FERC Finds No Wrongdoing by Avista, Requires Better Records

Under a settlement between the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and Spokane, Washington?based Avista Energy, the marketing firm agreed to maintain auditable records of energy trades and will continue to resolve disputes under the Western Systems Power Pool Agreement and tariff dispute resolution provisions. FERC closed its investigation after finding no evidence of wrongdoing. The commission?s investigation centered around Avista trades with Pacific Gas & Electric and Enron Power Marketing, Inc., during the California energy crisis of 2000 and 2001. The California attorney general was not pleased with the deal. ?We will ask the commission for a rehearing,? said Tom Dresslar, AG spokesperson. He said evidence from other proceedings shows the firm ?knowingly engaged in ricochet transactions and other market misconduct.? He estimated that Avista is liable for some ?$10 million of wrongdoing.? ?If they deny the rehearing, we have the ability to appeal it to the courts,? Dresslar added. California and the city of Tacoma, which also intervened in the case, contend FERC trial staff conducted an investigation that was far too narrow. Federal investigators, for instance, listened only to selected tapes of traders? phone conversations. They allegedly did not review the thousands of hours of recordings of Avista energy traders throughout the crisis. FERC also denied California the opportunity to conduct its own discovery proceedings and present evidence in the case. That was despite the fact that federal investigators expressed concern that Avista?s records of energy transactions were too spotty to be clear and auditable. Federal investigators found that tapes of transactions showed some of Avista?s own traders ?suspected that transactions during the period in question may have been in violation of the Commission?s Code of Conduct,? yet failed to inform upper management. FERC investigators found one instance of counterflow revenues from cut schedules in real time, but noted that it was in accordance with California Independent System Operator tariffs. ?It was an isolated incident and not a pattern of behavior,? said Pat Lynch, Avista?s director of communications. However, the company agreed in the settlement to hold an annual training program for its energy traders on FERC?s code of conduct. In addition, the company has begun using a double-entry system to record transactions, as well as ?more accessible data recordation software.? Avista also agreed to take steps to improve its transaction records, including better documenting ?the chain of command for resolution of accounting disputes? and developing audit procedures for any accounting adjustments.

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FERC Finds No Wrongdoing by Avista, Requires Better Records

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