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AES Expresses Interest in Enron's India Project
The Wall Street Journal, 06/28/01 California Energy Firm Subsidiary Puts Rockville, Md., Headquarters on Hold KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Washington Times - Washington, D.C., 06/28/01 World-Wide The Wall Street Journal, 06/28/01 INDIA: AES interested in Enron's Indian power plant. Reuters English News Service, 06/28/01 Bush kicks off summer of fund raising with $20 million dinner Associated Press Newswires, 06/28/01 INDIA: Japan bank may invoke Enron loan guarantee-paper. Reuters English News Service, 06/28/01 India: Reinsurance rates rise 20 pc Business Line (The Hindu), 06/28/01 U.S. firm enters local energy market Lethbridge Herald, 06/28/01 Investigators may seek contempt sanctions against power generators Associated Press Newswires, 06/27/01 State energy crisis may imperil future of deregulation, consumer choice Associated Press Newswires, 06/27/01 Impact: Why Won't Vice President Cheney Say Who He Got Advice From on the Energy Crisis? Fox News: The O'Reilly Factor, 06/27/01 Senators Ask Army Chief to Step Away From Energy Issue Dow Jones Business News, 06/27/01 UK: Companies prepare European gas trading contract. Reuters English News Service, 06/27/01 International AES Expresses Interest in Enron's India Project By Daniel Pearl Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal 06/28/2001 The Wall Street Journal A13 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) BOMBAY, India -- Power giant AES Corp. said it "would consider getting involved" with rival Enron Corp.'s $3 billion Dabhol Power Co. project in India, but Dabhol's backers so far don't see AES as a serious contender to buy out the troubled electricity venture. The 740-megawatt Dabhol project hasn't produced power for more than a month, because of a payment and tariff dispute between the company and its sole customer, the western industrial state of Maharashtra. Enron officials have said it's unlikely any buyer would step in now, with Maharashtra insisting on renegotiation of the project's 1,444-megawatt second phase and contractors delaying its completion because of unpaid bills. "We don't see that opportunity now," agreed Surender Singh, AES's executive director in India. "They have to get [the dispute] resolved first." But he added, "We are not denying we have an interest." In a statement issued in India yesterday, AES said it has made "no formal proposal to any stakeholders at this stage," but Mr. Singh wouldn't comment on reports that the company had talked with one of Dabhol's lenders. He also said AES wouldn't consider buying into the project unless it gained management control. Houston-based Enron has been trying without luck to sell a 15% stake in Dabhol. Enron holds 65%, and the rest is split among General Electric Co., Bechtel Corp. and the cash-strapped government of Maharashtra. Enron is believed to be looking for a way to leave the Dabhol project entirely. The politically charged rate dispute appears increasingly to be heading for a lengthy legal mediation, since Maharashtra is asking for much steeper tariff reductions than Enron is willing to give. Also, Enron may wish to avoid negotiating a new power-purchase agreement, which would allow a recently formed state regulatory commission to claim jurisdiction over the project's rates. The commission has already won the first round of a court battle trying to assert its authority, though Dabhol is expected to appeal. AES, Arlington, Va., is known for its willingness to take on political risks. Still, some Dabhol officials worry that AES's vague expression of interest will further muddy Enron's situation in India. The first of several local newspaper articles quoting AES officials as wanting to take over Dabhol appeared on June 16, just as Dabhol and its lenders were winding up a crucial bargaining session with Maharashtra. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. California Energy Firm Subsidiary Puts Rockville, Md., Headquarters on Hold Chris Baker 06/28/2001 KRTBN Knight-Ridder Tribune Business News: The Washington Times - Washington, D.C. Copyright (C) 2001 KRTBN Knight Ridder Tribune Business News; Source: World Reporter (TM) The California energy crunch has forced a PG&E Corp. subsidiary to delay its plan for a new $100 million headquarters in Rockville. PG&E National Energy Group was expected to start construction this summer on the 450,000-square-foot complex in Tower Oaks, a business campus off Interstate 270. The plans are now on hold because of financial problems within the parent company that are rooted in the California power crunch, a spokesman said. Another PG&E unit, Pacific Gas and Electric Co., filed for protection from its creditors under Chapter 11 of the federal bankruptcy code in April. It listed an $8.9 billion deficit. That unit, which has 13 million customers in California, suffered when the state changed its electricity regulations and the company was forced to buy increasingly expensive wholesale power without the ability to pass the rising costs to its customers. "Even though our companies are completely separate, we believe it is prudent to put the