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e ^ í l o r t l a n ú ( f t h s e r u e r ________________________________
I B usiness
Documents Allege
Energy Price Fixing
May 22,2002
Why
Deadly
Force?
PGE-parent Enron accused
in Portland operation
Gates, Jackson Tackle Digital Divide
Microsoft founder Bill Gates (from right) joins Rev. Jesse Jackson of the Rainbow/PUSH
Coalition and Tavis Smiley, talk show host and community advocate, during a recent
conference to address issues related to people who are underserved and disenfranchised by
high technology. The meeting in San Diego was the third annual Digital Connections
conference hosted by Jackson and the Silicon Valley Project of the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition.
White House Praises Tri-Met Switch
T r i- M e t’s e n v iro n m e n ta lly
friendly switch tore-refined motoroil
for its bus fleet was recently featured
by the White House in “Closing the
Circle News," a quarterly publication
on the environment.
Tri-Met is switching its entire fleet
of 670 buses to re-refined motor oil
after testing the product for a year. In
doing so, Tri-Met joins a few major
transit agencies in the country at the
forefront of this conservation effort.
Re-refining oil is better for the en
vironment because it can be re-re-
fined again and again, using fewer
natural resources. The product takes
less energy than producing and refin
ing crude oil.
C apturing and re-refining used
oil also keeps improperly discarded
m otor oil from entering rivers,
stream s, lakes and ground water
supplies.
In July 2000, Tri-Met began testing
re-refined oil in about one-third of its
bus fleet and found no significant
engine-wear differences among the
buses.
(AP) — State attorneys gen
eral in Oregon, California and
Washington have sent congres
sional investigators newly uncov
ered Enron documents outlining
corporate schemes to drive up
power prices.
The documents were handwrit
ten notes found in Enron’s Port
land office. Enron owns Portland
General Electric.
The notes were taken in Octo
ber 2001 by Tim Belden, head of
Enron’s West Coast trading op
erations, during Enron meetings
to prepare for investigations.
He discusses energy plans with
names such as “Get Shorty,” “Fat
Boy” and “Death Star.”
Investigators said Enron used
these plans to create phantom
congestion and engage in fake
sales to drive up energy prices
throughout California.
The memos said traders coined
such colorful terms for trading
strategies that sought to maximize
profits in California’s newly de
regulated electricity markets.
Describing “Death Star,” the
lawyers wrote: “The net effect of
these transactions is that Enron
gets paid for moving energy to
relieve congestion without actu
ally moving any energy or reliev
ing any congestion.” A latermemo
challenged the accuracy of the
first report and Enron lawyers have
said they don’t know which is
right.
California officials have said
for 18 months that Enron and other
energy companies took unfair
advantage of California’s deregu
lation by manipulating power sup-
plies to force prices to all-time
highs. W holesale power rates in
creased tenfold.
Enron Calls Off PGE Sale
(AP) — Enron Corp, said Thursday it has
agreed to call off the sale o f Portland General
Electric, a $1.8 billion deal that was struck
ju st w eeks before the H ouston-based en
ergy giant collapsed in bankruptcy last D e
cember.
Enron had planned to sell PGE, the largest
and oldest utility in O regon, to N orthw est
N atural Gas Co.
Both PGE and NW N atural are based in
Portland, with headquarters just blocks apart.
A PGE spokesm an said that abandoning the
deal gives the Oregon utility a better chance
of becom ing part o f a restructured Enron.
“W e think w e’re a strong com pany w ith a
prom ising future, no m atter w hat com pany
ow ns us,” said Scott Simms.
NW Natural Chairman Richard Reiten said
the Enron collapse posed too many problems.
“The agreem ent signed last O ctober, be
fore E nron’s problem s began, simply doesn’t
work given the com plexities o f the situa
tion,” Reiten said.
Stephen F. C ooper, Enron interim CEO,
agreed the bankruptcy spoiled the deal.
“A lthough we had hoped to com plete the
sale to NW N atural, it was not possible to
fully satisfy the term s,” C ooper said.
i
continued X
from Front
“Homicide is scrutinized
more than any other crime or
investigation,” he said, “and
officers involved are scruti
nized the most.
Police p sychologist Dr.
David Corey spoke o f the dev
astating impact on officers in
volved in shootings, upon their
p ersonal and p ro fessio n al
lives.
“This is a situation most of
ficers don’t want to find them
selves in,” he said.
By the end of the eight-hour
seminar, the media for once
seemed at a loss for words.
Perhaps they were so swayed
by the policies o f the depart
ment that there was no longer
a need for questions. Or maybe
the fatigue of police work kept
their mouths to a murmur.
A fte rw a rd , p a rtic ip a n ts
were presented with a Certifi
cate of Achievement, and a
Portland Police photographer
took a group photo.
As the local jo u rn alists
bunched together for the shot,
one of them asked, “W hat are
they going to do with a picture
of us?”
A photographer in the front
row chimed back, “T hey’ll
probably throw darts at it.”