Monday, Nov. 8, 1999 | 11:11 a.m.
Enron Corp., the world's largest marketer of electricity and natural gas, was licensed to do business in Nevada last week by the state Public Utilities Commission.
The approval is unrelated to today's deal in which Enron is selling its Portland General Electric subsidiary to Sierra Pacific Resources.
Houston-based Enron will serve commercial and industrial customers in Nevada and has no plans to offer gas or electricity to residential users.
Enron's national sales force in Houston will attempt to solicit large customers in Nevada, said company spokeswoman Peggy Mahoney.
Mahoney said Enron would first solicit customers with which it already has relationships in other states, such as Ocean Spray and Simon Properties, and attempt to get their Nevada business. Sales representatives would then focus on resorts, mines and other large businesses.
In September, Enron North America Corp. and Southwest Power LLC, both Enron affiliates, acquired Las Vegas Cogeneration, which owns a 50-megawatt power plant in North Las Vegas. That will give Enron the option of providing its customers with its own generated power.
Enron is the second company to be licensed to operate as an alternative seller of electricity in Nevada by the PUC. Utility.com of California was the first and said it would serve residential customers, billing them via the Internet.
Another utility giant, Duke Energy of Charlotte, N.C., also has applied for licensing in Nevada and expects to compete with Enron for commercial and industrial customers as DukeSolutions. A company spokesman said the licensing is expected to be reviewed by the PUC later this month.
Four other companies have licensing applications pending. They include the affiliates of Sierra Pacific Resources, the current utility monopoly doing business in Las Vegas as Nevada Power; New Energy Southwest of Phoenix, which plans residential service; Coral Power, Houston, which is seeking only commercial customers; and Avistar of Albuquerque, N.M., an affiliate of Public Service of New Mexico, which plans to offer metering services to residences and businesses as a company called Phaser.
Enron's public exposure is expected to get a boost next year when a new baseball stadium is opened with its name. Enron Field will be the new home of the Houston Astros baseball team beginning in April.
In other PUC business last week, Commissioners Judy Sheldrew and Don Soderberg sparred over a proposed order to establish an independent system administrator, an independent regulator that would assure competing utilities fair access to power transmission lines.
Sheldrew's request to set a hearing on the formation of the Mountain West ISA was pulled off Thursday's agenda by Soderberg, who is chairman of the three-member PUC.
Sheldrew said the formation of an ISA is critical to competitors when the industry is restructured in March. She also said Nevada Power's merger with Sierra Pacific Resources was partially contingent upon the formation of an ISA.
Soderberg said he pulled Sheldrew's request from the agenda while he awaits a legal opinion from the PUC staff. Soderberg questions whether the PUC has jurisdiction on some issues or whether the ISA matter should be addressed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
Sheldrew fears delays in setting hearings could prevent competition from starting on time in March. Soderberg discounted Sheldrew's concerns and said he would rather delay a hearing and get a legal opinion now than face time-consuming litigation in the future. He said FERC isn't scheduled to act on the matter anytime soon.
Sheldrew also asked for a legal opinion on whether another commissioner has the authority to remove an agenda item without debate.
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