The Snohomish County PUD announced today it has ended five years of litigation with bankrupt Enron Corp., agreeing to pay $18 million to get out of expensive power contracts.
That’s about 10 cents on the dollar compared to what Enron was seeking, and the PUD can cover the amount without a rate increase, officials said.
PUD commissioners today approved a resolution authorizing the agreement and staving off binding arbitration that had been scheduled to begin on Monday.
Under binding arbitration, the local utility risked paying far more, PUD officials said during a telephone conference call this morning.
Enron originally sought $116 million from the PUD for contracts it canceled in 2001. The $180 million Enron was seeking included interest.
A year ago, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, in a strongly worded ruling, said that the PUD actually doesn’t owe Enron anything for prematurely ending the contracts to purchase power.
That ruling came after the local utility battled back, uncovering evidence that Enron manipulated the market to jack up power prices. The PUD made national news by saying it would not pay because of Enron’s fraud.
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