This NY Times article interviews Bruce A. Williamson, the former Duke Energy executive who the Dynegy, Inc. board brought in to restructure (some would say liquidate) the company following the economic fallout in the energy trading industry resulting from the company’s failed bid for Enron and Enron’s bankruptcy in late 2001. Previous posts are here and here regarding Dynegy’s settlement of claims at least indirectly related to its Enron bid.
The entire interview is mildly interesting and certainly further evidence for the widespread rumors in the business community that Dynegy is for sale. However, Mr. Williamson’s observation about life after Enron is priceless:
Q. Yes. What’s the mood like [in Houston after Enron]?
A. If you’re in the oil upstream exploration and production, there’s a lot of money coming in. The biggest concern the upstream companies have is where to go from there. What do they do with the money? They’re running out of places they want to go to explore.
The power merchants, and that includes ourselves and Reliant, El Paso, Calpine, Duke, are all recovering and have all been inwardly focused for the past two and a half years. I think broadly in the community in Houston, it goes in waves. Enron sort of dies down and then something rears its head up and washes it back in the news.
The Enron movie came out at the River Oaks Theater, literally a few blocks from where Ken Lay lives, and that was quite an event. One person – a board member that I will keep nameless – told me he hadn’t been to a movie like this since he was 12 and went to see “Hopalong Cassidy.” Someone would come on the screen and people would boo and hiss and throw popcorn.
Bruce neglected to mention his avid leadership in his company’s very cooperative relationship with federal prosecutors to the detriment of employees who were just doing their jobs under the direction of Dynegy’s management. Dynegy was one of the first in town to conduct prosecution-driven internal investigations in order to assist the government in criminal charges and convictions. Dynegy cut off legal defenses for junior employees under investigation, shut them off from any information relevant to the allegations and then threw them out the door to battle it out by themselves starting with Michele Valencia and Jamie Olis. When the government has millions to prosecute a case and the absolute and anxious assistance from anyone and everyone who is not a defendant- how much of a chance do you think a mid or low level employee would have who had lost their job, wasn’t employable and had been closed off from all information sometimes revealed for the first time at a trial? They are reaping the rewards for this level of “cooperation” which is hands off by the federal prosecutors. We know the results of one of Dynegy’s victims and the other is still fighting it out while Bruce and Dynegy go along their merry way. So please pardon me if I’m not too impressed with Dynegy’s and its leadership’s varied accomplishments.