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WITH $200 MILLION IN DAILY SAVINGS AT STAKE, ENRON PRESIDENT SKILLING SUPPORTS FEDERAL DEADLINE FOR ELECTRIC COMPETITION
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, March 6, 1997
Washington, D.C. -- With daily savings for homes and businesses of approximately $200 million at stake, the federal government's role in setting a deadline for retail electric competition is imperative, according to Jeffrey K. Skilling, president and COO of Enron Corp., one of the world's largest integrated natural gas companies and the largest wholesale marketer of electricity in the U.S.
Skilling's remarks came before a workshop of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Thursday's workshop was the first in a series soliciting input on allowing electric consumers the right to choose among electricity suppliers. Bills have been introduced in both houses of Congress supporting electricity competition.
Skilling said the act of setting a deadline is imperative to bringing the benefits of competition to all electricity customers.
"Monopoly utilities will parade before you what they believe are the horrible and intractable problems of ending their monopolies," Skilling said. "Until you set a deadline, that's all they'll do. A deadline forces them to stop listing problems, and start listing solutions."
Skilling's testimony included the following observations:
The Need for a New System
"To give you an idea of the distortion in the electricity market, consider that wholesale electricity sells for, on average, 2 cents per kilowatt-hour. Yet consumers pay anywhere from three to eight times this amount."
30-40 Percent Savings for Consumers
"Electric power is a $200 billion annual market. Numerous studies, from different points on the political spectrum, tell us we could be saving $60-80 billion per year, or more."
Timing is Everything
"Without a deadline, the utility monopolies will continue to dawdle and stall market innovation while consumers foot the bill."
A National Solution to a National Issue
"There are few issues so national in scope. We are all connected to an electric grid that knows no state boundaries. It is the quintessential interstate market. Retail electric choice is the quintessential consumer issue. It demands a federal response."
Enron Corp., one of the world's largest integrated natural gas and electricity companies with approximately $16 billion in assets, operates one of the largest natural gas transmission systems in the world; is the largest purchaser and marketer of natural gas and the largest non-regulated marketer of electricity in North America; markets natural gas liquids worldwide; manages the largest portfolio of fixed-price natural gas risk management contracts in the world; is among the leading entities arranging new capital to the energy industry; owns a majority interest in Enron Oil & Gas Company, one of the largest independent (non-integrated) exploration and production companies in the United States; owns a majority interest in Enron Global Power & Pipelines L.L.C., which is owner and manager of operating power plants and natural gas pipelines around the world; is one of the largest independent developers and producers of electricity in the world; and is a major supplier of solar and wind renewable energy worldwide. Enron is traded under the ticker symbol, "ENE."
For additional information please contact:
Mark Palmer,
Enron Corp.
(713) 853-4738
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