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Below are a bunch of articles with quotes from Sen. Dunn & Sen. Peace. Hope it helps, let me know if you need more or if you are looking for something else. Thanks, A. Calif Lawmakers Seen Adjourning Without Deal For Edison By Jason Leopold 07/23/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) OF DOW JONES NEWSWIRES LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- The California Legislature is unlikely to pass a bill to rescue insolvent utility Southern California Edison before an Aug. 15 deadline, key lawmakers said Monday. The state Assembly is expected to adjourn for a monthlong break later Monday after it votes on the state's $101 billion budget, which has been fought over in both houses for more than a month. The Senate approved the budget early Saturday morning Once the budget is approved, Assembly members plan to leave for summer recess, according to Assembly Speaker Pro Tem Fred Keeley's office, and some said they won't return until Aug. 20. "I'm fairly sure nothing, other than behind-the-scenes talks will take place until after the break," said Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, chairman of the Senate committee investigating price gouging by generators. Jamie Fisfis, spokesman for the Assembly Republican Minority Caucus, said GOP members are leaving for trips and have no intention of returning before Aug. 20. Failure to approve a rescue by Aug. 15 would put the Edison International (EIX) utility in a difficult spot. Southern California Edison, in default on debt obligations and power bills, is banking on a political solution and has said its creditors could drag it into bankruptcy if lawmakers don't pass a relief measure by the deadline. Gov. Gray Davis, who is also counting on a political solution, may call a special session to force action on a rescue plan if lawmakers don't pass something before recessing. "The governor said he will not hesitate to call a special session if he needs to," spokesman Steve Maviglio said. Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, has disputed the governor's authority to do so. Brian Bennett, Edison International's vice president of external affairs, remained optimistic that a rescue agreement can be worked out before Aug. 15. "There's a group of naysayers out there saying this is not going to get done," Bennett said. "The Senate is on the record saying a legislative solution is better than bankruptcy. And for the millionth time, this company has no intention of filing for bankruptcy." Assembly Speaker Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, and Keeley, D-Boulder Creek, who sponsored legislation to rescue Southern California Edison but failed to gain the support of a majority of the Assembly, are expected to hold work sessions this week to put together a comprehensive piece of legislation that can gain the support of the Senate, Gov. Gray Davis and the utility. It's unclear who will participate in the work group or whether lawmakers can hammer out legislation and pass it before the Aug. 15 deadline set in a memorandum of understanding Southern California Edison Ed signed with the state in April. The MOU calls for the state to buy the utility's transmission lines for $2.76 billion and enable it to issue debt backed by ratepayers to recoup $3.5 billion in unrecovered wholesale power costs. Each house of the state Legislature is working on its own plan, neither of which would implement the MOU in full. The Senate bill, which narrowly passed that body Friday, would allow Southern California Edison to recover $2.5 billion of its power costs by issuing bonds and give the state a five-year option on the utility's transmission lines. Edison executives have already said the bill doesn't provide the company with sufficient funds to become creditworthy. -By Jason Leopold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874; jason.leopold@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California; Metro Desk Sanctions Against Enron Urged Electricity: A state Senate panel probing suspected price gouging says the Houston generator refuses to disclose documents. CARL INGRAM TIMES STAFF WRITER 07/22/2001 Los Angeles Times Home Edition B-1 Copyright 2001 / The Times Mirror Company SACRAMENTO -- A Senate committee investigating suspected price gouging in the California electricity market recommended Saturday that a Texas generator be found in contempt and fined for refusing to disclose top-secret business records. The special committee recommended the actions against Enron Corp. of Houston, a major wholesaler of electricity. Swift ratification by the full Senate is expected. The committee, investigating whether generators have manipulated prices to drive up profits during the state's energy crisis, urged that Enron be fined an initial $1,000 and that the cumulative sum be doubled for each day the company continues to defy the panel. In its controversial probe, the committee has found eight power sellers in contempt for failure to produce subpoenaed documents about their production and pricing practices. Recently, six of the companies have sought to have the contempt citations cleared by agreeing to hand over the records. But Enron and Reliant Energy have refused. Last week, the committee voted a second time to hold Reliant in contempt, but has so far suggested fines only against Enron. If Enron obeys the demand to turn over its trade secrets and other confidential information before the full Senate acts, the contempt action will be stopped, lawmakers said. "We have no hope they will comply," said Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana), committee chairman. Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco) said upper chamber approval of the committee's recommendations would occur quickly, but called the progressively severe fines "pocket change" for Enron. "Ken Lay spends more than that on his Rolex watches," Burton said of Enron Chairman Kenneth Lay. An Enron official, Karen Denne, said the committee's recommendations took the company by surprise. She said Enron had been working in "good faith" with the committee to provide the information, but now was being exclusively targeted for punishment. "No one else has been singled out by the committee. Why is Enron being singled out?" she said. Denne said Enron in the last week had agreed to provide all its California transaction documents for last year. "That's far more than anyone else has turned over," she said. She conceded that the records did not detail out-of-state transactions, which the committee also had subpoenaed. Enron has refused to let the committee inspect its records, contending that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission is the only regulatory entity that can legally investigate and control the wholesale electricity market in California. Enron and other generators also argued that their most closely guarded trade secrets would be put at risk of exposure to competitors if they were given to the committee, even under confidentiality agreements proposed by the panel. Though it is rarely used, the Senate last exercised its contempt power in 1929 during a price-fixing investigation of the cement industry. Several executives were found in contempt for refusing to answer questions and were ordered to jail. The state Supreme Court, however, voided the contempt citations on grounds that the Senate's demands for information were too vague. Dunn said the committee considered recommending other punishments, including the jailing of top Enron executives and forbidding the firm from doing business in California as long as it was in contempt. He said the committee, which adopted the report on a unanimous bipartisan vote, agreed that payment of fines, known as "coercive penalties," was the best choice. The Senate ordered the investigation last winter as Gov. Gray Davis declared the state to be in an "energy emergency" and a series of rolling blackouts was imposed statewide. At the time, wholesale generators, most located out of state, were charging what some called "rip-off" prices. Davis has asked the federal government to order generators to refund almost $9 billion in alleged overcharges, but indications are that only about $1 billion may be paid. The committee was charged with examining the wholesale market and making recommendations for legislation if abuses were found. The committee subpoenaed Enron and seven other generators in April, insisting that they turn over millions of records relating to bidding strategies, prices, energy availability and documents dealing with possible antitrust issues, including out-of-state transactions. All the companies initially defied the subpoenas. But under the threat of contempt, most recently have said they will provide the information under confidentiality agreements. Enron and Reliant of Houston held out. Enron filed 20 objections to the subpoenas and argued that the committee's investigation was out of bounds. Reliant has sued the committee in Sacramento Superior Court to stop the investigation, charging that the panel violated the company's rights to due process and refused to hear its objections to the subpoena. