Nuggets o’ News & Gossip Too

Energy Circuit's 2004 Resolutions Huff, puff. (Sigh.) Huff, puff. Hello. Sorry. You caught us racing from pumping iron at the 11th Hour Fitness gym to a power no-carb lunch. And this damn nicotine patch under the hair shirt is just so itchy. We could really use some chocolate right about now. You were asking how we were with 2004 and all? For you, there are more than New Year's resolutions from us here at Circuit . Our latest additions being launched may not be nearly as big or precedent-setting as PG&E's bankruptcy case. But you'll be pleased with the sacrifice-free to-do list up our sweatshirt sleeves. Starting this week, we are adding a batch of short news items in every issue. These briefs include items worth noting but perhaps not warranting a full news story. Here at Circuit , our access to daily nuggets o' news allows us to wrap these items in a neat little weekly package for you. With the briefs page, though, we have to make a confession about deviating from last year's resolution. We promised when we began publication last Labor Day that we would not rewrite press releases?that all the reporting would be generated by our crack team of ace reporters. But the content of the news briefs?and that section only?will likely come from releases prepared by companies, agencies, or nonprofits. We'll summarize them for you and add our own content. Also ringing in with 2004 is our new monthly variation on an "all politics is local" column. Psst, girlfriend, that translates into gossip! We have heard repeatedly that while you all cherish the straight reporting and in-depth analysis, you are also hankering for the good old local scoop. Think of the content as subplots involving a regulator, lobbyist, analyst, or lawmaker. It will add spice and keep midafternoon heavy eyelids at bay. Our new social column is called Nuggets o' Gossip. Nuggets o' Gossip?we crave it as much as you do, but we can't do it without you. Beneath that nicotine patch, we hunger for news of a personal sort. But we have our standards. The items you suggest must be verifiable and cannot be libelous. They must be related to the business of energy and cannot be mean-spirited. Think of, say, California Public Utilities Commission president Michael Peevey exiting the agency's men's room only to rip into The Utility Reform Network attorney Matt Freedman, standing in the lobby, for telling Energy Circuit he found the president's linkage to the Edison-TrueSolar deal "troubling." Of course, Peevey was not the first to blow up in plain view of reporters. Many moons earlier, commissioner Jeff Brown got into a shouting match with TURN attorney Mike Florio over the latter's challenge to the PG&E rate hike. Neither Brown nor Peevey, however, can hold a candle to the notorious former senator Steve Peace, who attacked opponents with rare force. Other juicy tidbits you might send Circuit's way could include details of more stealth, such as the finding among Enron e-mails (published by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission) that former California Independent System Operator honcho Kellan Fluckiger was being interviewed for a job through Tim Belden?once the chief trader for Enron's Western power desk. Belden has since pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud as part of a scheme to drive up electricity prices. The job interview, according to an e-mail, was set for late December 2000 in Mt. Bachelor. I think our lights in the Bay Area must have been out that day. But again, we want nothing nasty. There are matters off limits?personal issues that do not affect one's job. For example, below the belt would be former Enron CEO Rich Kinder's steamy affair. However, that moves center-stage when Kinder's affair happens to be with Ken Lay's personal secretary, which allegedly may have resulted in some pretty interesting pillow talk. The romantic involvement was said to have caused a rift between Kinder and the not exactly faithful Lay and provoked Kinder's departure in 1996, according to Robert Bruce in his book "Pipe Dreams." If you have any such nuggets for us, check our Contact Us page for your favorite reporter's e-mail address and phone number. Not so salacious but pretty darn useful for the New Year are some added features on our Web site. Since you're reading this, you know that Circuit subscribers can get at every article we've published without rooting through back issues. (You will still receive your weekly issue by e-mail; the site just gives you another route to the latest energy news.) Starting next week, this will become even easier with the launch of our new site search engine and cross-referencing of related stories. Keep your browsers peeled for these and more changes as the year progresses. Here's wishing you all a prosperous New Year. Now back to the gym to clear out the lungs and to find where I stashed that box of See's candy.

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Nuggets o’ News & Gossip Too

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