project on hold and focus on other parts of the business," said David Mould, spokesman for National Energy Group. The company develops and operates electric and gas power plants, and operates one of the nation's largest energy-trading businesses. It announced a new $550 million line of credit from several investment banks last week and said in a statement it would use the money for working capital and to "establish a credit identity that is independent of PG&E Corp." National Energy Group currently occupies 320,000 square feet in Bethesda. It has about 650 employees. This summer, the company expected to begin construction in Tower Oaks on a 10-story office building with roughly 280,000 square feet and an adjacent building with about 140,000 square feet. Mr. Mould said he did not know when construction might begin, but that the company is "still committed" to the project. A spokesman for the Tower Cos., the north Bethesda group that is developing Tower Oaks, declined to comment yesterday. National Energy Group's decision to delay the project is "disappointing," said Stephen Christian, business development specialist for the Montgomery County Department of Economic Development. But the department, which helped National Energy Group plan the new headquarters, believes the company will eventually get the project "back on track," Mr. Christian said. A spokesman for the Electric Power Supply Association said power companies across the country are proceeding with expansion plans, even though some government officials and industry leaders believe the problems in California could signal a national energy shortage. "The situation with PG&E is unique because of the situation in California," said Mark Stultz, vice president of public affairs and marketing for the trade group, which represents power marketers and generators. Energy giant Enron Corp. said yesterday it is nearing completion on a 1.2 million-square-foot addition to its headquarters in a Houston office tower. Meanwhile, Orion Power Holdings Inc., a Baltimore company, said it still plans to build new electric plants in Southern Maryland and Kentucky. Other companies are planning plants in Fauquier and Loudoun counties in Northern Virginia, although elected officials in those counties say they are not needed. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. What's News World-Wide 06/28/2001 The Wall Street Journal A1 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) The Army secretary was advised by Senate Armed Services panel members McCain and Carnahan to recuse himself in decisions on utility contracts for bases. Thomas White until this year was Enron's vice chairman. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIA: AES interested in Enron's Indian power plant. 06/28/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. BOMBAY, June 28 (Reuters) - The Indian subsidiary of U.S. electricity firm AES Corp on Thursday said it "would consider getting involved" in the controversy-ridden Dabhol power project if an opportunity arose, but said it had made no formal proposal so far. U.S. energy giant Enron Corp could pull out of the $2.9 billion project as a result of a bitter dispute with the Indian state utility that has contracted to buy the power. The wrangle had given rise to speculation that AES India could take over the project from Enron's Indian subsidiary, Dabhol Power Corporation. In a press statement, AES said it had neither made any formal proposal to stakeholders nor received any. AES was among the first global firms to enter India when its government liberalised the power sector in 1992, and has so far invested a total $155 million in two separate projects. In 1998, it purchased 49 percent of Orissa Power Generation Corporation, when the eastern Indian state of Orissa's power assets were privatised. In September 1999 it also acquired the Central Electricity Supply Company of Orissa. AES initially came into India intending to develop and operate a coal-fired power plant in Orissa. But the project was delayed and is still under development. Enron's investment in the power plant, on the western coast of India, is the country's single largest direct foreign investment. But Dabhol Power Corporation and the Maharashtra State Electricity Board are now in the midst of an acrimonious row that threatens to scupper the high-profile project. The power firm claims the state utility has reneged on its contractual obligations by defaulting on payments, while the utility claims Dabhol has also violated several clauses in the contract. The dispute has brought bad publicity to Enron and hurt India's image among foreign investors, including other global power firms which had eagerly entered the potentially huge Indian power sector. "The commitment and willingness of parties to a contract...is an important consideration for our investment decision in any project," said AES's press release. "This is the basis for both our current investment and for any future investment we may make in India or any other country." Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Bush kicks off summer of fund raising with $20 million dinner By SHARON THEIMER Associated Press Writer 06/28/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican lawmakers and donors partied around a giant "W" at a presidential dinner that raised more than $20 million for GOP congressional candidates. The Wednesday night dinner opened what party officials say will be a summer of fund raising by President Bush, first lady Laura Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney for Republican House and Senate candidates. The invitation offered those contributing $25,000 and up "the option to request a member of Congress and their guest to complete your table of 10." The biggest donors got a chance to mingle with President Bush and Cheney at a predinner reception. Bush thanked contributors profusely in an 18-minute speech that touched on his policies on tax cuts, education and defense. "Make no mistake about it: This dinner has one goal in mind, to make sure Denny Hastert remains the speaker of the House and to make sure Trent Lott is the majority leader of the United States Senate," he said. More than 4,000 tickets were sold for the $2,500-per-plate event, topping the record $11.7 million the GOP's House-Senate dinner took in last year, when former President George H.W. Bush was the main speaker. Donors in tuxedos and gowns dined and drank around a giant gold "W" that reached to the rafters at the Washington Convention Center ballroom in honor of President Bush. Grilled tenderloin, sweet potato and corn souffle and assorted desserts were on the menu. Those hoping for quality time with the president may have been disappointed. He and Cheney left before the salad plates were cleared. Hastert of Illinois, Lott of Mississippi and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia were among politicians mixing with contributors. The dinner program listed dozens of corporate sponsors representing a wide range of industries, including Microsoft, American Airlines, Philip Morris, Enron, AT&T, Dow Chemical, Walt Disney and eBay, to name a few. Bruce Gates, a lobbyist for the Health Benefits Coalition, was one of the event's co-chairmen. The group of insurers and business associations is fighting pending Senate legislation that would give patients broad rights to sue their managed-care plans. Co-chairman Jim Anderson of the National Association of Wholesaler Distributors, which is also a Health Benefits Coalition member, dined at one of the head tables with Cheney. Anderson said he has taken part in several House-Senate dinners. "We do it because we support the policies of this administration. We support the policies of the Republicans in the House and Senate with respect to the issues our members care about," Anderson said, citing taxes, labor-management relations and health care. The Republican and Democratic parties are both raising money at a record clip for next year's battle over House and Senate control. And both are rolling out star power - political and otherwise - to do it. Wynonna Judd entertained donors at Wednesday's GOP fund-raiser. Roberta Flack is performing at a $1 million Democratic National Committee event Thursday night. Former vice presidential candidate Joseph Lieberman is the featured guest at the DNC fund-raiser. The Connecticut senator, Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and former President Clinton have all headlined Democratic fund-raisers in recent weeks and are expected to do more this summer. The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee is inviting big donors to spend July 6-8 on the Massachusetts island of Nantucket dining and sailing with Daschle and more than a dozen other senators. Those giving $20,000 in federally regulated donations or $50,000 in unregulated "soft money" are invited. The McCain-Feingold campaign finance bill pending in Congress would ban the large soft-money contributions the parties commonly take in at big fund-raisers. --- On the Net: GOP congressional committees: http://www.nrsc.org; http://www.nrcc.org Democratic committees: http://www.dccc.org; http://www.dscc.org Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIA: Japan bank may invoke Enron loan guarantee-paper. 06/28/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. BOMBAY, June 28 (Reuters) - The Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) has warned it may invoke the guarantee provided by Indian banks for the foreign loan used to help build a $2.9 billion power plant which has quit operating, an Indian financial daily reported on Thursday. The Economic Times, citing unnamed sources, said the Japanese government-run bank had "sounded a grim warning" during a meeting last week in Bombay with officials of the Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), which often serves as a representative of all Indian banks in this matter. No IDBI official could be contacted to comment on the report. The Economic Times said JBIC had a direct fund exposure of $258.21 million to Dahbol Power Company (DPC), set up by Houston-based energy giant Enron Corp to build a 2,184 MW power plant south of Bombay. The newspaper said Indian institutions - IDBI, ICICI , State Bank of India and IFCI - had guaranteed $524.24 million in foreign loans to the project, work on which was halted earlier this month. Generating capacity of 740 MW was completed in 1998, while a second phase adding another 1,444 MW was almost complete when Bechtel and other contractors ceased work on June 16. DPC has been embroiled in a dispute with the cash-strapped state utility, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, which is the sole buyer of its power and has defaulted on payments of $48 million to DPC. The state utility stopped buying power from DPC in May. