken's president, former Arthur Andersen accountant Mikel Faulkner) meet with Harken's accountants: Arthur Andersen. According to Robert Jordan, Bush's lawyer during ensuing the SEC probe, neither the accountants nor the committee members discuss the company's budget woes at this meeting -- despite the fact that Harken is about to take a hefty $23.2 million loss for the second quarter of the fiscal year, which is just ending. The minutes of the meeting would verify this claim, Jordan will tell the Washington Post in a 1999 campaign profile of Bush. But Harken refuses to release those records. ("Bush and Andersen's Texas Two-Step", <http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=special&s=floyd20020130>)

June 22: Bush dumps Harken stock just before $23.2 million loss is disclosed. ("The Family that Preys Together", <http://mediafilter.org/caq/BushFamilyPreys.html>) On June 22, 1990, George Jr. sold two-thirds of his Harken stock for $848,560 -- a cool 200 percent profit. The move was well timed. One week after Junior sold his stock, Harken announced a $23.2 million loss in quarterly earnings and Harken stock dropped sharply, losing 60 percent of its value over the next six months.

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1992

November

Several corporations -- including oil giants Exxon and Mobil as well as J. P. Morgan and Chase Manhattan -- are clamoring to get into the energy futures market. Some of those companies ask Wendy Gramm, chairwoman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and wife of Senator Phil Gramm, to exempt energy derivative contracts and related swaps from government oversight. Gramm acts quickly, scheduling a vote on the rule for January 1993, days before the Clinton administration would take over. Boosted by her support, the proposed rule passes. In five weeks whe will join the board of Enron. ("Enron made a sound investment in Washington", <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020124/ts_usatoday/3799465&cid=676>; "Enron's Web of Complex Hedges, Bets", <http://www.latimes.com/business/la-013102deriv.story>)

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1993

June

California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) and Enron begin their relationship in June . Each puts $250 million into Joint Energy Development Investments. Shortened to Jedi, after the Jedi knights from "Star Wars," the partnership will invest in an array of North American natural gas businesses. ("CalPERS inadvertently linked to fall of Enron", <http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/1517906p-1594346c.html>) Keeping partnerships such as Jedi off its balance sheet was a paramount concern for Enron. The company created scores of partnerships so it could keep their debts off its balance sheet. In Jedi's case, as much as $711 million in debts were held off the books, according to SEC filings.

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1994

Enron lobbies the Securities and Exchange Commission to receive an exemption from the Public Utility Holding Company Act. The Depression-era law was designed to prevent utilities from owning multiple plants in one geographic area, allowing them to jack up rates. ("Enron made a sound investment in Washington", <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020124/ts_usatoday/3799465&cid=676>)

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1996

1996: Republican Gov. Pete Wilson signs legislation to open California's electricity market to competition. ("Chronology of California's power crisis",
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/04/06/state1705EDT0232.DTL)

Federal energy regulators adopt a new rule, Order 888. The rule forces reluctant local utilities to open transmission lines to power being shipped from one state to another. In effect, Order 888 turns the nation's electricity transmission grid into an interstate highway system for energy. ("Enron made a sound investment in Washington", <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020124/ts_usatoday/3799465&cid=676>)

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September

Greased with over $1.8 million in contributions from the big three utility companies, California lawmakers unanimously enact deregulation law. Legislation promises competition, 20% decreases. Gov. Pete Wilson signs the bill into law, saying that the landmark legislation is a major step in our efforts to guarantee lower rates, provide consumer choice and offer reliable service, so no one literally is left in the dark. We've pulled the plug on another outdated monopoly and replaced it with the promise of a new era of competition. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

December

Dec. 20: Harris County medical examiner, Dr . Elizabeth Johnson, is dismissed as chief of the medical examiner's DNA laboratory. She sues for wrongful termination, alleging that her firing came because she reported the suppression of evidence favorable to a murder defendant and two instances of "sabotage" in the office in late 1995. She said she discovered that film records were destroyed by exposing them to light, and tests were fouled by the mixing of chemical reagents. She also accused a co-worker and prosecutors of trying to cover up evidence of the possible innocence of capital murder suspect Joe Durrett in April 1995. Johnson said the office hid the existence of hair and blood samples from the murder scene while Durrett languished in jail. The Harris County medical examiner's office will perform the autopsy on Enron vice-chairman and chief strategic officer, Cliff Baxter. ("Medical Examiner fired for refusing to falsify evidence -- says she suspected a frame-up in case -- Prosecutors upset analysis didn't back theory", <http://www.informed.org/MedicalExaminer.htm>)