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NEWS THE ENERGY CRUNCH / Power firms' financial records destroyed, state is told Robert Salladay Chronicle Sacramento Bureau 07/22/2001 The San Francisco Chronicle FINAL A.9 (Copyright 2001) A state Senate committee is investigating why Morgan Stanley, a financial adviser to several power generators, destroyed documents that could show a well-planned effort to gouge California consumers. After several weeks of asking for the documents, and getting a positive response from Morgan Stanley, the Senate committee was told last week that the documents were destroyed as a matter of routine "years ago." "I got a call Wednesday from a Washington, D.C., counsel for Morgan Stanley, who said, 'I regret to inform you the documents have been destroyed,' " Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana (Orange County), chairman of the Senate investigating committee, said yesterday. The revelation came as the Senate moved against another company under scrutiny by Dunn's committee -- Enron Corp., the world's largest energy trader. The Senate was meeting yesterday to vote on the 2001-02 state budget but approved another step in contempt proceedings against Houston's Enron for its refusal to hand over documents to committee investigators. The central question is whether power companies colluded to raise prices by purposely withholding electricity. At one point this year, the price of power was the highest in state history -- more than $5,000 per megawatt -- as supplies sank to unusually low levels. The Senate inquiry into Morgan Stanley involves activity years before the energy crisis. Investigators suspect that power companies and their financial advisers knew well before the crisis began that prices could be raised. Any records confirming that suspicion would be evidence of extraordinary market power. At the time deregulation was being implemented during the late 1990s, nearly everyone involved was talking about how competition would push down the price of electricity. At the same time, however, power companies like North Carolina's Duke Energy Corp. were paying inflated prices to purchase power plants in California. After deregulation, the power companies paid nearly $2 billion total for aging plants worth an estimated $1.1 billion. "Electricity prices were stable and there was an oversupply (of energy) at the time, and these were the oldest units they were buying," Dunn said. "Why would they pay two or three times for these plants?" Dunn requested that Morgan Stanley (now called Morgan Stanley Dean Witter) provide all the supporting documentation regarding the purchase of the plants. He said he received commitments from company attorneys that no documents had been destroyed. A representative with Morgan Stanley declined to comment yesterday. But a Morgan Stanley attorney told the Orange County Register, which reported the story yesterday, that the company did not destroy any documents after the first May 16 request from Dunn's committee. "At the end of the project, they decided what they were going to keep and what they weren't going to keep, and those decisions were made years before the energy crisis and years before this committee existed," attorney Paul Patono told the Register. Dunn noted it is not illegal to raise prices or exert "market power," as long as the energy companies don't collude. But the issue is important to federal regulators, who could impose price controls on energy if they believe the system is not truly competitive. Only a few power firms have refused to hand over documents that the Senate committee has requested. Last week, Dunn's committee voted to move forward with contempt fines against Enron and Reliant Energy. They also authorized the committee to depose executives from the companies. Dunn also has recommended fines that would start at $1,000 on the first day and double each subsequent day. A $1,000 fine imposed on a Monday would rise to $16,000 by Friday, then double to $32,000 on Saturday. A week of delay would cost Enron $127,000. Senate President Pro Tem John Burton, D-San Francisco, and the Rules Committee he controls have the option to raise the fines even higher. They plan to take up the matter this week. "They can afford it," Burton said yesterday about the proposed fines against Enron. "That's like pocket change. Ken Lay (chairman of Enron) spends more than that on his Rolex watches." Enron representatives could not be reached for comment. Their attorneys have previously told Senate investigators that they want a confidentiality agreement to protect their bidding practices from being made public. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Senate committee told Morgan Stanley destroyed power records 07/22/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. SACRAMENTO (AP) - A state Senate committee wants to know why Morgan Stanley, a multibillion dollar financial firm and adviser to several power generators, destroyed documents that potentially could show efforts to gouge California consumers. The company recently also has come under the scrutiny of an Oregon lawmaker who is concerned the company's purchase of the rights to move power between California and Oregon could result in artificially high prices. For several weeks, Morgan Stanley had told the committee it would provide the documents, but said last week they had been destroyed as a matter of routine "years ago," said Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, the committee's chairman. Members of the committee are trying to determine whether power companies worked together to raise prices by purposefully holding back electricity to drive up demand. Morgan Stanley's involvement would have been several years ago, when it advised out-of-state energy companies to buy California power plants up for sale. A Morgan Stanley attorney told the Orange County Register that the company did not destroy any documents after Dunn's committee requested the documents May 16. "At the end of the project, they decided what they were going to keep and what they weren't going to keep, and those decisions were made years before the energy crisis and years before the committee existed," said Paul Patono, a company attorney. Dunn noted it is not illegal to raise prices as long as a company doesn't collude to force prices upward. Private utilities became able to sell their plants as part of the 1996 plan to deregulate the electricity market. Although the plants were expected to sell below their book value, they instead sold for up to three times that price, although the state then had an oversupply of electricity and old plants. While the public was told deregulation would lead to lower electricity prices, energy officials and experts testifying before the committee have said it's unlikely investors would buy aging power plants if they believed that to be true. Dunn is curious if