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India: Reinsurance rates rise 20 pc 06/28/2001 Business Line (The Hindu) Copyright (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL); Source: World Reporter (TM) - Asia Intelligence Wire BANGALORE, June 27. REINSURANCE rates for India have escalated by 20 per cent during the last three months. This escalation comes after the premiums went up by 50 per cent in March this year. Industry sources attributed this to the rising claims from the power sector and the increase in the potential for claims by the sector. Such potential is estimated by the industry using a methodology called the "Probable Maximum Claim" ratios. After this increase, reinsurance premiums are currently in the range of about 0.58 per cent of the sum assured. Till March this year, the premiums were in the region of 0.47 per cent and in January it was about 0.25 per cent. The claims from the energy sector have been on account of natural disasters as well as accidents. Most of the claims are currently from the private sector, specially in the generation segment. This is because very few of the transmission / distribution companies' assets have been insured. Wherever insurance cover has been taken, it has been mostly in externally- funded projects. Current estimates of reinsured assets in the country are in the region of about Rs 2,500 crore. This approximately translates into a premium outflow of about Rs 900 crore. This volume by international standards is treated as low. In March when the premiums escalated, this was one of the reasons cited. Moreover,, the sources said, during the last few months there had been a weakening of the sentiment for India. Hence, the hardening of reinsurance premiums. Among the reasons cited for the weakening were fears within the reinsurance community that some of the force majeure clauses covering the Dabhol Power Company (DPC) might be invoked. DPC is insured for both political as well as non-political risks. The fear is that the political risk component could be invoked by the project promoters, Enron International, leading to high claims from the insurance companies, which in turn was likely to devolve on to the reinsurers. Among the reinsurers involved in providing cover to Enron international are engineering insurance companies such as Munich Re. The increase in premiums could also be on account of the low capital adequacy levels of some of the new insurance entrants in the Indian market. For these new companies, the retention levels, the ability to absorb claims into their own balance sheet is low. Consequently, the premiums also tend to be on the high side. On the other hand, the public sector companies have a capital adequacy of a minimum of about Rs 2,000 crore and have high retention abilities. As a result, the companies that have been most affected by the premium escalation have been the new companies, despite their partners being renowned foreign companies. - C. Shivkumar Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Business Local U.S. firm enters local energy market Dave Mabell 06/28/2001 Lethbridge Herald Metro All material Copyright © Bell Globemedia Publishing Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Another American company plans to sell electric power to Lethbridge businesses. But Enron Direct has no plans to open an office here, officials say. And it's not taking on entrenched Epcor and Enmax in the residential market in the foreseeable future. "We want to sign up business and light industrial customers across Alberta," says Darren Cross, chief operating officer for Alberta. "Our plan is to use direct mail and telemarketing." In view of the non-competitive market that's remained despite the province's attempts at power deregulation, he says even that approach should stimulate a little competition. "Competition hasn't happened," Cross says. "We plan to have people out calling on business people right across Alberta." Enron Direct will offer "competitive prices" for natural gas as well as electricity, he says. But the company won't comment on the possibility it might buy the gas distribution business recently put up for sale by the Atco Group, one of a handful of gas and electricity producers that controls the Alberta market. As a subsidiary of North America's biggest gas and power wholesaler, Cross says Enron can promise customers predictable term pricing and an assured supply. Enrom Canada already claims to be the largest wholesale buyer and seller of both products in Canada. "We're not going to have the lowest price in the market," Cross adds. "But we'll always be competitive." In Lethbridge, prospective customers in the Industrial Association of Southern Alberta say they've heard it all before. "We view this announcement with a degree of