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To: jim_p who wrote (13253)	9/23/2002 4:44:56 PM
From: Ronald J. Clark	Respond to of 206334

El Paso Corporation Responds to ALJ's Proposed Decision HOUSTON, Sep 23, 2002 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX/ -- El Paso Corporation (NYSE: EP) today responded to a proposed decision issued by Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Chief Administrative Law Judge Curtis L. Wagner, Jr. In the proposed decision, Judge Wagner reaffirmed the recommendation in his October 9, 2001 Initial Decision that the Commission dismiss allegations that El Paso Merchant Energy exercised market power. However, in the proposed decision, Wagner concluded that additional capacity could have been made available on the El Paso Natural Gas pipeline system during the period from November 1, 2000 to March 31, 2001. "Given the critical safety and deliverability concerns associated with operating a natural gas pipeline, it is inappropriate and without precedent to second-guess a pipeline's day-to-day operations," said William A. Wise, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of El Paso Corporation. "We are disappointed that today's proposed decision does not recognize the substantial record evidence supporting El Paso Natural Gas' position that the pipeline was operated properly. We are confident in the strength of our position and believe that we will ultimately obtain a favorable ruling." The recommended decision issued today by Judge Wagner will be reviewed by the full Commission, and only after careful consideration of the law and facts as presented by the parties in their briefs will the Commission present its final opinion. El Paso Natural Gas will submit briefs to the FERC demonstrating that the portion of the recommended decision relating to El Paso Natural Gas' capacity should be rejected in light of the evidence, the law, and sound public policy. The proposed finding that El Paso Natural Gas did not make all of its capacity available is unsupported by the evidence and is inconsistent with FERC policy. The evidence in this case demonstrates that, at all times, El Paso Natural Gas operated its system to maximize the amount of capacity available to California. The evidence demonstrates that the pipeline was full to the extent permitted by safety and operational considerations and, therefore, El Paso Natural Gas could not have exercised market power. The only response offered by the complaining parties was that, in hindsight, they would have operated the system differently. However, not one witness for the complaining parties had engineering, operating, or scheduling experience on the El Paso Natural Gas or a comparable system. The Commission has never allowed parties to prevail in such an unsupported attack on the prudence of a pipeline's operating decisions. El Paso Corporation is the leading provider of natural gas services and the largest pipeline company in North America. The company has leading positions in natural gas production, gathering and processing, and transmission, as well as liquefied natural gas transport and receiving, petroleum logistics, power generation, and merchant energy services. El Paso Corporation, rich in assets and fully integrated across the natural gas value chain, is committed to developing new supplies and technologies to deliver energy. For more information, visit www.elpaso.com .