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1997

The California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) decides to get out of the Jedi partnership. Rather than simply pay CalPERS off, Enron sets in motion a convoluted debt plan to raise the money and uses questionable accounting methods to keep the whole matter a secret from shareholders. This enables Enron to hide more than a half-billion dollars in debts. ("CalPERS inadvertently linked to fall of Enron", <http://www.sacbee.com/content/business/story/1517906p-1594346c.html> )

Gov. Marc Racicot, at the behest of Enron, foists energy deregulation on the state of Montana. ("Energy karma - For Enron and dereg, what goes around comes around", <http://www.missoulanews.com/News/News.asp?no=2105>) "But here’s the catch. While Enron was making billions selling energy stability, they were busy pushing a deregulation agenda across the nation. In Montana, as is well-known, the 1997 Republican-dominated Legislature, at the urging of then-Governor Marc Racicot, suspended the rules of the Legislature to introduce and pass the dereg bill in the last weeks of the session. Suddenly, substituting raw political power for careful policymaking, Montana found itself one of the few western states to leap into dereg-and oh, how we now wish we had looked a lot harder before that tragic leap."

The Whitewing partnership is formed as an Enron subsidiary. In 1999, Enron will decide to move Whitewing off its books, which it will accomplish by giving half of the partnership's control to an unnamed investor. ("Enron Raised Funds In Private Offering - Shareholders in Dark, Documents Show ", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15912-2002Jan21.html>)

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March

Enron hires the former boss of a leading staff official at the Securities and Exchange Commission to represent it in negotiations with the agency. In an unheralded five-paragraph order in March 1997 , the S.E.C. official, Barry P. Barbash, gives Enron's foreign operations a broad exemption from the law - the Investment Company Act of 1940. Had Enron not been granted the exemption, some of its operations in South America and in Europe would not have been able to structure financial operations to both conceal them from investors and shift debt off their books. ("1997 Exemption Set Stage for Enron Woes", <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/23/business/23EXEM.html>)

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April

April 1: The Indian village of Katalwadi, at the forefront of protests against Enron's Dabhol Power project, is attacked by Enron supporters armed with swords, sharpened hoes (colloquially known as “choppers”), wooden sticks, light bulbs filled with acid, and explosive soda bottles. Following the attack, the police arrested and charged the anti-Enron villagers with criminal offenses, including attempted murder, under the Indian Penal Code. The perpetrators of the attack, however, were detained only briefly the following day and were not charged with assault. 1997 sees a number of attacks on people opposed to Enron's power plant. ("The Enron Corporation: Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations", <http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/enron/enron5-0.htm>)

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May

Police beat and arrest nearly 180 protesters who are demonstrating peacefully outside the Dabhol Power Corporation gates. ("The Enron Corporation: Corporate Complicity in Human Rights Violations", <http://www.hrw.org/reports/1999/enron/enron5-0.htm>)

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June

Maharashtra police raid a fishing village where many residents oppose the Enron power plant. They arbitrarily beat and arrested dozens of villagers, including Sadhana Bhalekar, the wife of a well-known protester against the plant. They break down the door and window of Bhalekar's bathroom and drag her naked into the street, beating her with batons. Bhalekar is three months pregnant at the time. ("Enron: History of Human Rights Abuse in India", <http://www.hrw.org/press/2002/01/enron_012302.htm>)

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July

Bush advisor, Karl Rove, arranges a job for Ralph Reed, former executive director of the Christian Coalition, at Enron. ("Associates of Bush Aide Say He Helped Win Contract", <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/business/25REED.html>) The Rove associates say the recommendation, which Enron accepted, was intended to keep Mr. Reed's allegiance to the Bush campaign without putting him on the Bush payroll. Mr. Bush, they say, was then developing his "compassionate conservativism" message and did not want to be linked too closely to Mr. Reed, who had just stepped down as executive director of the Christian Coalition, an organization of committed religious conservatives. At the same time, they say, the contract discouraged Mr. Reed, a prominent operative who was being courted by several other campaigns, from backing anyone other than Mr. Bush.

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September

Enron pays Ralph Reed $10,000 to $20,000 a month, the amount varying by year and the particular work. He will work intermittently for Enron until the company collapses. ("Associates of Bush Aide Say He Helped Win Contract", <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/25/business/25REED.html>)

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December

Unocal executives fête Taliban ministers at their homes in Texas. ("Oil barons court Taliban in Texas",
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/et?ac=006576086753008&rtmo=lzoPFokt&atmo=rrrrrrrq&pg=/et/97/12/14/wtal14.html; "Taleban in Texas for talks on gas pipeline", <http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/west_asia/newsid_37000/37021.stm>)
"The Islamic warriors appear to have been persuaded to close the deal, not through delicate negotiation but by old-fashioned Texan hospitality. Last week Unocal, the Houston-based company bidding to build the 876-mile pipeline from Turkmenistan to Pakistan, invited the Taliban to visit them in Texas...The Taliban ministers and their advisers stayed in a five-star hotel and were chauffeured in a company minibus...The men, who are accustomed to life without heating, electricity or running water, were amazed by the luxurious homes of Texan oil barons. Invited to dinner at the palatial home of Martin Miller, a vice-president of Unocal, they marvelled at his swimming pool, views of the golf course and six bathrooms. After a meal of specially prepared halal meat, rice and Coca-Cola, the hardline fundamentalists - who have banned women from working and girls from going to school - asked Mr Miller about his Christmas tree."