skepticism," says Chris Spearman, the business group's chairman. "A similar announcement regarding more competitive offers was made three weeks ago by Enmax," he points out. "Our members have yet to see competitive bids." In today's market, Spearman says, high-use power consumers should be offered prices in the range of four to five cents per kilowatt hour -- as they are in neighbouring provinces. "We are not receiving competitive bids in that range and believe the deregulated market structure is a failure -- and is subject to price manipulation," he says. "Real competition does not exist." In the U.S., legislators are investigating charges that power prices were manipulated in California and other western states, where deregulation was also accompanied by promises of lower prices. Spearman says Alberta industries' demand on the power system has fallen, in response to record-high prices. At the same time, some new power generation has come on stream -- and that should have brought prices lower. "But we continue to see a reluctance (by the power companies) to provide competitive long-term pricing," he says. "Our members are paying rates that are double the rates they paid in last year's regulated environment." With Enmax as the city's "default" power supplier, its rival Epcor has apparently been the only company in a position to offer Lethbridge businesses an alternative price structure. But the Edmonton-company has no sales office in Lethbridge. Epcor also failed to replace a sales agent who left after been named the company's sole representative in the Lethbridge area, as Epcor was announcing its partnership in the seasonal Taylor Chute small-hydro project near Magrath. "Grand announcements are great for public image," says Spearman. "Now we would like to see some substance to support them in the form of competitive retail offers." Any comments or questions? Contact the writer at dave.mabell@lethbridgeherald.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Investigators may seek contempt sanctions against power generators By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer 06/27/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. SACRAMENTO (AP) - A Senate investigatory committee may seek contempt sanctions Thursday against power generators that have not turned over subpoenaed documents. If the Senate agrees, it would be the first such move since 1929. "These are the same documents we requested April 5, and to date the summary is: three months, zero documents," said Laurence Drivon, special counsel to the Senate Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation. The Senate Rules Committee subpoenaed the documents - which include details on bidding, pricing and other aspects of power sales - earlier this month. Generators said they haven't complied because they have not been able to negotiate an acceptable confidentiality agreement. Representatives of Reliant Energy, Dynegy Energy Services Inc., Williams Energy, Enron Corp., Duke Energy and Mirant Inc. will each be given an opportunity at a hearing Thursday to argue why they should not be held in contempt, Drivon said. If the committee subsequently votes to hold any company in contempt, it would ask the Senate to impose sanctions. There are no set penalties, Drivon said - by law, "the Senate can take such action as it deems necessary and appropriate," he said. Duke spokesman Tom Williams said his company has turned over more than 200 boxes of material to the California Public Utilities Commission, and has complied with document requests by the state attorney general and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. "We're been working with this (Senate) committee for weeks now, for over a month, without reaching agreement" on a confidentiality guarantee, Williams said. "There's proprietary information there, highly competitive information that no company could be expected to release without this sort of agreement." Telephone calls seeking comment from the other five companies were not immediately returned. The committee's chairman, Sen. Joe Dunn, D-Santa Ana, said the companies may go to court to resist the subpoenas. The last time the Senate imposed contempt sanctions was 72 years ago, when it briefly jailed a balky witness during a committee's investigation of price fixing and price gouging allegations involving the sale of cement to the state, Drivon said. The state Supreme Court eventually upheld the Senate's right to jail those who fail to comply with its subpoenas, Drivon said, but ordered that particular witness freed after determining senators hadn't followed all the proper procedures. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. State energy crisis may imperil future of deregulation, consumer choice By DON THOMPSON Associated Press Writer 06/27/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. SACRAMENTO (AP) - California's energy crisis may claim a substantial victim: deregulation itself. "Never again will we embrace a free market - it's too expensive," Gov. Gray Davis' chief energy adviser, S. David Freeman, predicted Wednesday. "The marketplace is blind to the need for cleaner air, it is blind to the needs of consumers in a shortage, and it produces a shortage with its volatility," the former head of the Los Angeles and Sacramento municipal power agencies told a Senate committee plotting California's energy future. The state's flawed 1996 law freed wholesale electricity rates while capping retail power prices, leaving the state's three investor-owned utilities trapped in between. Now the state has signed $43 billion worth of long-term energy contracts, and created a power authority that could build its own power plants. Its Public Utilities Commission stands ready to bar businesses from freely swapping power providers - the incentive that prompted deregulation in the first place. Davis wants lawmakers to approve buying the electricity transmission lines from two of the three cash-strapped utilities, and wants to buy the lines of the state's largest utility, Pacific Gas and Electric, out of bankruptcy court. Consumer groups say the state should buy the utilities' hydroelectric generation and other assets as well, as part of a return to regulation and a shift to publicly owned power supplies. "Look what deregulation and handing our electricity supply over to a bunch of private companies has done for us - 50 percent (rate) increases and $20 billion in surcharges. Thank you very much, but no thank you," Harvey Rosenfield of the Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights said last week. He argued the state should buy all three utilities at their current "fire-sale prices" - "We're talking about picking them up for a dime-for-a-dollar when they're totally out of cash." Enron Corp. President and CEO Jeffrey Skilling is among those urging the state to do the opposite and create a truly open market. Public power only drives up costs and lowers accountability, he said. "If you had an open competitive marketplace and not put restrictions on that marketplace, I guarantee you the price of power in California will be significantly lower," he said in a San Francisco speech last week entitled, "The arrogance of regulation." "California needs to get deregulation right and the rest of the country needs to get deregulation right," Skilling said, shortly after he was hit by a pie thrown by an irate electricity consumer. That means giving consumers more immediate price incentives, other free marketers told the Senate Energy Committee Wednesday. Tiered electricity rates would reward consumers who confine their electricity use to lower, cheaper "tiers" of energy consumption. Real-time electricity meters would let consumers see the price they are paying at any given time of day or night, encouraging them to, say, run their clothes dryer at 3 a.m. when power would be cheaper. Business' demand for choice drove the deregulation movement, when industries sought the ability to choose among energy wholesalers or generators rather than being locked into buying their money through a local utility. But PUC President Loretta Lynch predicted the commission will block that choice Tuesday, for fear departing customers will leave residential and other small consumers to pay a larger share of the $8.2 billion the state has authorized for power buys. The move was panned by generators and business groups as a step backward. Southern California Edison Vice President Bob Foster predicted the state will end up regulating all three legs of its power grid: generation, transmission and distribution. Regulation is needed to smooth out the boom-and-bust business cycle that California has seen so graphically in the last year, he said. Freeman predicted the state will likely wind up with some sort of "hybrid" of government regulation that will rein in the excesses of a free market. "It's impossible to say at the moment whether the (investor-owned) utilities will revive," he warned. If they do, he said their corporate boards may opt to chase the higher profits of the open market while shedding their transmission and distribution systems to state control. Yet Freeman and California Energy Commission Chairman Bill Keese predicted residential and business consumers may soon see the sort of freedom of choice they now could only dream about, once fuel cells, photovoltaic generation and micro-turbines become commonplace. "The future perhaps belongs to a whole new set of competitors," Freeman said. "These central station power generators are not going to have it all to themselves." AP Photos SC108-109. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. News; Domestic Impact: Why Won't Vice President Cheney Say Who He Got Advice From on the Energy Crisis? Bill O'Reilly 06/27/2001 Fox News: The O'Reilly Factor © Copyright Federal Document Clearing House. All Rights Reserved. O'REILLY: In the "Impact" segment tonight, why won't Vice President Cheney tell us who he got advice from on the energy crisis? The General Accounting Office, the investigative arm of Congress, has asked Cheney for a list of people he has talked with because some Democrats are charging that big donors to the GOP are getting more access to Cheney than other Americans. So far, Mr. Cheney has not turned over the list. His office told us that the GAO has no legal right to know who the vice president talked with and that making names public would discourage people from