Power struggle: Enron lurches in darkness

Beleaguered energy giant Enron struggled to survive as former suitor Dynegy Inc warned bankruptcy court will not protect Enron’s lucrative assets from being acquired.Dynegy, which on Wednesday pulled out of its planned bailout, warned that a bankruptcy case likely to be filed by Enron would not stop it from taking the Northern National Gas pipeline.

1,100 employees in Britain laid off

London, Dec 1: Enron Corp, the US-based energy giant teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, laid off 1,100 workers on Friday, more than 80 per cent of those it directly employs in Britain.

PricewaterhouseCoopers, the consulting firm asked on Thursday to serve as the administrator of Enron’s European holding company after its credit rating was downgraded, said in announcing the layoffs that they were meant to save what remained of the business.

Tony Lomas, a PricewaterhouseCoopers partner, said that only 250 of Enron’s British staff were retained. “The overriding priority is to preserve the valuable parts of the business and to reduce the cash needs of the business whilst seeking to secure the future of certain Enron businesses,” Lomas said in a statement. Enron was considering on Friday whether to pursue bankruptcy prtection following its unprecedented collapse. Dynegy Inc on Wednesday called off a $8.4 billion merger that was supposed to save Enron from disaster.

Mr Lomas informed the British Broadcasting Corp before the announcement that Enron had paid its British payroll through the end of the day and was trying to decide whether to ask employees to work next week.

Enron has about 2,000 additional employees in Britain through power
companies and a water company towns. (Reuters)

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