Dec. 9: The Enron executive committee approves a buyout -- that includes a corporate guarantee of $633 million -- of the interest of the California public employees pension fund in the JEDI partnership. ("Enron Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books ", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64820-2002Jan30.html>)

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1998

1998: Unocal cancels plans to exploit massive natural gas deposits in Turkmenistan. ("Hell to pay", <http://www.willpitt.com/WillPitt.htm>)

1998: Utilities begin taking steps to divest themselves of power generation plants. Rates they can charge consumers are capped until the utilities complete that task, expected in 2002. ("Chronology of California's power crisis",
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/04/06/state1705EDT0232.DTL)

February

Feb 2: A jury returns a $315,000 judgment against Harris County, Texas, ruling that the Medical Examiner's Office wrongly fired DNA lab director Dr. Elizabeth "Libby" Johnson for speaking out about abuses in the office. She accused the office of bias toward law enforcement and prosecutors, and called for an investigation into allegations of the suppression of evidence and two instances of sabotage of tests in the lab. The jurors deliberated less than two hours. The Harris County medical examiner's office will perform the autopsy on Enron vice-chairman and chief strategic officer, Cliff Baxter. ("Victory for Crime Lab Director accusing TX Lab of abuses", <http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/jan98/0098.html>)

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March

Competition is supposed to begin in the deregulated California energy market. California electricity consumers may choose alternative energy providers. Per deregulation law, retail electricity rates are frozen at historically high 1996 level, more than 40% above national average through 2002. California’s three private utilities - Southern California Edison, Pacific Gas & Electric and San Diego Gas & Electric - begin surcharging ratepayers to pay off previous debts incurred through mismanagement, poor regulation and cost overruns on nuclear plants. This is the first utility bailout. Fewer than 3% of residential customers leave their own utility companies. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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April
Enron European chief executive Mark Frevert meets Geoff Norris, Mr Blair's senior energy adviser in the Downing Street policy unit, in No 10 to discuss the future of British energy policy. In a separate meeting on the same subject, Enron International's chief operating officer Jeffrey Skilling meets Ed Balls, the chancellor's chief economic adviser, at the Treasury. ("No 10 did not reveal all Enron talks", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,644518,00.html>)

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May
Enron executives meet the then paymaster general, Geoffrey Robinson, and Welsh minister Peter Hain. Keith Vaz, former minister for Europe, yesterday said he had no recollection of a claimed meeting with company representatives to discuss European energy policy. ("No 10 did not reveal all Enron talks", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,644518,00.html>)

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June
Tony Blair actively intervenes to water down a moratorium on gas-fired power stations after direct lobbying from energy companies, including Enron. Downing Street played a crucial role in rewriting a review of energy policy which called for a freeze on building new gas-fired plants. Former Paymaster General Geoffrey Robinson's memoirs record the sudden intervention of the Prime Minister "right at the last moment". According to Mr Robinson's account, Downing Street refused to approve the conclusions of a six-month-long review conducted by the Department of Trade and Industry and the Treasury in 1997 which called for a halt to the consents policy for more gas-fired plants. Mr Robinson asserts that Mr Blair, after direct lobbying from multinational energy companies, instructed the Cabinet Office to launch a rearguard action and review his own ministers' painstaking work. Downing Street's intervention led to the redrafting of a statement by Margaret Beckett, at the time the Trade and Industry Secretary, made in June 1998, so it was more acceptable to the energy companies. The revelations, in the book Unconventional Minister by Mr Robinson, who played a key role in the energy review, will put Downing Street under fresh pressure to reveal the extent of its dealings with Enron before its collapse. Mr Robinson said that the multinational energy companies had a direct line to lobby Number 10, bypassing the DTI and the Treasury. ("Blair 'weakened' gas policy after Enron lobbying", <http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/politics/story.jsp?story=117153>)

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August

In August 1998, about five months after ascending to CFO of Enron, Andrew Fastow pays $289,000 for 68 wooded acres with a cabin near Norwich, Vt. The mortgage will be paid off in March 2000. ("Architects of Enron's rise bred its demise", <http://chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0201200329jan20.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed>)

