PJM Communications Effort

Two weeks ago, Phil Harris sent a letter to the CEOs of PJM member-companies
urging them to designate a representative to participate in PJM's
Communications Group. The initial step would be to highlight the four years
of success in the PJM wholesale market and enhance the public's confidence in
the value of competitive electric markets.

Since Enron has already committed money to EPSA's multi-state communications
effort as well as an aggressive communications plan in NY, I thought it would
be useful to meet with PJM's manager of communications to try and get a
better idea of what they are trying to achieve.

On Friday, June 1st, I met with Beth Foley -- PJM's Manager of
Communications. Beth is new to PJM. The bottom line is that PJM has never
had a communications office. Press inquiries and other external
communications have been handled from PJM's customer care center. This year,
PJM decided it needed to create a new division to deal soley with
communications/pr issues.

As of last week, 35 member companies had responded to the letter from Phil
Harris. The next step is likely to be a meeting of all the interested
companies in PA.

They're starting from ground zero, so I shared some of Enron's experiences in
NY and DC with her:

Research is useful in order to define message points, and keep the effort
focused
Many companies are being asked to fund various "communications plans" as a
result of the CA fallout. These companies (including Enron) expect their
dollars to create value for them, and if the communications efforts are
repetitive or not providing value then the efforts aren't worth funding.
External assistance in the development of a pr plan are extremely useful and
necessary for comprehensive efforts.
Buy-in from member companies on the message points will be a critical first
step and will require a good amount of time in the early stages.
Need to identify the overall goal and time-frame for achieving them. (PJM is
not really attempting to do a "summer crisis" effort. Their's is much more
long-term focused.

Tom Hoatson and I are on PJM's list as contacts for this effort. And I
expect to hear back from PJM in the near future regarding a meeting of all
the interested parties.

Please call if you have questions.