Statement of Senator Dianne Feinstein
On FERC's Request to Energy Companies to Disclose
Whether They Were Involved in "Wash" Transactions
May 21, 2002

Washington, DC - The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) today asked all companies that sold or traded wholesale energy in the Western energy market to make a sworned statement disclosing whether they had made any so-called "Wash," "Round Trip," or "Sell/Buyback" transactions in 2000 and 2001.

Since the commission began its probe into price manipulation in February, published reports indicate that Dynegy, Duke, Reliant Resources Inc. CMS Energy Corp. and Williams Cos. have disclosed such transactions.

The following is Senator Feinstein's statement:

"I believe this type of manipulative trading activity is but the tip of the iceberg. I commend the Commission for looking into these types of trades which are intended to fool investors and drive up energy prices.

The more we learn about what happened in the energy market during 2000 and 2001, the better we will be able to prevent such abuses in the future."

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