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November

California utility companies spend over $38 million to defeat Proposition 9, the initiative sponsored by The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) and other consumer groups to block bailout of utilities’ bad debts under deregulation law. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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1999

Enron decides to move its Whitewing partnership off its books, which it will accomplish by giving half of the partnership's control to an unnamed investor. The arrangement allows Enron to escape reporting losses on some assets that are no longer worth what Enron originally paid for them, according to some company officials. Such losses would hurt Enron's stock price, as investors believe Enron is succeeding in its shift to becoming a trading firm. In her August 2001 letter warning Lay about "accounting scandals," Enron Vice President Sherron Watkins will cite "valuation issues with our international assets" that could be written down in future financial reports. Enron will have to "pony up stock" to Whitewing in 2003, she will say, "and that won't go unnoticed."("Enron Raised Funds In Private Offering - Shareholders in Dark, Documents Show ", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15912-2002Jan21.html>)

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June

June 28: At a special Enron board meeting, Lay calls on Skilling to discuss a proposed investment partnership. "Mr. Skilling noted that due to changes in the accounting treatment of off-balance-sheet transactions, the company had been analyzing new types of financing vehicles. He called on Mr. Fastow to discuss the proposal." ("Enron Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64820-2002Jan30.html>)

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July

San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) customers pay off the utility’s past debts. The statutory rate freeze is lifted for customers of SDG&E, making it the first region with both wholesale and retail deregulation. Customers’ electricity prices are no longer limited by state law. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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October

Oct. 11: Enron CFO Andrew Fastow discusses the company's mix of "on-balance and off-balance sheet debt" with the board of directors, according to meeting minutes acquired by the Washington Post. A board resolution says one purpose of the LJM2 partnership is to create "a potential ready purchaser of the company's businesses and assets." ("Enron Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64820-2002Jan30.html>)
Oct. 12: Enron outside director Herbert Winokur -- now a member of the board's special investigating committee -- recommends that the board approve Fastow's participation in the LJM2 partnership. ("Enron Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64820-2002Jan30.html>)

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December
Enron wins another significant decision from federal regulators: Order 2000. Under this order, the commission asks local electric companies to join ''regional transmission organizations'' to coordinate the flow of power from state to state. This eliminates some of the ''tolls'' on the energy superhighway and makes the trading of energy contracts even easier. ("Enron made a sound investment in Washington", <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020124/ts_usatoday/3799465&cid=676>)

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2000
February

Feb 7: Three big Texas energy producers, all of which made lavish contributions to George W. Bush's presidential campaign, stand to gain from soaring electricity prices in California. That's one reason the watchdog group Public Citizen says Bush has no interest in promoting price caps, even though such caps are recommended by Republican as well as Democratic governors and members of Congress. ("Bush's Biggest Donors Gain From High Prices in California Crunch", <http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0106/ridgeway3.php> )

Feb 23: Enron CFO Andrew Fastow buys a $1.32 million property in River Oaks. New construction comes to $1.53 million. No mortgage is recorded. ("Architects of Enron's rise bred its demise", <http://chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0201200329jan20.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed>)

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March

Enron president Jeff Skilling moves treasurer Jeff McMahon to another position in the company after McMahon raises concerns about Enron deals with the Raptor partnerships. ("House Panel Chairman Sees Illegal Enron Acts ", <http://dailynews.att.net/cgi-bin/news?e=pri&dt=020206&cat=news&st=newsenroncongressdc.html>)

Fastow pays off mortgage on Vermont estate, purchased in August 1998. ("Architects of Enron's rise bred its demise", <http://chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0201200329jan20.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed>) In August 1998, about five months after ascending to CFO, Fastow pays $289,000 for 68 wooded acres with a cabin near Norwich, Vt. The mortgage will be paid off in March 2000.

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April

Lay is a $250,000 sponsor of the GOP's fundraising gala in Washington. He also helps raise money for a literacy charity headed by Barbara Bush, mother of George W. Bush. ("Enron made a sound investment in Washington", <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020124/ts_usatoday/3799465&cid=676>)

April 7: A federal jury awards $250,000 to Marilyn Murr Doyle, a former Harris County pathologist who said she was fired in 1998 for blowing the whistle on what she considered illegal activity in the medical examiner's office. The award marks the second time a jury has sided with a fired worker in the medical examiner's office who crossed Dr. Joye Carter to report problems in that county office. Dr. Joye Carter will perform the autopsy on Enron vice-chairman and chief strategic officer, Cliff Baxter. ("Whistle-blower gets $250,000 judgment ", <http://www.opengovtcoppell.com/file/news/2000/0408hcr1.htm>)

