Enron's impact on energy costs.

• Position: Business Briefs - Enron Corp. - Brief Article

While talk of "brownouts" may have died down since last summer, ripples from the collapse of Houston-based Enron Corp. continue to create new problems, especially for corporate consumers and owners of real estate. One of the latest issues is how to deal with the problems caused by the former energy giant's dumping of negotiated contracts.

According to Carl Marano, National Director of Energy Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, the major questions facing corporate consumers are: Are my energy contracts going to be dumped? If so, how does that impact my energy costs going forward? If not, are there opportunities for me to save some of my costs on those contracts?

Customers dumped by Enron may be sitting in a good position right now -- but the window of opportunity has been closing rapidly. Marano points Out that energy costs are lower today than they were when Enron signed many of its forward contracts giving consumers the opportunity to shop for, and negotiate, a better deal.

Many states -- among them New Jersey and Pennsylvania -- have regulations in...