October 9, 2001
Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) Administrative Law Judge Curtis Wagner today recommended that the complaint filed by the California Public Utilities Commission and SCE against El Paso Corp. be dismissed. Judge Wagner said that while El Paso affiliates had market power, it was not clear that the companies had exercised that market power. The ALJ did find El Paso guilty of affiliate abuse and violating FERC standards of conduct.
ROSEMEAD, Calif., October 9, 2001-We are disappointed with the initial decision and urge the full Commission to overturn it. There is more than ample evidence in the record demonstrating that El Paso exercised market power, increasing energy costs in California by billions of dollars. SCE will continue to aggressively pursue appropriate remedies for this exercise of market power by El Paso, both at FERC and in the courts.
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An Edison International company, Southern California Edison is one of the nation's largest electric utilities, serving a population of more than 11 million via 4.3 million customer accounts in a 50,000-square-mile service area within central, coastal and Southern California. For more information on the California electricity crisis, see www.sce.com.
