Contribution to IPPNY PAC

Rick: IPPNY's new Executive Director, Gavin Donahue, has personally solicited
each of IPPNY's Board members for a contribution to IPPNY's PAC, which has a
balance of $1,000. Donahue came to IPPNY last month from a very senior
position in the Pataki administration (#2 person at the State Dept of
Environmental Conservation and part of the Governor's inner circle), and can
be extremely helpful to us as we pursue some project development
opportunities in the State. I thought it was important to cultivate a
relationship with Donahue and given that we have made similar contributions
to IPPNY in prior years (most recently in 1997 or 98 I think), spoke to Steve
Montovano about this request. Steve agreed that it made sense and could be
funded out of the $5k budgeted for NY. Based on that conversation, I've
already spoken to Donahue and indicated that we would contribute something.
While I recognize that IPPNY is largely dominated by the generators, we do
have some influence as a Board member and by virtue of just being Enron. I
would not like to see us squander our "first impressions" with Donahue and
undermine his new credibility as an organization head by denying him the
funds to allow him to appear as a player in the political fund-raising
circuit. Let me know if you're really uncomfortable with this approach.
Howard