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May

May 1: Enron CFO Andrew Fastow informs the board of directors about the risk of "accounting scrutiny" on the Raptor partnership. A chart labeled "LJM2 Update," attached to the agenda for a finance committee meeting, says the partnership had made seven investments, all purchased from Enron.("Enron Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64820-2002Jan30.html>)

May 2: Harris County Commissioner Steve Radack places an item on the county court's agenda calling on the county to hire a law firm "to form an outside review of the employment practices of the medical examiner's office." Radack saiys he wants "to find out a very respectable law firm's opinion of what's going on over there." Chief Medical Examiner Dr. Joye Carter will perform the autopsy on Enron vice-chairman and chief strategic officer, Cliff Baxter. ("Legal review of examiner's office sought ", <http://www.hcdo.com/html/area_counties_roundup_may00.html>)

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June

Instead of going down, as deregulation supporters promised, wholesale electricity rates in California begin to rise - as much as 300%. SDG&E passes these higher prices for purchasing power through to local customers, pursuant to the lifting of the rate freeze. An estimated $800 million is transferred out of the local economy. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

John Clifford Baxter is named Enron chief strategy officer. His body will be found on 25 January 2002 with a single gunshot wound to the head. ("Former Enron executive dies in apparent suicide", <http://robots.cnn.com/2002/US/01/25/enron.suicide/index.html>)

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July

July 28: Senators Schumer, Bennett and Bayh, along with others on the Banking Committee, such as Gramm, Allard, Bunning and Santorum, send SEC chairman Arthur Levitt a letter expressing concern about a proposed rule that would have barred accounting firms from doing both auditing and consulting work for the same client. ("13 senators pressured SEC to abandon proposed audit rule", <http://www.hillnews.com/012302/audit.shtm>)

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August

Aug. 7: At a meeting of the Enron finance committee, chaired by Herbert Winokur, the off-balance-sheet partnerships are described as "the vehicles the company was utilizing to manage its balance sheet debt." Directors Wendy Gramm and Lay are among other board members who attend the meeting. ("Enron Directors Backed Moving Debt Off Books", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A64820-2002Jan30.html>)

August 30: California state lawmakers, facing revolt at the November elections, order temporary rate rollback for SDG&E customers. The legislation, backed by utility lobbyists, requires SDG&E customers to repay balance of higher energy prices, with interest, beginning in 2003. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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September

Enron's Whitewing partnership is disclosed in a confidential, 100-page offering to private investors, to raise an additional $1.1 billion for Whitewing. The private-offering memo "prohibits" prospective investors from copying the document or disclosing its terms. Whitewing is owned jointly by Enron and an unnamed partner. Whitewing borrowed the $1.1 billion from private investors in the United States and Europe. The investors received interest-bearing notes from a trust named Osprey, controlled by Whitewing. Whitewing split its revenue between Enron and the other unnamed Whitewing partner. Enron received revenue of $632 million in 2000 and $192 million in 1999 from Whitewing, Enron's recent filings show. To protect the Osprey investors, whose notes had to be repaid in 2003, the offering memo said Enron would contribute shares of common stock to make upa shortfall if Whitewing assets dropped in value. If the Enron shares could not be sold because of stock market conditions or regulatory delays, Enron promised to cover the investors' losses with cash. Adding another layer of complexity, Enron created an entity called Condor, under Whitewing, to hold a special kind of Enron security that would be converted into shares of Enron common stock if needed to cover the obligation to Osprey investors. The most Enron disclosed about Whitewing was in a footnote in its 1999 annual report. It said Enron "could be obligated" to issue shares of common stock under certain circumstances, which it did not explain. Enron advised the Osprey investors -- but not its public shareholders -- that Enron indirectly controlled Whitewing and thus its executives had "significant influence" over Whitewing, including decisions on which projects to buy from Enron and how much Whitewing would pay. Andrew S. Fastow, received $30 million in fees and profits from his participation in a group of Enron-created outside entities known as LJM, which also invested in Osprey. ("Enron Raised Funds In Private Offering - Shareholders in Dark, Documents Show ", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A15912-2002Jan21.html>)

Sep. 10: Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay contributes more than $290,000 to George W. Bush's election campaign. ("Timeline of Enron's Collapse", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25624-2002Jan10.html>)

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Fall

In California, deregulation’s rate freeze turns on its own sponsors. Forbidden by the terms of the deregulation law they sponsored from raising retail rates beyond the frozen surcharge level, the state’s larger utilities, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and Southern California Edison, are now forced to cover the excess cost of deregulated electricity out of their own pockets. They begin to pressure the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) for permission to impose rate increases on utility customers. The California Public Utilities Commission rejects the request, asserting that the PUC does not have the authority to rewrite the deregulation law mid-way through the transition to deregulation. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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October

