Thank You, Also!!

Ken

I know it has been several years since we spoke, but I wanted to thank you =
for your kind note, and to personally thank you for the opportunities that =
Enron has provided to me over the years.

I am one of those few who was already with HNG in 1984, and still vividly r=
emember the day that you arrived. The building was immediately permeated b=
y a sense of urgency and excitement. That pace was relentless - and addict=
ive. I also remember in detail the Internorth merger in 1985, and feel pro=
ud to have played a part, however small it was, in that transaction.

The late 1980's and the early 1990's will probably always be my favorite ye=
ars of my working life. There were so many initiatives in Enron in their i=
nfancy. Although it was an initiative that faced insurmountable economics =
and ultimately failed, I am grateful that Enron gave me the opportunity to =
participate in the natural gas vehicle adventure. I never really understoo=
d until that adventure the full meaning of the old axiom that the lessons l=
earnt best are those learnt from adversity and from making mistakes!!

I will try to remember Enron with those years through the mid-1990's in min=
d. I have to say that I consider those to be the best years, because I hav=
e witnessed a degradation of the corporate culture in the past few years. =
That is clearly a subjective assessment, and should be treated as such. I =
am under no illusions: Enron is a business entity operating in markets and=
environments that are relentlessly competitive, with a primary responsibil=
ity to its shareholders. But I and many of my colleagues who also have lon=
g tenure at Enron and its predecessors share this assessment. I am always =
amused by the irony of the stated value "Ruthlessness, callousness and arro=
gance do not belong here", since these appear to be the key defining person=
al characteristics of most of the senior management of ENA in recent years.

And unfortunately, the very sale of HPL by Enron has been for some an examp=
le of the degradation of corporate culture. For myself, I know what to exp=
ect - I know that with corporate divestitures comes the need to control inf=
ormation as the transaction evolves. But for the "rank and file" - those w=
ho live from paycheck to paycheck - it has not been a pleasant experience. =
They maintained their professionalism (indeed many of them probably worked=
harder than anybody else to make the transaction happen). In return, ther=
e has been an appalling lack of timely information and misinformation from =
Enron management and HR department with respect to their benefits and caree=
r choices. HR in particular has been totally non-responsive to individual =
inquiries in the past few months - not returning phone calls and emails fro=
m HPL employees with questions, even after the transaction was announced. =
Even as recently as the past couple of days, only upon receipt of their ter=
mination packages did several dozen employees discover that they had been m=
isinformed by HR with respect to some aspects of their remaining Enron bene=
fits.

For myself, my years at Enron will remain a high point of my career. It is=
a badge of honor in the energy industry to have been a dealmaker at Enron,=
particularly for as many years as I was there. I know Enron will continue=
to set the standards by most measures in this industry, and, for what its =
worth, I humbly wish you continued success.