there was any kind of plan or advertising that said the plants, if bought a certain way, would give of the buyers market power in the wholesale electricity market. The committee is still moving forward with contempt proceedings against Houston-based power marketers Enron Corp. and Reliant Energy for refusing to hand over documents to committee investigators. New York-based Morgan Stanley, now Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., got into the energy trading in 1984 and now is one of the top 20 U.S. power marketers. The company also has come under the scope of Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-Ore. Morgan Stanley bought the rights to transmit just under a third of the power flowing between California and Oregon from the Bonneville Power Administration through February 2002. DeFazio has written a letter to the BPA, asking that the agency make sure the Northwest keeps its "reliable, affordable" energy source. "The ability of a financial services company, which has no obligation to serve electricity consumers, to lock up all available capacity for a year raises serious concerns," DeFazio wrote. A company spokeswoman said Morgan Stanley acquired the transmission capacity from BPA to meet its power delivery obligations in the Northwest, and had no intention of manipulating the market. --- On the Net: http://www.msdw.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. USA: UPDATE 1-Calif. govt panel wants Reliant cited for contempt. 07/18/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. SACRAMENTO, Calif., July 18 (Reuters) - A California legislative panel voted on Wednesday to ask the state Senate to cite Reliant Energy Inc. for contempt for failing to comply with a subpoena seeking confidential documents. The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation voted 6-0 to move against Houston-based Reliant, which joins fellow Texas energy giant Enron Corp. in facing what could be the first contempt citations imposed by California's state senate since 1929. State Sen. Joe Dunn, the Democratic chair of the panel investigating charges of market manipulation and price gouging in California's energy crisis, would now begin preparing a full report on Reliant's noncompliance for the full Senate. The committee's report on Enron could be ready for submission to the full Senate Thursday, he said, adding that continued efforts to negotiate an agreement had proved fruitless. "We have been discussing this with them virtually every single day, and they are not in compliance yet," Dunn told Reuters. "Twenty-four hours ago I was cautiously optimistic about them, I am now back to pessimistic." According to state law, California's senators must use the reports to decide whether to slap sanctions on the two companies. They also have the option of fining or imprisoning company senior officers. Enron, for its part, has filed a lawsuit in Sacramento Superior Court challenging the investigative committee's authority to subpoena company documents. Senate aides said Reliant could follow the lead of another energy company, Atlanta-based Mirant Corp. , which has avoided the contempt threat by cooperating with legislators' demands to sign confidentiality agreements, open a document depository close to Sacramento, and begin placing documents there relating to the company's recent business in California. The vote against Reliant came despite the company's offer of some 10,000 documents in an effort to satisfy some of the compliance requirements. Larry Drivon, special counsel with the select committee, said Reliant's offer represented far fewer documents than some other generators have produced, and that "virtually none" of the Reliant documents offered addressed the main points of concern as cited in the legislative subpoena. "What we've gotten this time is both insignificant and largely irrelevant," Drivon said. The committee also voted on Wednesday to suspend for 30 days proceedings against number of other energy firms, including Duke Energy Corp. , Dynegy Inc. , Williams Cos. Inc. , AES Corp. and NRG Energy Inc. , pending a review of their compliance efforts to date. Enron has argued the committee has no legal jurisdiction over wholesale electricity prices, which are regulated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Committee (FERC), and that the committee's proceedings violate the company's legal rights. State officials have accused the energy companies of overcharging California power agencies and utilities some $8.9 billion for wholesale electricity over the past 14 months, which saw power prices in the state soar tenfold. Independent energy merchants have blamed the price spike on the state's poorly designed electricity deregulation law and a failure to build enough power plants to meet the growing needs of its 34 million residents and its industries. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Calif Senator: Enron Contempt Charge Seen Dropped Tue 07/16/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- A California Senate committee is likely to drop a contempt charge against Enron Corp. (ENE) Tuesday because the company is close to agreeing to provide information for an investigation into wholesale electricity prices, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said late Monday. "There has been a dramatic change, and I am optimistic that by noon (Tuesday) there will be a resolution with Enron," said Dunn, who chairs the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation. The committee voted last week to forward a contempt charge to the full Senate because Enron refused to provide certain financial documents and sign the committee's version of a confidentiality agreement. If the full Senate voted to hold Enron in contempt, it could issue punishments including hefty fines and incarceration of executives. - - 17/07/01 00-46G The committee also voted last week to drop its contempt charge at any time before a full Senate vote if Enron agreed to meet the committee's requests. "Enron has chosen to intimate to us that they will comply with our demands. They have asked us for the ability to preserve certain objections. There's a possibility we may be sued by other market participants, and if so, Enron wants to preserve its opportunities to pursue objections at that time," Dunn said. Enron filed a lawsuit last week to stop the committee's subpoena of financial records, and a company attorney said during hearings that Enron was likely to contest the contempt charge as well. In talks Monday, however, Enron mentioned the possibility of dropping the lawsuit, Dunn said, which is not a requirement to the committee's dropping the contempt charge. No-one at Enron could be reached immediately for comment. The documents sought by the price manipulation committee include information on bidding and pricing behavior in the state's electricity markets. The committee originally was poised to cite seven other electricity generators for contempt, but all eventually agreed to provide the requested information. -By Jessica Berthold, Dow Jones Newswires; 310-962-2843; jessica.berthold@dowjones.com -0- 17/07/01 01-32G Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. News Contempt vote targets power firm Subpoena Enron Corp. refuses to relinquish documents to state Senate panel. Series: energy.0712 JOHN HOWARD The Orange County Register 07/12/2001 The Orange County Register 1 PageD SACRAMENTO A Senate committee probing California's troubled energy market urged the full Senate to declare Enron Corp. in contempt for shunning a legislative subpoena, a move that could put the defiant power company's top executives at risk of arrest as early as next week. Shortly before the bipartisan vote, the Texas-based energy merchant sued the committee in a Sacramento Superior Court four blocks from the Capitol, contending lawmakers' demands for documents exceeded their jurisdiction, jeopardized confidential business information and trampled the company's rights. The panel -- the Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market -- voted 6-0 in favor of the contempt finding. The decision means a report will be offered to the Senate, which has final authority to approve it. That decision could be made by early next week, although it could be postponed or withdrawn if the company cooperates, said Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana. If upheld, the Senate then will have broad authority to impose sanctions, including daily fines until the documents are produced or even arrests of company executives, said Clark Kelso, a law professor at the University of the Pacific's McGeorge Law School. A simple majority vote in the 40-member Senate is required. Enron spokeswoman Karen Denne disputed the authority of the Senate to order arrests. "Our key executives do not even live in the state of California. The first issue here is jurisdiction. They (California senators) don't have jurisdiction outside the state." The full Senate is likely to endorse the contempt finding. There is bipartisan sentiment for it, and lawmakers often unite when legislative authority is challenged. In one major case, a company official was held in contempt and briefly jailed until he agreed to cooperate with the Legislature during a investigation of a concrete company in 1929. "What they do in these circumstances can include sending the sergeant at arms out to arrest responsible officials and bring them back before the committee. Arrest, contingency fines -- they have a wide range of options," said Kelso, a legal trouble-shooter for the Davis administration. Matthew G. Jacobs, an attorney, former federal prosecutor and a legal consultant to the Legislature, agreed. "The government code says the Senate can take whatever action they deem appropriate," Jacobs said. The Senate could even refer the contempt finding to a local prosecutor, who could file misdemeanor criminal charges. Denne said the committee's investigation, and its contempt vote, was an attempt to "find a political scapegoat." Contact Howard at (916) 449-6687 or jhoward@ocregister.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NEWS CALIFORNIA POWER CRISIS Senate panel, energy firm fighting tough Bill Ainsworth STAFF WRITER 07/12/2001 The San Diego Union-Tribune 1,2,6,7 A-3 (Copyright 2001) SACRAMENTO -- A Senate panel moved a step toward holding Enron, an energy trading firm, in contempt for refusing to turn over documents senators hope can shed light on the state's soaring energy prices. Enron fired back by filing a lawsuit yesterday asserting that only the federal government has the authority to investigate the power market. The panel, which had previously reached agreements with all the other major generators and marketing companies in California, voted 6- 0 to prepare a contempt recommendation for the Senate to consider next week. The Senate, which last issued a contempt citation in 1929, must approve any contempt recommendation. It then has wide-ranging powers to impose fines or jail time. The chairman of the Senate committee, state Sen. Joe Dunn, D- Laguna Nigel, said that if Enron agrees to turn over documents to the committee soon, then he will recommend that contempt proceedings be dropped. The Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation also decided yesterday to drop contempt proceedings against Mirant, an Atlanta-based marketing company, because it had agreed to turn over documents. The dispute also touched on broader issues. Enron, the politically connected Houston-based marketing company, has been pushing electricity deregulation throughout the world. Company chairman Kenneth Lay is a friend and campaign contributor to President Bush. Last month the firm helped sponsor a congressional fund-raiser featuring the president, where contributors in tuxedos and gowns dined and drank around a giant gold "W" that reached to the rafters at the Washington Convention Center ballroom. Enron has also helped shape Bush's energy plan. It is one of several major donors accused of meeting secretly with Vice President Dick Cheney to draft the plan. Several senators on the panel disputed Enron's claim that only federal regulators, and not the state government, could investigate the electricity market. Further, they blasted the company for saying that California could not have access to documents stored outside the state at the firm's Houston headquarters. State Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon, said the company was so defiant that it looked suspicious. "Your client doth protest too much," he said to Enron's attorney, Michael Kirby. "One can only wonder: What do you have to hide?" But Kirby said the company merely wanted to protect confidential information and get answers to its objections. That, he said, is why it filed a lawsuit contesting the committee's power to seek documents that Enron claimed would reveal trade secrets. Peace, however, took issue with the lawsuit, calling it a dramatic escalation in the dispute over an energy crisis that has cost the state billions. "You just declared war on this state's political system," he said. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NEWS Enron files suit over subpoena / Provider challenges move for documents Lynda Gledhill Chronicle Sacramento Bureau 07/12/2001 The San Francisco Chronicle FINAL A.15 (Copyright 2001) In another escalation in the war between California and out-of- state energy providers, Enron Corp. filed a lawsuit yesterday challenging the Legislature's authority to subpoena company documents. The suit came as a Senate panel investigating market manipulation voted 6 to 0 to move forward with a contempt motion against Enron. A report will be forwarded to the full Senate early next week if the marketer continues to refuse to comply with the subpoena. "You just went to war with the state of California," Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon, told the lawyer representing Enron. ". . . You already initiated a war economically; now you're in a political war." The Senate committee investigating price manipulation found Enron and Mirant Corp. in contempt last month for not turning over subpoenaed documents. The finding against Mirant was vacated yesterday because it agreed to turn over documents. The committee, chaired by Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, requested documents from power providers in early April. When the requests were ignored, the committee issued subpoenas asking generators for documents covering business plans, operations, risk management and investment strategies. Peace argued that forcing a judge to decide the scope of the Legislature's authority could provoke a constitutional crisis. "You are treading into the territory of asking the court to make judgment on the rules and the law governing the rights of the Legislature," Peace said. "It is a separation of powers issue of the highest order." But Michael Kirby, a lawyer hired by Enron, said the Houston company was simply looking for due process. "A subpoena is a subpoena and once you go that route you must comply with the law," he told the committee. "We are entitled to some kind of hearing with a neutral arbitrator. It was not our preference to file a lawsuit." Kirby and the lawsuit cite several objections to the Senate's subpoena. These include the confidentiality of the documents and whether a California body can require documents from outside the state. Enron also says that only federal regulators have the power to subpoena their records. Kirby and members of the committee disagreed over the scope of what a legislative subpoena covers versus one used in a criminal matter. "I think there is a fundamental misunderstanding about our legislative inquiry," Dunn said. "We are not drawing conclusions about guilt or innocence. We want to see what fixes must be made in the law." Kirby did say Enron has set up a depository in Sacramento and has 30,000 documents ready to be deposited, pending an agreement can be reached on confidentiality issues. But that is not good enough for committee members, who believe that Enron has continue to evade the committee. "We have no indication that Enron ever intends to comply with the subpoena," said Sen. Debra Bowen, D-Marina del Ray. