Senator Feinstein Calls for Investigation into Enron Bankruptcy
December 10, 2001

Washington, DC - U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has called for an investigation into the bankruptcy of the Enron Corporation to determine whether consumers are protected adequately from the deregulated energy market.

In a letter to Senate Governmental Affairs Chairman Joe Lieberman, Senator Feinstein wrote: "Notonly is Enron's bankruptcy the largest filing in history, but it is also the largest indictment of electricity deregulation that I can imagine. It poses further questions about whether there are adequate safeguards in place to protect consumers from predatory pricing associated with the deregulation of electricity markets."

Specifically, Senator Feinstein called upon the Government Affairs Committee to explore the following issues:

1.Enron's aversion to any form of price caps or price controls when the California and Western energy markets spiraled out of control;

2.Enron's reluctance to enter into long term contracts with California, even after the State's other creditors like Dynegy, Williams, and Reliant finally did agree to contracts;

3.Enron's energy transactions in the futures market and the lack of transparency concerning this data;

4.Whether future transactions entered into by Enron can be executed; and 5.Lastly, the reluctance of the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate Enron's financial records and its impending bankruptcy.

Senator Feinstein concluded: "Hopefully, your committee's investigation can shed light on how this situation came about and provide important data to ensure that a bankruptcy of this magnitude never occurs again."

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