Message-ID: <30401902.1075859700696.JavaMail.evans@thyme> Date: Mon, 27 Nov 2000 10:05:00 -0800 (PST) From: richard.sanders@enron.com To: mark.haedicke@enron.com Subject: Two More Mentions Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ANSI_X3.4-1968 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-From: Richard B Sanders X-To: Mark E Haedicke X-cc: X-bcc: X-Folder: \Mark_Haedicke_Dec2000_1\Notes Folders\Stanley X-Origin: Haedicke-M X-FileName: mhaedic.nsf ----- Forwarded by Richard B Sanders/HOU/ECT on 11/27/2000 06:05 PM ----- Eric Thode@ENRON 11/27/2000 08:41 AM To: Richard B Sanders/HOU/ECT@ECT cc: Subject: Two More Mentions Here are two of the articles.... Competition Bureau Raided Enron, Powerex Offices, Paper Says 11/23/0 9:44 (New York) Toronto, Nov. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Canada's Competition Bureau raided offices at Powerex Corp. and the Canadian arm of Enron Corp., alleging the companies conspired to raise electricity prices, the Globe and Mail reported, citing officials from both companies. The bureau obtained a search warrant in May, claiming the two companies co-ordinated bids last year to drive up prices on Alberta's central electricity exchange, the paper said. Both Powerex and Enron Canada Corp. said charges haven't been laid, and denied they had broken any laws. Competition Bureau officials didn't say whether the investigation is continuing. Unnamed sources told the paper the bureau ``is keeping an eye on'' electricity markets in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario as those provinces deregulate. On Nov. 16, Houston-based Enron, the world's biggest energy trader, said it plans to sell a 15 percent stake in a key Indian power project valued at $136 million. Powerex is the power-marketing subsidiary of the British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority. (Globe and Mail, B1, 11/23) Report on Business: Canadian Competition cops raided power firms Evidence of electricity price fixing sought in Enron , Powerex offices, warrant shows LILY NGUYEN AND PETER KENNEDY ? 11/23/2000 The Globe and Mail Metro Page B1 All material copyright Thomson Canada Limited or its licensors. All rights reserved. The offices of Enron Canada Corp. and Powerex Corp. were raided this year by the federal Competition Bureau, which was investigating suspected price fixing by the two companies. In a search warrant application last May, the bureau alleged that in the summer of 1999, Enron and Powerex co-ordinated bids to drive up the price of electricity on the Power Pool of Alberta, the province's central electricity exchange, Dow Jones reported. Both companies confirmed searches were carried out, but said no charges have been laid and denied breaking any laws. Eric Thode, a spokesman for Enron Corp. in Houston, which owns Calgary-based Enron Canada, said the bureau has since returned all of Enron 's files. Mr. Thode added the bureau has called Enron only once with a question about the files. "It remains just allegations," he said. "We are confident that all of our activities have been in the rules of the Power Pool of Alberta and within applicable Canadian laws." Both he and Wayne Cousins, a spokesman for Powerex, the trading arm of British Columbia Hydro and Power Authority,said they didn't know if their companies are still being investigated. "Powerex is confident that the bureau's investigation will find that the company has not violated the rules of the Alberta Power Pool," Mr. Cousins said. A spokesman from the Competition Bureau was not immediately available to confirm whether the investigation is continuing, but sources close to the bureau said it has been keeping an eye on the electricity markets in British Columbia, Alberta and Ontario as those provinces deregulate. While most of the bureau's monitoring has been in the form of advice, the regulator has taken steps for more direct intervention, sources said. Deregulation of the electricity market is still new and the market is not established, giving companies in the sector ample opportunity to play with the system, sources said. According to the search warrant, the bureau began investigating the two companies when Power Pool of Alberta system controllers noticed the price for a megawatt of electricity frequently rose above $100. In the Alberta system, participants submit bids to buy or sell power for the following day, and the price per megawatt of power is set by the most expensive unit needed to meet demand. Until the Power Pool changed its rules on Oct. 20, 1999, a participant could change the amount of power it bid or offered up until 20 minutes before the hour of transmission. The search warrant covers the companies' actions from June 1, 1999, to Oct. 19, 1999. Mr. Thode said investigations of this nature are common in deregulating markets. "It's happened in California this year, it's happened in the Midwest, it's happened around the globe. It's not unusual to see this type of investigation occur," he said. He added the Power Pool is required to call in the federal agency whenever there are allegations. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.