News

FERC Probes Enron Wind Power Partnerships

October 27, 2002 by Jeff Shepard

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) announced that it was investigating whether former Enron Corp. (Houston, TX) executive Andrew Fastow improperly created special partnerships to hide the company's stake in three wind power farms. FERC said it would hold hearings to determine if the three small power producers should be stripped of their certification as "qualifying facilities" to sell wholesale electricity to US utilities.

Civil and criminal lawsuits recently filed against Fastow in federal court in Houston alleged that the former CFO and other Enron executives created partnerships to hide the company's stake in the three wind farms after the purchase of Portland General Electric. FERC ordered an administrative law judge to hold a conference within 15 days to set a schedule for submitting evidence and depositions in the case.