June 25, 2003—American Electric Power (AEP) has taken actions to ensure that energy-trading data is accurately reported for use in trade media indexes, the company said in a response to a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) order.
The FERC order, issued on April 30, provided AEP and ten other companies forty-five days to show they have corrected internal processes for reporting trading data to industry publications. Upon learning that five of its employees had acknowledged misreporting to the trade press, AEP: (1) changed the procedures for reporting natural gas trades to ensure that price information for use in market indexes is verified and reported by the office of AEP’s Chief Risk Officer; (2) required all of its natural gas traders to certify in writing that they had neither engaged in misreporting nor been directed to do so by others or, alternatively, to explain why they could not make such a certification; (3) dismissed the five traders who could not make the above certification and who acknowledged misreporting for violating the company’s principles of business conduct; and (4) reported the problem to federal agencies and publicly disclosed it.