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California Officials Press Contempt Findings against Houston-Based Power Firm Emily Bazar 07/12/2001 KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Sacramento Bee - California Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World Reporter (TM) State legislators pressed forward with contempt findings against Enron Corp. on Wednesday after the company failed to produce subpoenaed documents and filed a lawsuit asking the court to intervene on its behalf. Lawmakers on a special Senate committee investigating electricity price manipulation warned that the voluminous lawsuit, filed in Sacramento Superior Court, could have far-reaching implications for the Legislature's ability to conduct investigations and make findings. A few even suggested the legal action could trigger "a constitutional crisis" that could end up in the California or U.S. supreme court. "You are treading into the territory of asking a court to make judgment on the rules and the law governing the rights of the Legislature," said state Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon. "It is a separation of powers issue of the highest order." Representatives from Enron, a power marketer based in Houston, said they are merely concerned that the committee has violated their due process rights. Enron and another company, Mirant, were initially found in contempt by the committee June 28 for refusing to turn over thousands of pages of documents that had been subpoenaed June 11. But the committee offered the companies a reprieve. If they complied with the subpoenas, signed confidentiality agreements and set up a document depository in Sacramento by Tuesday, the contempt findings would be expunged. Committee attorney Laurence Drivon reported at the hearing that Mirant had complied with the requirements, and had set up a document depository in the U.S. Bank building downtown. Mirant spokesman Patrick Dorinson said 159,000 pages of documents had been turned over in 44 boxes as of Wednesday morning. As a result, the panel voted to purge the contempt findings against Mirant, but said it would review the company's compliance again in about 30 days. Enron, however, did not turn over any documents or sign a confidentiality agreement since the last hearing, Drivon said, and negotiations yielded little progress. On a 6-0 vote, the panel agreed to move forward with contempt proceedings against Enron. As early as next week, the committee will forward a report to the Senate, which will vote on the contempt findings and levy punishments that could range from jail time for company officials to steep fines. The panel said Enron could still purge the contempt findings if it complies with the subpoena before the report is forwarded. But company officials fired back at the committee, accusing members of unfairly singling out Enron and treating it differently from other energy companies. "It is exceedingly difficult to discern whether the committee's actions are designed to uncover the facts underlying the price spikes in California's wholesale electric power market, or to create a convenient political scapegoat to shoulder the blame for California's policy mistakes," one official wrote to the committee. All along, Enron officials have said they have several objections to the committee's process. They believe the panel is violating the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission's jurisdiction in its investigation; that it isn't entitled to documents that are stored outside California; and that it doesn't have the right to the confidential information and trade secrets in the documents. They also argue that their due process rights have been violated because they received no response to their written objections to the subpoena before the June 28 contempt vote. The committee chairman, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, overruled most of their objections Wednesday. However, Enron officials argued it's unfair for a committee member to rule on their objections. "It is a foregone conclusion that the objections are going to be overruled," Enron lawyer Michael Kirby said at the hearing. Officials believe an impartial third party should determine the merits of their concerns, which was a primary reason the company filed the lawsuit, said Enron spokeswoman Karen Denne. In the lawsuit, Enron seeks a court injunction to end contempt proceedings until the company's objections "have been duly considered and ruled upon by an impartial hearing officer." But Dunn said the Legislature's investigations are different from court inquiries, and so are its procedures. "The same due process concerns applicable to a court proceeding are not equally applicable to an investigation by the Legislature," he said. He denied the committee had singled out Enron, and said he believes Enron's lawsuit is really asking the court to force the Legislature to end its investigation. The committee is scheduled to consider contempt findings against other power companies next week. "Enron (has) raised, potentially, a constitutional crisis with this litigation," Dunn said. Constitutional scholar Clark Kelso said legislators clamoring about a constitutional crisis may be exaggerating. But Kelso, a professor at McGeorge School of Law in Sacramento, believes the suit should be dismissed because it is premature. He said the contempt process is still under way in the Capitol, and has yet to be acted upon by the Senate. Reacting to Enron's claims that an impartial third party should hear its objections, Kelso also disagreed. "A court is not going to hold a Senate committee to the same standard of impartiality it would hold a judge to," he said. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California Senate Committee Pushes Enron Contempt Citation Forward 07/11/2001 Dow Jones Business News (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) Dow Jones Newswires LOS ANGELES -- A California Senate committee voted Wednesday to forward to the full Senate a contempt charge against Enron Corp. because the company refuses to provide certain financial documents for an investigation into wholesale power prices in the state. If Enron is deemed to be in contempt by the full Senate, the legislators will vote on punishments that could include fines against the company or incarceration for company executives. "When Enron decides it is so important to keep its information private, I can only assume there is much more there to find than I can imagine," said Sen. Steve Peace (D., El Cajon), a member of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation. Enron (ENE) filed a lawsuit Tuesday to stop the Senate's subpoena of financial records, saying the documents were outside of California's jurisdiction. The Houston company also is likely to legally contest the contempt charge, an Enron attorney said during Wednesday's hearings. The market manipulation committee will forward its contempt report to the full Senate by early next week, at the earliest, said Sen. Joe Dunn (D., Santa Ana), chairman of the committee. If at any point between now and then Enron decides to comply with the committee's requests, the contempt charge will be dropped, Sen. Dunn said. The committee also voted not to recommend a contempt charge for Mirant Corp (MIR), which agreed to provide financial documents Wednesday morning shortly before the hearing. The documents sought by Mr. Dunn's committee include information on bidding and pricing behavior in the state's electricity markets. The committee originally was poised to cite eight electricity generators for contempt, but all except Enron have since agreed to provide the requested information. Write to Jessica Berthold at jessica.berthold@dowjones.com Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California; Metro Desk Duke Energy Asked to Allow Release of Data Power: Senator says the generator is refusing to make public some information crucial to the price-gouging probe. Firm says it's complying. CARL INGRAM TIMES STAFF WRITER 07/10/2001 Los Angeles Times Home Edition B-8 Copyright 2001 / The Times Mirror Company SACRAMENTO -- The chairman of a Senate committee probing suspected price gouging during the California energy crisis charged Monday that Duke Energy is refusing to allow him to make public information key to his investigation. Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) said Duke has made the price bidding information from its Chula Vista plant available to committee members and staffers. But under a federal confidentiality rule, the data cannot be made public without Duke's consent. The documents concern the Chula Vista plant, which former employees have alleged was ramped up and down to drive up power prices during three days in January. However, state records show that the agency overseeing the electricity grid ordered those gyrations to keep the power flowing throughout the state. Dunn said Duke's refusal thwarts the committee's investigation and efforts to enact possible remedial legislation because the confidential information cannot be shared with others in the Legislature or the public. Dunn said Duke cited a rule of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission that gives the company the authority to decide which records it makes public and which stay secret. "The only one who can release the data is Duke. We agreed to be bound by what is provided in the FERC tariff, nothing more or less," he said. Former Employees Tell of Maneuvers Dunn noted that the committee is considering trying to obtain the information elsewhere and "release it over Duke's objections." Three former workers at the Duke plant near Chula Vista testified last month under oath that the plant, among other things, was ramped up and down in what seemed to be an effort to maximize revenue during the Jan. 16-18 emergency. But Duke countered immediately that it had merely obeyed orders of the California Independent System Operator, which keeps the state's electricity grid in balance. Duke later provided Cal-ISO documents backing up its explanation. Duke executives insisted that the former employees failed to provide a full picture of the plant's operation during the three days. But Dunn, chairman of the select Senate committee on alleged price gouging, said Monday that by refusing to authorize release of all the subpoenaed data, Duke was guilty of the same tactics. "Duke is trying to draw the impression that it has [provided] the full picture. But they are fully aware that we cannot draw any final conclusions until all that data has been released. That hasn't occurred," Dunn said. To make a determination whether the Chula Vista power was withheld to drive up prices, Dunn said, the committee must publicly examine "the bids Duke submitted from which the ISO issued orders to the plant." They include the expensive hour-ahead and day-ahead markets, he said. Duke, a North Carolina-based wholesaler that operates several plants in California, noted that it considers the information proprietary and off-limits to legislators not on the committee. Duke spokesman Tom Williams insisted that the generator is attempting to comply with the committee's demands. But he was unable to say whether Duke would agree to make the bidding documents public along with other records the committee plans to turn over. "We are complying now," Williams said. "There is some suggestion that we are leaving stuff out when we have not had a chance to testify. . . . I don't know what we are ultimately going to do." The committee had threatened to cite eight wholesale generators unless they provide pricing and bidding documents by Wednesday. Six, including Duke, have said they would comply to avoid a contempt citation. Two, Enron and Mirant, were cited. Dunn said the committee on Wednesday likely will give companies that are trying to comply an extra week to do so, but others probably will be formally charged with contempt in a report to the full Senate. The upper house is the final arbiter of such issues. Although there is scant precedent for levying penalties against those cited for contempt, Dunn said he favors imposing severe fines. In 1929, the most recent case, a cement company executive was sent to jail. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Calif Pwr Plant Outages Dn In Jun, Still Top 2000 -Report 07/09/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- The average amount of electricity generating capacity unavailable to California due to breakdowns or planned maintenance at power plants fell by half in June from the three previous months, the California Energy Commission said Monday. But the 6,758 megawatts of generation that was off line on average last month was still more than twice the 2,683 MW off line in June 2000. Generators, including Duke Energy (DUK), Reliant Energy Inc. (REI) and Dynegy Inc. (DYN), said that's because the half-century-old power plants ran at maximum capacity during the past year to help cover the state's massive electricity shortfall. Generators said there's nothing suspicious about the increased amount of capacity that went off line this year. In fact, they schedule maintenance a year in advance. "We ran the heck out of our plants," said Duke spokesman Tom Williams. "These plants are about 50 years old. They broke down because we ran them so hard." In addition, about 5,000 MW of generation operated by small power producers known as qualifying facilities shut down their units this spring, because they were owed for power supplied to Edison International (EIX) unit Southern Californa Edison and PG&E Corp. (PCG) unit Pacific Gas & Electric. Those plants began operating again late last month after striking deals to settle their claims. State officials, however, believe the generators have purposely kept their power plants off line to drive-up wholesale electricity prices. State Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said it appears generators have the ability to influence wholesale power prices and have done so by forcing some of their units off line. "Whether they did it in a concerted fashion is the question we're trying to answer," Dunn said. "But it's clear that some of these plants may have shut down for unnecessary maintenance." The amount of generation off line between March and May averaged 14,026 MW, according to the commission's report. Since January, average outages each month have run about twice as high as the same month the year before. The numbers are based on calculations made by the state's Independent System Operator, manager of the electricity grid, which keeps track of the outages. -By Jason Leopold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874; jason.leopold@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. More Employees To Testify Vs Calif Generators -Senator By Jason Leopold Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 07/05/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) LOS ANGELES -(Dow Jones)- Current and former power plant employees are expected to testify soon against California's major power suppliers, alleging the companies manipulated the state's wholesale electricity market in an effort to boost power prices, the head of the state Senate committee investigating the claims told Dow Jones Newswires. The whistleblowers are non-management employees who work for or were once employed by Reliant Energy Inc. (REI), Dynegy Inc. (DYN), Mirant Corp. (MIR), Williams Cos. (WMB) and Duke Energy (DUK), said state Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, chairman of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation. "We have been dealing with a whole number of whistleblowers to provide their view, whether good or bad," Dunn said. "These are whistleblowers from virtually all five generators who are either current or former employees." California is seeking $9 billion in refunds from suppliers, which it accuses of price gouging. The state also hopes