Duke Acknowledges ‘Round-Trip’ Trades

Duke Energy Corp. said it included about $1 billion of energy trades in its financial statements over three years that had no economic benefit and were similar to those of rivals Dynegy Inc. and Reliant Resources Inc.

Duke, the second-largest U.S. utility owner and a top energy trader, said the “round-trip” trades constituted less than 1% of its $107.4 billion in energy trading and marketing revenue from 1999 to 2001.

The company’s shares fell $1.18 to $33.52 on the NYSE.

Also Friday, Dynegy Chief Executive Chuck Watson told shareholders at the company’s annual meeting that he was “very disappointed” with bogus trades it did with CMS Energy Corp. Revelation of the trades have rocked the industry the last two weeks.

Enron Corp. agreed this week to terminate the $2.98-billion sale of Oregon utility Portland General Electric to Northwest Natural Gas Co., after Enron’s stock became essentially worthless after its Dec. 2 bankruptcy filing.