Gordon,
Hey, great! Dueling articles.
Well, thrust parry, here's another!
Jerry in Omaha
Energy Commission Chief Urged to Quit Over Enron
Last Updated: February 09, 2002 12:39 PM ET
By Tom Doggett
ds.cybereps.com
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Enron's close ties with the Bush administration have prompted a call for Federal Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Pat Wood to resign because of the alleged influence the failed energy trading company had over his appointment.
Democratic Rep. Bill Pascrell said on Saturday he had urged Wood to quit as the commission begins an investigation into whether Enron manipulated energy markets last year to raise electricity prices under long-term power supply contracts with California.
"Sadly, the integrity of the commission has been irreversibly compromised due to the circumstances surrounding your appointment and the FERC's intimate relationship with Enron, and as such I urge you to resign as chairman," the New Jersey lawmaker said in a letter to Wood on Friday.
A spokesman for the energy commission declined to comment.
Pascrell said ongoing congressional hearings into Enron, as well as an investigation by the General Accounting Office have shed light on the integral role the bankrupt energy giant had in creating the current FERC panel of commissioners.
Former Enron Chief Executive Kenneth Lay had sent the White House a list of potential FERC nominees that included Wood and Nora Brownell, who was also subsequently appointed to the agency, according to Pascrell.
"In light of the influence that Kenneth Lay ... had over both your appointment to the FERC and your subsequent chairmanship of the commission, it is apparent that your ability to fairly and neutrally oversee the country's energy policies has been irrevocably comprised," Pascrell said in the letter to Wood.
"You were Kenneth Lay's choice to replace Curtis Hebert, who had recently been appointed (FERC) chairman by President Bush but later refused to promote Enron Corporation's agenda through the FERC."
Hebert resigned shortly after Wood joined the commission and Wood took over as chairman.
Ironically, Hebert was opposed to caps on skyrocketing wholesale electricity prices in California last year -- a position that Enron supported -- while Wood and Brownell went against the company and voted for FERC to curb rising power costs in western states.
FERC, which regulates interstate electricity and natural gas rates, has made 139 regulatory decisions concerning Enron since 1995 -- 18 of those since Bush took office.
"It is clear that the relationship between the FERC and Enron is unacceptably intertwined to serve the public's interest," Pascrell said.
© Reuters 2001 www.reuters.com |
