Indictment to be Dismissed Subject to the Terms of a Deferred Prosecution
Agreement
HOUSTON, March 6 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Reliant Energy Services,
Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliant Energy, Inc. (NYSE: RRI),
announced today that it has resolved the pending indictment of the company
through a deferred prosecution agreement with the government. The
indictment relates to allegations pertaining to a trading incident that
occurred on two days in June 2000.
Under the terms of the agreement, the government has agreed to dismiss
the pending indictment. Assuming that Reliant Energy Services complies with
the terms of the agreement for the next two years, the government has
agreed that it will not seek to re-indict the company for the conduct
alleged in the pending indictment. As part of the agreement Reliant Energy
Services has agreed to pay a penalty of $22.2 million (in addition to a
$13.8 million credit for a January 2003 settlement with the Federal Energy
Regulatory Commission pertaining to the same incident). Also under the
agreement the company has made certain commitments to the government,
including that it will maintain and continue to implement certain
compliance measures.
"The company is very pleased to have reached this resolution with the
U.S. Attorney. We have consistently maintained that the conduct in question
was not in keeping with the standards of conduct we expect from our
employees, and we accept full responsibility for this matter," said Joel
Staff, Reliant Energy chairman and chief executive officer. "Reliant Energy
is a very different company today than it was in 2000. Our new board of
directors and management team are fully committed to delivering the
benefits of competitive markets to customers, while maintaining the highest
standards of conduct throughout the organization. We have instituted a
comprehensive ethics and compliance program based on best practices. Our
record of compliance today is something that each member of the Reliant
Energy team take pride in."
Today's agreement was filed with the court this afternoon.
Reliant Energy, Inc. (NYSE: RRI) based in Houston, Texas, provides
electricity and energy services to retail and wholesale customers in the
United States. In Texas, the company provides service to approximately 1.9
million retail electricity customers, including residential and small
business customers and commercial, industrial, governmental and
institutional customers. Reliant also serves commercial, industrial,
governmental and institutional customers in the PJM (Pennsylvania, New
Jersey and Maryland) market.
The company is one of the largest independent power producers in the
nation with approximately 16,000 megawatts of power generation capacity in
operation across the United States. These strategically located generating
assets utilize natural gas, fuel oil and coal. For more information, visit
http://www.reliant.com.
SOURCE Reliant Energy, Inc.
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Related links:
http://www.reliant.com
http://www.reliant.com/corporate/
CONTACT:
Pat Hammond, media, +1-713-497-7723, or
Dennis Barber, investors, +1-713-497-3042, both of Reliant
Energy, Inc.
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