CEO Power Forum: Stephen Baum, Chairman, President, and CEO of Sempra Energy
Has Enron's collapse forced a change or reevaluation in your business philosophy?
The effects of the Enron situation have been really both positive and negative. The negative aspects have been that there's a great deal more scrutiny and concern, not only on the part of regulatory agencies, but also on the part of financial institutions having to do with the solidity of balance sheets and the nature of financial structures of corporations. Fortunately for us, that doesn't pose any issue. We didn't engage in or have any of the special purpose or off-balance sheet kind of transactions that Enron did. Our structure is pretty transparent. We don't really see the increased scrutiny on accounting practices or the increased regulation as being any reason to change our business direction, nor will it have any particular effect on it. On the positive side, we picked up significant market share in our trading company. We've gotten some very good traders from Enron. And we bought the Enron metals, concentrates, and warehousing business located both in Europe and the United States and that has added significantly to the breath of our trading operations.
How would you assess FERC's handling of the California situation?