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Enron Political Implications

With politicians from Colorado to Washington to New York admitting they were beneficiaries of Enron, it is clear the influence of the nation's seventh largest company was wide. In Enron's home state of Texas, it was also deep.

Those who tracked the company's 15-year transformation from a little known natural gas transmission company into the country's biggest energy trader say Enron had the loyalty of Texas until it collapsed in December.

With Houston's "kingmaker" Kenneth Lay at its head, Enron secured that loyalty through a potent combination of money, lobbying and a revolving door through which employees went in and out of government, says Andrew Wheat of the advocacy group Texans for Public Justice (TPJ).

"In virtually every report we have done Ken Lay has been a big player," he says. In the last two election cycles, TPJ says, Enron spent $10.2m influencing Washington politicians. During that 1997-2000 period, the company also gave $1m to Texas political action committees and state candidates, while spending up to another $4.8m on 89 Texas lobby contracts.

After Governor George W. Bush moved to the White House last year, Mr Lay - a close friend of the Bush family for years - is thought to be the only executive to have a private meting with Vice-President Dick Cheney when he was formulating the new president's energy policy. Enron also backed Mr Bush's appointment of Pat Wood - the Texas Public Utility Commissioner - to head the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC).

TPJ says Mr Bush's greatest "gifts" to Enron came when he was Texas governor: deregulating state electric markets in 1999, going light on corporate air polluters, and supporting laws protecting businesses from lawsuits.

When Enron first began working politicians to win deregulation, the goal seemed elusive. It had been a pipeline company and, as it moved into the utilities arena, had to fight entrenched monopolies, such as Reliant, who were thought to oppose deregulation....