to pursue criminal charges against power company executives. So far, Dunn's committee has only heard testimony from former employees of Duke. The testimony against the other generators could come as early as July 10, Dunn said. Some of the whistleblowers are concerned about losing their jobs or being blacklisted once they testify, he said. Two former employees of Duke's South Bay power plant are slated to testify Thursday before the Senate committee that Duke reduced output at the 706-megawatt power plant to drive up wholesale power prices. Last month, three former Duke power plant employees testified that Duke tossed out spare parts and "ramped down" two turbines during power emergencies. The men produced control room logs to back up their testimony. "The testimony by the new whistleblowers is headed in the same direction as the other three (Duke) employees," Dunn said, adding that evidence may include some control room logs that show power plants being ramped up and down. The California Independent System Operator, manager of the state's power grid, admitted last week that Duke was acting on its orders when the company reduced output at the plant, but said it issued those orders because Duke's power prices were too high. Generators Deny Manipulation Energy companies will have an opportunity to give their side of the story to the committee by the end of the month, Dunn said. The companies deny allegations they manipulated the market. "We have not withheld," said Mirant spokesman Pat Dorinson. "We have not manipulated the market. We follow dispatch instructions given to us by the ISO." Dynegy spokesman Steve Stengel said the company hasn't been told by Dunn's office that anyone would be making specific allegations about its operations. Repeating an argument used by Duke, Stengel said plant employees weren't aware of the big picture. "No one at our power plants is in a position to know why the plants ramp up and down," Stengel said. "Communication is between the ISO and the Dynegy marketing staff. We take dispatch orders from the ISO." Dunn said additional employees have come forward since the Duke employees first testified and that his staff interviews potential whistleblowers. "We see if they have something to add to the investigation," Dunn said. Despite the emergence of new witnesses, Dunn wouldn't claim to have found a "smoking gun." "I tend to shy away from that term," Dunn said. "To be honest, if a (smoking gun) exists, I doubt we will ever get our hands on it." Dunn's committee started its hearings three months ago. The senator said he has concluded that generators have the ability to set the price of wholesale electricity and should be stripped of their ability to charge market rates. "We still have to hear from the generators," Dunn said. "But it seems very clear that the Big Five generators have market power. The question is how do they exercise market power and what is the impact on the price? If market power has been exercised in a concerted fashion, that's a potential antitrust charge. That's illegal." The committee will continue its investigation through the summer break, which begins July 15, and expects to complete its probe by September, Dunn said. -By Jason Leopold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874; jason.leopold@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. News Power producers in contempt Energy Companies withhold documents in probe of possible price fixing. Series: energy.0628 KIMBERLY KINDY The Orange County Register 06/29/2001 The Orange County Register 1 PageH Sacramento Two power producers were found in contempt Thursday by a Senate committee investigating possible price manipulation after company officials refused to turn over thousands of subpoenaed documents. Such an action hadn't been taken since 1929, when the Legislature was investigating the cement industry. Enron Corp. and Mirant Energy both failed to reach an agreement by Thursday's deadline to turn over internal memos, business strategies, contracts for electricity sales, and volumes of other documents that will reveal how they've run their businesses under deregulation. Mirant spokesman Patrick Dorinson said his company hopes to reach an agreement with the committee within two weeks and said company officials would continue to negotiate in good faith. But Enron was defiant. No company official attended the hearing. Instead, San Diego attorney Michael Kirby faxed a four-page letter, announcing for the first time that the company has no intention of handing over documents. Enron challenged the committee's legal authority to investigate the industry and said that most of the documents were stored outside California, so the committee had no legal right to ask for them. Enron officials refused further comment. The response outraged Sen. Steve Peace, D-Chula Vista, who said Enron should face harsher punishment than the rest and warned other power producers to not follow Enron's lead. "These guys make the tobacco guys look like paupers," Peace said. "(The tobacco industry was) nowhere near as slick as these guys." Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, chairman of the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Market Manipulation, said that if the two companies don't comply by July 10, the full Senate will likely be asked to hold them in contempt. The Senate could order the immediate delivery of the documents in addition to fines and other penalties. The other five companies that faced a possible contempt citation Thursday were given an extension to July 10 because they were starting to turn over documents or had agreed to a method of turning them over. Those companies include Dynegy Inc., which handed over 18,000 pages Thursday, and Reliant Energy, which turned over 1,800, Dunn said. Duke Energy and Williams Cos. agreed to turn over the requested documents to a central location in Sacramento, provided a confidentiality agreement can be reached. AES Corp. was not found in contempt because Williams' compliance likely covers the company; Williams pays AES to run the plants and sells the energy the plants produce. Contact Kindy at (916) 449-6685 or kkindy@ocregister.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California News TWO COMPANIES FOUND IN CONTEMPT OF LEGISLATURE; ENRON, MIRANT HAVE 12 DAYS TO WORK OUT DEAL TO PROVIDE DOCUMENTS BY DION NISSENBAUM, Mercury News Sacramento Bureau 06/29/2001 San Jose Mercury News Morning Final 27A © Copyright 2001, San Jose Mercury News. All Rights Reserved. SACRAMENTO -- California lawmakers found two companies in contempt on Thursday for refusing to turn over thousands of pages of documents as part of an investigation into possible electricity price gouging, the first time since the Great Depression that a committee has resorted to such a drastic measure. After weeks of fruitless negotiations, a special state Senate committee unanimously found Enron and Mirant -- two of the state's largest private power providers -- in contempt of the Legislature. ''These companies have shown contempt for the people of California, and it adds to the strong suspicion that they have a lot to hide,'' said Sen. Wes Chesbro, D-Santa Rosa. Five other energy companies avoided a similar fate with a series of 11th-hour faxes, phone calls and deliveries to the Capitol meant to signal their willingness to cooperate. But lawmakers offered sharp criticism of Enron and Mirant. ''Am I prepared to throw someone in jail for non-compliance? Hell, yes,'' said Sen. Bill Morrow, the top Republican on the committee. The companies have 12 days to work out an agreement with the committee or face punishment. Because the action is taken so rarely, there is little guidance for lawmakers on how to proceed. Any punishment must be approved by the full Senate, which has wide latitude to order the arrest of company officials, impose financial penalties or take some other action. An attorney for Mirant sought to avert the vote with a last-minute agreement, rejected by the committee, to turn over some documents. Enron's