16-07-04 Nineteen energy companies and two individuals, including four Denver-area companies, have paid more than $ 220 mm to settle charges they lied to industry publications in an attempt to manipulate the marketplace for profit. The settlements started in December 2002, and the latest one wrapped up July 1.
Questions first surfaced in fall 2002 about critical natural gas and electricity pricing indexes, which the publications create and sell. Indexes set the price of natural gas in as much as 90 % to 95 % of the deals across the nation, industry experts said.

The publications, backed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), have initiated sweeping changes in the way they collect and present price information to the energy industry. At stake are millions of dollars for the publishing companies, and the way billions of dollars worth of natural gas and electricity are bought and sold.
"Price indices play a pivotal role in energy transactions of all kinds. They are used to price billions of dollars of natural gas and electricity transactions annually in both physical and financial markets," said a May 5, 2004, report from the FERC on the index controversy.

The indexes, such as Gas Daily or Inside FERC -- published by Platts, and two of the most popular price newsletters -- report the average spot-market price for natural gas at trading hubs large and small across the country.
Oil and gas companies use indexes to sell their gas. Government agencies and large manufacturers, who need natural gas to heat their buildings or to produce steam to run their equipment, also use them. And utilities such as Xcel Energy use indexes to buy gas for millions of residential and business customers.