Enron Agrees to Pay $3.28 Million to City of Tacoma

Enron Corp. has agreed to pay the city of Tacoma, Wash., $3.28 million to resolve claims that the Houston company profited by illegally manipulating Western energy markets between 1997 and 2003.

The terms of the refund were outlined in an agreement the parties filed with the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission late Monday.

The settlement would resolve one of the few remaining disputes involving Enron in commission proceedings stemming from the fallen energy trading company’s actions in the wholesale power markets in the West, the parties said in their filing.

Western utilities such as municipally owned Tacoma Power have contended that consumers were overcharged for power because of Enron’s market gaming practices.

The agreement would require approval by the energy commission as well as U.S. Bankruptcy Court.

The commission has encouraged parties to informally settle disputes stemming from the Western energy crisis rather than litigate them through an often drawn-out process.