seeking an audience with government officials. You may remember Hillary Clinton tried to do the same thing with her health-care debacle. Joining us now from Arlington, Virginia, is "USA Today" energy and economics correspondent Jonathan Weisman who is following the story. JONATHAN WEISMAN, "USA TODAY": How are you? O'REILLY: I -- I'm not -- I'm not getting why Cheney won't turn this over. I mean, I know that they're saying the GAO doesn't have a right and all this stuff. But so what? Just turn the list over, right? WEISMAN: Yeah. Well, you know, they say that there's a principle here, that they feel like they -- they won't be able to get free and unfettered advice if whoever goes into the Oval Office is going to get grilled by the press afterwards. That doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I mean, a lot of people who go into the Oval Office go to the press and brag about it. In fact, I talked to the -- the chairman of Enron, the big natural gas company, told me all about a meeting with the Cheney task force and all the advice that he had given him. It doesn't make a lot of sense. I mean, they must just feel like it would be embarrassing to see a big list of a bunch of energy executives who had met with the Cheney task force. O'REILLY: So you think that it's -- that possible -- and we -- this is conjecture. I don't like to do conjecture, but because there's no reason -- concrete reason in my mind that this list wouldn't be put out there that it's possible the list is stacked to the right with GOP donors and people who are, you know, looking out for the energy area rather than the environmental area? WEISMAN: Yeah, it's certainly possible. I mean, I -- I actually know some environmentalists and some -- kind of the -- actually, old Clinton people who met with the energy task force to share their views. I know that both sides did do these meetings, but, I mean, by the way they're being very cautious about releasing these names, you've got to think that there must -- there must be something to... O'REILLY: Yeah. Well, if it's 10-1, that's not going to look too good, and that's the... WEISMAN: Exactly. O'REILLY: ... and that's why Democrats want it. They -- they want to embarrass the Bush-Cheney administration, correct? WEISMAN: Oh, the Democrats are looking for any way to make a Clinton era-type controversy stick to the Bush people, and this one just worked perfectly because, you know, it -- it was Hillary Rodham Clinton's task force that met secretly that got grilled. In fact, it was -- it was actually a civil suit against Hillary's task force that forced them to release all -- all their names. There hasn't been a civil suit filed, but these two Democratic members of Congress asked the GAO to do an investigation, and the GAO took them up on it. O'REILLY: All right. So we -- we've got to know that the motives are political, that the Democrats want to embarrass Cheney and Bush, and they might have an opportunity, if Cheney and Bush sought the counsel of, you know, the energy industry people, the drilling people, and the -- and the fossil fuel people, and then very few on the other side. So that could be a... WEISMAN: Right. O'REILLY: ... a potential source of embarrassment, but I... WEISMAN: Right. O'REILLY: I believe that all -- this isn't a big story as far as Americans are concerned. Just throw it out there. It's going to last for 10 seconds, no? WEISMAN: Well, the -- the funny thing is, when it was just, you know, Henry Waxman and John Dingell, these representatives from Congress just kind of badgering the White House, nobody paid much attention to it. It looked like a little partisan spat, right? As soon as the GAO, though, sent this letter saying, "Release this -- release this information or else," it was elevated to a different realm. Now it looks more like a battle between Congress, represented by its investigative arm, the GAO, and the White House... O'REILLY: Right. WEISMAN: ... and it becomes a much bigger deal. O'REILLY: Well, I think -- but the big deal for the people, and I don't care about the GAO or Cheney's office or any of that, but the folks have a right to know what's going on. I mean, that's the bottom line on this. WEISMAN: Yeah, it looks -- it looks like they're hiding. O'REILLY: Yeah. Well, they are. They are. They are hiding. Just like Hillary Clinton hid her list, Cheney's hiding his list. That's what they're doing. It doesn't look like it. That's what it is. I believe in open government. I want to know... WEISMAN: Yeah. And then... O'REILLY: ... who's going in and what they're doing because the Clinton administration abused that so by having Johnny Chung in there and everybody else. I don't want that to continue. I'll give you the last word on it. WEISMAN: OK. O'REILLY: The last... WEISMAN: All right. Well, let me tell you. One -- one other thing. They -- they make a lot of legal arguments about why the GAO doesn't have access and, you know, I'm not a lawyer, maybe they're absolutely right, but, you know, the Clinton administration also made a lot of legal arguments, and we're getting -- we're getting kind of tired of legal arguments. O'REILLY: I -- I know I am, and I think everybody wants open government. Mr. Weisman, thanks very much for your time. WEISMAN: You're welcome. O'REILLY: Plenty more ahead as THE FACTOR moves along this evening. Will your investments come back? The Fed cuts interest rates again, but some still say Alan Greenspan is not doing the job. And then ABC News correspondent John Stossel in the middle of yet another controversy. This time over kids and the environment. We'll talk with him. And we hope you stay tuned for those reports. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Senators Ask Army Chief to Step Away From Energy Issue 06/27/2001 Dow Jones Business News (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) Associated Press WASHINGTON -- Two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee are asking the new Army secretary to remove himself from any involvement with contracts for military base utilities because of his ties to an energy company that is pursuing the business. Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.), and Jean Carnahan (D., Mo.), made the request Wednesday in response to a June 19 story by The Associated Press about Army Secretary Thomas White's ties to Enron Energy Services, where he served as vice chairman until earlier this year. The two senators wrote the Army chief that they believe he should step aside from the utility issue for at least a year to avoid the appearance of a conflict of interest. "No matter how impartial you would strive to be, the fact that you were vice-chairman of Enron, have owned a substantial amount of Enron stock, and recently lobbied on behalf of Enron on this very issue would raise in the public's mind a question about whether your decisions would be totally unbiased," they wrote. Army spokeswoman Capt. Amy Hannah said Mr. White has "received the letter and is currently studying the letter." Mr. White has said he would recuse himself from Enron-related decisions if there was a clear conflict of interest. He has been consulting with lawyers on the question while selling his more than $25 million in Enron stock. AP reported that Mr. White has been pressing to shift control of more military base utilities into private hands, a multimillion-dollar business Enron is pursuing. While at the company, Mr. White played an active role in pushing for such contracts. Sens. McCain and Carnahan, whose committee reviewed the Army secretary's nomination, told White that even if he sells his stock, "there would be a clear appearance of a conflict of interest" if he takes part in any matters related to Army utility privatization for at least a year. At the least, the Pentagon should release its determination on whether the value to the government of Mr. White's participation in the issue "outweighs the very significant appearance problems that such participation would entail," the senators wrote. In a cost-cutting move in December 1998, the Pentagon ordered each branch of the service to hire energy companies to run the electric, natural gas and other utilities on military bases. Mr. White said earlier this month that the program should be moving faster. He noted that the Army's Fort Hamilton in New York is the only Army base to turn over all of its utilities to a private company. Enron won the $25 million, 10-year contract in 1999. "I see no reason whatsoever why the Army is in the energy business," Mr. White said. "It's a stupid business practice for the Army to be running itself that way." Enron has a bid pending to run utilities at several Texas bases, including seven Air Force bases, a naval base and the Army's Fort Bliss in Texas. Copyright © 2001 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. UK: Companies prepare European gas trading contract. 06/27/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. LONDON, June 27 (Reuters) - European energy companies will meet in London on Thursday to discuss plans for a standard European natural gas trading contract, the European Federation of Energy Traders said on Wednesday. "The meeting in London will be with lawyers and traders to discuss a draft contract," Jan van Aken, secretary general of the European Federation of Energy Traders (EFET) told Reuters. He said a contract had been prepared by a working group of five companies who were picked for their involvment in discussions to prepare a similar European electricity trading contract. The firms involved are Germany's RWE , Essent from the Netherlands, UK-based Centrica , U.S. utilities Enron and Mirant , formerly known as Southern Energy. Van Aken said there would be consultation with the industry on the draft, adding he hoped the contract would be ready by the end of the year. The European Union started to open its gas markets to competition in 2000, a year after a similar process began in the electricity sector. Britain, which has liberalised the whole of its gas industry, has the most liquid gas trading market in Europe. In the rest of the EU, most gas is sold under long-term contracts although trading centres have started to emerge at Zeebrugge in Belgium, the entry point to the interconnector pipeline to the UK, and at Bunde on the German/Dutch border. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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