October 10: Enron hires Linda Robertson, from the Clinton administration, as vice president for federal government affairs to head its Washington office, infuriating Republican leaders who oppose business groups hiring Democratic lobbyists. ("Timeline of Enron's Collapse ", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25624-2002Jan10.html>)

October 18: Enron promotes John Clifford Baxter to vice chairman of Enron. His body will be found on 25 January 2002. ("Enron press release", <http://www.enron.com/corp/pressroom/releases/2000/ene/90-Baxter.html>)

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November

An internal Andersen document shows that it had concluded Enron's internet services unit, considered to be crucial to the company's growth, had poor controls. There was a "high risk" that financial results in the unit would be misrepresented because of them, it said. ("Enron shredding continuing, claims worker ", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,637538,00.html>) ("Ex-Official Says Enron Employees Shredded Papers", <http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/22/business/22CND-ENRON.html>)

Lobbyists for utilities demand that the California Legislature order rate increases to bail out utilities from current losses. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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December

December 7: The California grid operator announces the first Stage Three “rolling blackout” alert, signaling that the state is close to exhausting its electricity reserve capacity. At the same time, wholesale power prices average as much $1,000 per megawatt-hour and spiking as high as $1,500/MWh - a 3000% increase over 1999 levels. The state’s major utilities threaten imminent bankruptcy if they are not allowed to increase rates by at least 30%. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

December 15: FERC rejects price cap on wholesale electricity, even as prices continue to soar above $1,000/MWh. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

December 15: Senator Phil Gramm co-sponsors the the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which deregulates energy futures. The bill does not undergo the usual committee hearings and preliminary votes, and is immediately attached as a rider to an 11,000-page appropriations bill. ("Phil Gramm’s Enron Favor", <http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0203/ridgeway.php>) Two Republicans from Texas, Reps. Dick Armey and Tom DeLay, are instrumental in pushing the legislation through the House. DeLay's wife, Christine, works for a lobbying firm, Alexander Strategies, that Enron has hired for up to $200,000 a year to push energy deregulation. ("Enron made a sound investment in Washington", <http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/usatoday/20020124/ts_usatoday/3799465&cid=676>)

December 21: President Bill Clinton signs into law the Commodity Futures Modernization Act as part of an 11,000-page appropriations bill. ("Phil Gramm’s Enron Favor", <http://www.villagevoice.com/issues/0203/ridgeway.php>)

By the end of 2000, Enron has invested, or loaned, $5.3bn to a number of companies in which it had stakes. ("Enron's new $5bn black hole ", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,636155,00.html>) Now it has emerged that by 31 December 2000 Enron had also invested, or loaned, $5.3bn to a number of companies in which it had stakes, according to papers filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. These included two ailing firms that had been harming their par ent's financial performance, water specialist Azurix and the Dabhol Power Company of India. The subsidiaries - part of a network of more than 3,000 firms linked to Enron - were claimed by the company to be 'unconsolidated affiliates', which do not have to be shown on balance sheets.

December 2000-January 2001: Unbeknownst to elected officials or the public, state employees of the Department of Water Resources (DWR) begin to secretly take over some of the utilities’ power procurement responsibilities, buying electricity from the private power generators on the spot market. Meanwhile, utilities threaten to default on payments they owe to wholesale energy suppliers. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

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2001

early 2001

"There were always constraints on investigating the Saudis," high-placed intelligence sources in Washington tell the UK Guardian: They say the restrictions became worse after the Bush administration took over this year. The intelligence agencies had been told to "back off" from investigations involving other members of the Bin Laden family, the Saudi royals, and possible Saudi links to the acquisition of nuclear weapons by Pakistan. "There were particular investigations that were effectively killed." ("FBI claims Bin Laden inquiry was frustrated -- Officials told to 'back off' on Saudis before September 11", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4293682,00.html>)
January

Jan. 3: Lay is one of the 474 people Bush names to advise his presidential transition team. ("Timeline of Enron's Collapse ", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25624-2002Jan10.html>)

Jan. 3: Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) calls on California Governor Gray Davis to seize, by eminent domain, power plants improperly kept off-line in order to protect the reliability and affordability of electricity. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

Jan. 4: California PUC imposes its first residential rate hike of approximately 10%, reversing its previous decisions that rejected such increases on the grounds that they would be illegal. Governor Gray Davis, who has appointed a majority of PUC, promises there will be no more rate hikes. Utilities say they require more rate increases. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