Thanks

Lee Papayoti

---------------------- Forwarded by Lee L Papayoti/HOU/ECT on 05/31/2001 11=
:53 AM ---------------------------
From:=09Kenneth Lay/ENRON@enronXgate on 05/30/2001 03:00 PM
To:=09Tom Acton/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Janie Aguayo/HOU/ECT@ECT, Amelia Alland/H=
OU/ECT@ECT, Lauri A Allen/HOU/ECT@ECT, Aric Archie/NA/Enron@Enron, Karl E A=
tkins/NA/Enron@ENRON, Jeffrey A. Austin/ENRON@enronXgate, Henry Batiste/HOU=
/ECT@ECT, Rusty Belflower/NA/Enron@ENRON, Daxa Bhavsar/ENRON@enronXgate, Mi=
chael C Bilberry/HOU/ECT@ECT, Brad Blevins/HOU/ECT@ECT, Debbie Boudar/NA/En=
ron@ENRON, Greg Brazaitis/HOU/ECT@ECT, Willie Brooks/NA/Enron@Enron, Rosa B=
rown/Corp/Enron@Enron, Jerry Bubert/NA/Enron@Enron, Esther Buckley/HOU/ECT@=
ECT, Candy Bywaters/ENRON@enronXgate, Bob Camp/GCO/Enron@Enron, Howard B Ca=
mp/HOU/ECT@ECT, Molly L Carriere/HOU/ECT@ECT, Clem Cernosek/HOU/ECT@ECT, Ni=
ck Cocavessis/ENRON@enronXgate, Jane Coleman/ENRON@enronXgate, Mary Comello=
/Corp/Enron@Enron, Robert Cook/HOU/ECT@ECT, William D Cosby/GCO/Enron@Enron=
, Paul Couvillon/Corp/Enron@Enron, Robert Crockett/HOU/ECT@ECT, Calvin Dodd=
/GCO/Enron@Enron, James I Ducote/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cheryl Dudley/HOU/ECT@ECT, La=
l Echterhoff/HOU/ECT@ECT, Michael Eiben/HOU/ECT@ECT, Anita Eisenbrandt/ENRO=
N@enronXgate, Melanie Facundo/HOU/ECT@ECT, Bob Fisher/NA/Enron@Enron, Irene=
Flynn/HOU/ECT@ECT, J R Fosdick/GCO/Enron@Enron, Melissa Graves/ENRON@enron=
Xgate, Ron Green/HPL/Enron@Enron, Rebecca Griffin/NA/Enron@Enron, Karen Gru=
esen/ENRON@enronXgate, James R Haden/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cynthia Hakemack/HOU/ECT@=
ECT, John Handley/HOU/ECT@ECT, Gary A Hanks/HOU/ECT@ECT, Reid Hansen/GCO/En=
ron@Enron, Cathy L Harris/HOU/ECT@ECT, Ana Maria Hernandez/ENRON@enronXgate=
, Katherine Herrera/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Lisa Hesse/HOU/ECT@ECT, Nathan L Hlav=
aty/HOU/ECT@ECT, Charles Howard/NA/Enron@ENRON, Trisha Hughes/HOU/ECT@ECT, =
Monica Jackson/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Kenneth W Kaase/HOU/ECT@ECT, Kevin Kuehler=
/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Gary W Lamphier/HOU/ECT@ECT, Nancy Landry/ENRON@enronXga=
te, Stacy Lesmeister/ENRON@enronXgate, Wayne E Lightfoot/ENRON@enronXgate, =
Gerald Lofton/HOU/ECT@ECT, Blanca A Lopez/ENRON@enronXgate, Bac Thi Ly/GCO/=
Enron@Enron, Sean Maki/ENRON@enronXgate, Juanita Marchand/HOU/ECT@ECT, Cher=
yl Marshall/HOU/ECT@ECT, Eric Mason/Enron Communications@Enron Communicatio=
ns, Saidia Matthews/NA/Enron@ENRON, Mark McCoy/Corp/Enron@Enron, Theresa Mc=
Kinney/HOU/ECT@ECT, Constance McKinsey/ENRON@enronXgate, Julie Meyers/HOU/E=
CT@ECT, Yvette Miroballi/ENRON@enronXgate, Jack Mitchell/ENRON@enronXgate, =
Michael W Morris/HOU/ECT@ECT, Travis Moss/NA/Enron@Enron, Joanie H Ngo/HOU/=
ECT@ECT, Thu T Nguyen/HOU/ECT@ECT, Michael Olsen/ENRON@enronXgate, Lee L Pa=
payoti/HOU/ECT@ECT, Megan Parker/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Jennifer D Pattison/HOU/=
ECT@ECT, Dena Pawlowski/ENRON@enronXgate, Eugene Peabody/GCO/Enron@Enron, J=
ack Peebles/ENRON@enronXgate, Adriana Peterson/HOU/ECT@ECT, John Peyton/HOU=
/ECT@ECT, Mary Poorman/NA/Enron@Enron, Tess Ray/ENRON@enronXgate, Brian Red=
mond/ENRON@enronXgate, Donald P Reinhardt/ENRON@enronXgate, Charlene Richmo=
nd/HOU/ECT@ECT, Chris Riegler/Corp/Enron@Enron, Brian M Riley/HOU/ECT@ECT, =
Leslie Robinson/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Carlos J Rodriguez/HOU/ECT@ECT, Robert Ro=
se/NA/Enron@ENRON, Barbara Sargent/HOU/ECT@ECT, Vicente Sarmiento/GCO/Enron=
@Enron, Steve HPL Schneider/HOU/ECT@ECT, Tom Shelton/HOU/ECT@ECT, Jack Simu=
nek/HOU/ECT@ECT, Mary M Smith/HOU/ECT@ECT, Susan Smith/ENRON@enronXgate, Ke=
nny J Soignet/HOU/ECT@ECT, Karl Stewart/HOU/ECT@ECT, Vance L Taylor/ENRON@e=
nronXgate, Edward Terry/HOU/ECT@ECT, Yolanda S Thomas/ENRON@enronXgate, Joh=
n Towles/NA/Enron@ENRON, Keith Tyree/NA/Enron@ENRON, Kimberly Vaughn/HOU/EC=
T@ECT, Elsa Villarreal/HOU/ECT@ECT, Joyce Viltz/ENRON@enronXgate, Judy Walt=
ers/ENRON@enronXgate, Michael Walters/HOU/ECT@ECT, Katie Washington/NA/Enro=
n@Enron, George Weissman/HOU/ECT@ECT, Emma Kam Welsch/HOU/ECT@ECT, Larry Wh=
ite/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Bud Wolcott/Corp/Enron@ENRON, Erica Wright/ENRON@enro=
nXgate, Sabrae Zajac/HOU/ECT@ECT, Joe Zernicek/GCO/Enron@Enron
cc:=09=20
Subject:=09Thank You

I want to take this opportunity before the transfer of Houston Pipeline Com=
pany assets and employees to American Electric Power to thank each of you f=
or your teamwork and success in our years together.

Some of you were here when I joined your company in 1984, but many of you a=
rrived during the Enron era and might not know the full story of my arrival=
. I was president of Transco Energy at the time and was probably in line t=
o be the chairman. I did not expect to ever join another energy company. =
Yet the directors of Houston Natural Gas felt like a new management team wa=
s needed for their company to prosper in a rapidly changing industry enviro=
nment. The quality of people I saw at HNG convinced me that the company wo=
uld be a good platform from which to make major changes. And the results o=
ver the last 17 years could not have been better.

Houston Pipeline Company has been a major contributor to developing Enron i=
nto what it is today. Your professionalism, ideas, dedication and commitme=
nt toward this company have been instrumental in making our success possibl=
e. For this, you will not only be a critical part of Enron's history, but =
you will also always deserve Enron's gratitude.

I wish you nothing but the very best in your next endeavors, even as I am s=
ure you will not need my good luck wishes. As always, your professionalism=
and dedication will be your best allies when facing new challenges and opp=
ortunities.

Sincerely,

=20

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