response was a four-page letter in which it questioned the committee's right to examine its business practices. The last time the state Senate took such an action came in 1929 when lawmakers ordered the arrest and brief imprisonment of a cement company executive who refused to speak to them about alleged price fixing. More recently, a state Assembly committee investigating former Insurance Commissioner Charles Quackenbush ordered the arrest last summer of a witness who failed to appear at a hearing. The witness came to the Capitol several hours later. The Senate committee has been trying for months to gain access to internaldocuments. All seven companies fought the requests and asked the committee to adopt broad restrictions on what material it would make public. But the committee refused. In light of the stalemate, the committee vowed to hold the companies in contempt. Five companies -- Duke Energy, Dynegy, Reliant, Williams and AES -- managed to ward off a contempt vote by turning over, or agreeing to turn over, documents under the less-stringent secrecy protections offered by the committee in May. As the hearing got under way, Reliant turned over 1,800 pages of what it called non-confidential documents. A few hours later, Dynegy delivered seven boxes filled with more than 18,000 documents. Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Garden Grove, called the last-minute flurry of activity ''unfortunate and disturbing'' and said his committee will spend the next two weeks looking over the documents to see if they satisfy the panel's demands. Should the companies balk on their last-minute agreements, Dunn said, the committee will take a second look at finding them in contempt. {CHART} CHART: MERCURY NEWS [Chart not taken in database] Chart Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California News FIRMS FACE CONTEMPT RULING FOR WITHHOLDING DOCUMENTS BY DION NISSENBAUM, Mercury News Sacramento Bureau 06/28/2001 San Jose Mercury News Morning Final 19A © Copyright 2001, San Jose Mercury News. All Rights Reserved. SACRAMENTO -- A special legislative committee looking into alleged electricity price gouging is poised to take the almost unprecedented step of declaring power companies in contempt for failing to turn over thousands of pages of documents. State Sen. Joe Dunn is expected to grill the major power companies at a hearing today for refusing to turn over records the Garden Grove Democrat and his committee want to examine. ''We have reached the end of our patience,'' Dunn said Wednesday. If the committee declares the companies in contempt, Senate aides said, it would be the first time in 72 years that the Legislature has taken such a step. Just what might happen to the companies remains unclear. State law gives lawmakers broad, but vague, power to impose financial penalties on the companies, arrest witnesses or take stronger action. The full Democrat-controlled state Senate would have to decide what punishment, if any, to impose. Dunn and his committee have taken a lead in the Capitol in exploring allegations that power companies, including Duke Energy, Reliant, Mirant, Williams and Dynegy, used unethical or illegal tactics to drive up the price of power and rake in billions in profits. For nearly three months, the committee has been working with company lawyers to gain access to thousands of pages of documents. After weeks of stalemate, the committee issued a 15-page subpoena earlier this month to the companies. But the companies have balked. Tom Williams, a Duke spokesman, said his company was unwilling to turn over information until the committee agreed to some restrictions. ''We have not gotten adequate confidentiality agreements from Sen. Dunn's committee and that's a big stumbling block,'' he said. Dunn said he is willing to protect company trade secrets but will not agree to broad confidentiality rules. According to Senate aides, the last time the Senate found someone in contempt was in 1929, when lawmakers ordered the arrest of a witness in a price fixing investigation. The state Assembly made similar threats last year during an investigation of former Insurance Commissioner Charles Quackenbush. Exactly one year ago, the Assembly committee ordered the arrest of a witness who failed to appear. The witness appeared several hours later. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. NEWS Two power firms held in contempt by state Senate panel / Enron, Mirant cited over subpoenaed documents Lynda Gledhill Chronicle Sacramento Bureau 06/29/2001 The San Francisco Chronicle FINAL A.6 (Copyright 2001) A state Senate committee held Enron and Mirant corporations in contempt yesterday for not turning over subpoenaed documents as six other energy companies made frantic, last-minute deals to comply with the lawmakers' orders. The contempt finding is the first of its kind since 1929 when a Senate panel investigating price fixing in cement prices briefly jailed a Portland businessman for refusing to comply with a subpoena. "Jailing is an option and we preserve all options at this point," said state Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, the chairman of the committee investigating charges of price manipulation in the wholesale electricity market. Although Dunn's committee voted 5 to 0 to find the companies in contempt, the panel will decide July 10 whether to ask the full Senate to issue sanctions against Enron and Mirant. Dunn's committee requested documents from power providers in early April. When the requests were ignored, the committee issued subpoenas on June 11 asking generators for documents covering business plans, operations, risk management, and investment strategies. Based on their pledges yesterday to cooperate with the committee, six energy providers escaped contempt citations and were given until July 10 to comply with the orders. All of the companies cited concerns about confidentiality of the documents. As committee members met, generators' lawyers stepped into hallways and made hurried calls from cell phones to their corporate headquarters, and one company delivered a truckload of documents to the Capitol. "While we have received certain documents today, we have no idea what has been given to us," Dunn said. "That it has taken until today to get these responses is unfortunate and disturbing." Enron drew most of the wrath from the committee after sending only a letter questioning the committee's jurisdiction. The company also criticized an investigation by Attorney General Bill Lockyer, which company officials called "fatally and irreparably compromised" by what it said was blatant bias. Lockyer has said in published articles that the heads of some of the power generating companies, like Enron, should go to jail. Lawmakers took Enron to task for not bothering to send a representative to the hearing. "There is clearly a stark contrast in the conduct in the marketplace between Enron and other companies," said Sen. Steve Peace, D-El Cajon. "The irony of the Enron letter is that they were the architect of the whole (deregulation) concept." An Enron spokeswoman reached after the hearing declined to comment. An attorney for Duke told lawmakers his company would agree to place all requested documents in a Sacramento depository for the committee to review. He also agreed that except for a few minor changes the company would agree to a proposed confidentiality agreement. Under the plan, information such as trade secrets and other proprietary information would be kept confidential and companies would receive a 10-day notice if the committee planned to make public any confidential materials. The company would then have that time to ask for a court order preventing any release. A lawyer for Williams Energy agreed to the same conditions as Duke, and an attorney for Mirant pursued a similar strategy but stopped short of pledging that all documents would be made available. A Mirant spokesman said later that the company has compiled thousands of pages of documents and wi
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