Jan. 6: Southern California Edison announces it will cut 1,450 jobs and reduce equipment maintenance in an effort to avoid bankruptcy. The company has been hit by rising prices for purchases of electricity, which it has not been able to pass on to its customers. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Jan. 12: California narrowly avoids rolling blackouts as its power crisis again reaches a "Stage 3" alert. The state Department of Water Resources steps in to purchase power from suppliers in the Pacific Northwest, who had become unwilling to sell to the California Independent System Operator (ISO) due to its unstable financial condition. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Jan. 16: California Edison defaults on $596 million worth of payments to power companies and bondholders. Edison and PG&E announce they can no longer afford to pay wholesale energy companies for electricity. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

Jan 17-18: First rolling blackouts hit Northern California since World War II. Panicked state lawmakers and the Governor draft emergency legislation in which a state agency, DWR, would temporarily take over the utilities’ duty to buy power for all their customers. Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights (FTCR) testifies against the measure, saying it represents a blank check for wholesale energy companies. The bill (SB 7x) passes the Senate on Thursday night, January 18, and is signed by the Governor on Friday. Rolling blackouts end that day. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

Jan. 18: The Department of Energy issues a rule which will tighten efficiency standards for air conditioners and heat pumps by 30%. The rule is designed to help hold down future growth in electricity demand during peak usage periods. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Jan. 20: Bush is sworn in. Enron and chairman Kenneth Lay both contribute $100,000 to inaugural committees. George H. W. Bush is flown to the inauguration in an Enron corporate jet. ("Key Dates in Enron Case", <http://www.newsday.com/ny-g1enro0117.graphic?coll=ny-top-headlines>; "When Dubya and Lay
Were as Closeasthis ", <http://www.mostnewyork.com/2002-02-03/News_and_Views/Beyond_the_City/a-140188.asp>)

Jan. 20: Sen. Dianne Feinstein sends first of three letters to Bush requesting a meeting to discuss California's dire energy situation. These requests are denied. ("Bush Opened Door to Enron, but Not to a State in Crisis", <http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-000007462jan30.story?coll=la%2Dnews%2Dcomment%2Dopinions>)

Jan 22: Bush names Curt Hebert as Chairman of FERC. ("Bush Names Wood to Head FERC", <http://www.eei.org/member_net/products/met/0108_features.htm>)

Jan. 29: Bush names Cheney to chair the National Energy Policy Development Group, a White House task force which will oversee the new administration's efforts in devising a national energy policy. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Jan. 31: The California Senate passes a bill to authorize the state government to spend up to $10 billion for the purchase of electricity, to be financed by the issuance of state bonds. The plan envisioned by the bill would have the state government enter into long-term power purchase agreements with suppliers, and resell the electricity at cost to private California utilities. Two of the largest California utilities, Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) have been unable to secure adequate supplies of electricity from other firms due to cash flow and credit problems. State intervention is intended to overcome these financial hurdles. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

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February

Feb 1: Jeffrey Skilling is named Enron CEO. ("Key Dates in Enron Case", <http://www.newsday.com/ny-g1enro0117.graphic?coll=ny-top-headlines>)

Feb. 1: California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) invests $425 million with The Carlyle Group. CalPERS initial funding will consist of a $250 million investment in various new Carlyle private equity funds and a $175 million investment for a minority equity stake in The Carlyle Group. ("CalPERS Invests $425 Million in The Carlyle Group", <http://dc.internet.com/news/article/0,1934,2101_576721,00.html>)

Feb. 1: California legislature enacts new law (AB 1x), pursuant to which the state takes over power procurement for the foreseeable future. The legislation allows the state to purchase electricity on the spot market and to sign long term contracts to meet the shortfall of electricity. Energy supplies remain tight as smaller, California based independent energy companies - many of them providers of renewable resources - demand payment to continue their operations. ("Energy 'Crisis' Was A $71 Billion Hoax, And It's Not Over, Report Says", <http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/utilities/pr/pr002170.php3>)

Feb. 2: California Governor Gray Davis signs into law a bill which authorizes the state government to sell up to $10 billion in bonds to finance purchases of electricity, in a bid to alleviate the state's electricity supply shortage. The state will enter into long-term contracts with suppliers, which are expected to bring a reduction in the rates paid over the last several months on the spot market. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Feb 4: Harris County chief medical examiner, Dr. Joye Carter, is fined $1,000 as part of a settlement with the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners for allowing an unlicensed pathologist to perform autopsies. She had faced stiffer punishment, including revocation of her medical license and the loss of her job, as a result of the investigation. Dr. Joye Carter will perform the autopsy on Enron vice-chairman and chief strategic officer, Cliff Baxter. ("Harris County medical examiner fined for illegal autopsies, keeps job", <http://www.reporternews.com/2001/texas/fine0204.html>)

Feb 5: Arthur Andersen discusses whether to retain Enron as a client amid concern over Enron's use of special partnerships to disguise debt. ("Timeline: Enron", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,638640,00.html>)

Feb. 6: President Bush allows the expiration of an emergency federal order requiring wholesale electricity companies to sell to California. ("Chronology of California's power crisis", <http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/04/06/state1705EDT0232.DTL>)

Feb. 6: A federal judge in Sacramento orders major power wholesaler Reliant Energy to keep selling to the state despite the expiration of the emergency federal directive. U.S. District Judge Frank Damrell cites the possibility of ``obvious irreparable harm to the public'' that blackouts pose. This decision will be overturned by the federal appeals court on April 5. ("Chronology of California's power crisis",http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/04/06/state1705EDT0232.DTL)

Feb. 6: Anderson email suggests dropping Enron as a client, due to concerns about Enron bookkeeping. ("Andersen Considered Severing Enron Ties", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A58496-2002Jan16.html>)

Feb. 8: Citing an energy crisis of "catastrophic proportions," a federal judge orders three major electricity suppliers to continue to supply electricity to California despite their concerns over the financial health of the state's two main investor-owned utilities. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Feb. 9: After concluding that Osama bin Laden's al Qa-ida had carried out the October 2000 attack on the USS Cole - a conclusion stated without hedge in a Feb. 9 briefing for Vice President Cheney - the new administration chooses not to order armed forces into action. ("A Strategy's Cautious Evolution - Before Sept. 11, the Bush Anti-Terror Effort Was Mostly Ambition", <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A8734-2002Jan19.html>)

Feb. 12: Jeff Skilling becomes chief executive of Enron. ("Timeline: Enron", <http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,638640,00.html>)

Feb. 12: A federal judge denies a request by Southern California Edison (SCE) to remove a rate freeze which has kept the company from recouping the costs imposed on it by soaring wholesale power prices from its customers. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Feb. 17: Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill announces that sanctions, proposed by the Clinton administration, against money-laundering havens will be reviewed, effectively delaying them. He will announce on November 27 that the Cayman Islands will not have to tighten its banking laws until 2004. ("Evidence Indicates That O’Neill Helped Enron Hide Financial Condition", <http://www.citizen.org/pressroom/release.cfm?ID=1000>)

Feb 20: A federal jury returns a $500-million judgement against ExxonMobil for allegedly inflating wholesale fuel prices charged to independent retailers over a 12-year period from 1983 to 1994. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Feb 22: Enron officials meet with Cheney. ("Key Dates in Enron Case", <http://www.newsday.com/ny-g1enro0117.graphic?coll=ny-top-headlines>)

Feb 22: For the first time in six weeks, California lifts all alerts on its electric power grid, due to the availability of more imported electricity and the return to service of power plants which had been closed for maintenance. With these developments, power reserves in the state reach 7%. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Feb. 23 The State of California and Southern California Edison (SCE) agree that the company will sell the state government its transmission lines for $2.76 billion. The utility will be allowed to issue bonds which will recover a "substantial" portion of its uncollected power costs. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

Feb. 26: Enron signs a $1.3-billion energy management contract with pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly. Enron will provide and manage the supply of electricity and natural gas at Eli Lilly facilities, as well as maintain energy assets and related infrastructure. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

February 28 Calpine Corporation signs two contracts valued at up to $8.3 billion to sell electricity to the California Department of Water Resources, which was empowered to purchase power on the wholesale market due to the financial difficulties of the state's two largest investor-owned utilities. Deliveries of power under the contracts will begin July 1, 2001. ("Monthly Energy Chronology - January 2001 to June 2001", <http://www.marcon.com/main/marcon_st1.cfm?Archive=311&StoryID=236>)

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March

Skilling moves into his sprawling Spanish-style mansion, valued at $2.47 million, built in River Oaks. ("Architects of Enron's rise bred its demise", <http://chicagotribune.com/business/chi-0201200329jan20.story?coll=chi%2Dnews%2Dhed>)

Another company that had entree to the Cheney task force was Peabody Energy, a coal behemoth whose holding company and top officer have given nearly $200,000 to the President and his party since Bush took office, including $25,000 for the May gala. Sources

Peabody Energy chairman Irl Engelhardt and other energy executives meet with two Cheney task-force members, Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham and Bush economic adviser Larry Lindsey. Cheney's group also hears from officials from the nuclear-energy industry-whose trade association, the Nuclear Energy Institute, will contribute $100,000 to the May 21 Bush event. Both coal and nuclear power will get major endorsements in the task-force report. ("Getting the Ear Of Dick Cheney", <http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,198862,00.html>)