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161-520: Notably, PGE does not serve all of Portland. Its service territory comprises most of Portland west of the Willamette River , sharing most of the city east of the river with Pacific Power . PGE holds a mix of generation and storage facilities including hydropower, wind, solar, battery storage and thermal, as well as key transmission resources. The company’s power plants have a combined generating capacity of more than 3,300 megawatts. Following

322-562: A flood in 1861 . This and many other large flows preceded the Flood Control Act of 1936 and dam construction on the Willamette's major tributaries. The river below Willamette Falls, 26.5 miles (42.6 km) from the mouth, is affected by semidiurnal tides , and gauges have detected reverse flows (backwards river flows) below Ross Island at RM 15 (RK 24). The National Weather Service issues tide forecasts for

483-615: A public utility district in PGE's territory. The Columbia Valley Authority project would have allowed CVA to purchase utilities such as PGE. PGE survived bankruptcy partially through cheap power purchases from BPA beginning in the fall of 1939, and by the end of 1941 they showed net profits. In the meantime, Ormond R. Bean , the Oregon Public Utility Commissioner , forced PGE to lower its rates. Ultimately, PEPCO and PGE were saved by World War II , which led to

644-593: A strike by 900 union workers, effective March 8, 2004, represented by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers . Points over which the negotiations broke down included retiree medical benefits as well as losses of the members' 401(k) plan. This labor dispute was resolved shortly afterward, and the union agreed to a new contract. The TPG purchase offer was denied by the Oregon Public Utility Commission ,

805-719: A "popular public utility." His vision was for the company to light the Lewis and Clark Centennial Exposition in 1905. in 1903, he traveled to the east coast to raise $ 3,000 from shareholders. His plan went through, and Thomas H. Wright was put in charge of designing the lighting for the fair. PGE also purchased the Union Power Company in 1905, and the Vancouver Electric Light & Power Company in 1906. In 1906, PGE, Portland Railway Company, and Oregon Water Power & Railway Company merged, becoming

966-463: A $ 45 million penalty (later reduced). Fastow was sentenced to six years of jail time, and Lou Pai settled out of court for $ 31.5 million. In October 2000, Daniel Scotto , the most renowned utility analyst on Wall Street, suspended his ratings on all energy companies conducting business in California because of the possibility that the companies would not receive full and adequate compensation for

1127-405: A $ 50 million deposit on the sale. The same day, Governor Ted Kulongoski vetoed a bill that would create a public corporation to purchase PGE. In April 2006, shares in a newly independent PGE were issued as part of an Enron distribution to its creditors. Source for section: PGE has been ranked first for 14 years by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory for

1288-403: A 1,380 miles (2,220 km) fiber optic network between Portland and Las Vegas. In 1998, Enron constructed a building in a rundown area of Las Vegas near E Sahara, right over the "backbone" of fiber optic cables providing service to technology companies nationwide. The location had the ability to send "the entire Library of Congress anywhere in the world within minutes" and could stream "video to

1449-497: A 3-year stint with initial success, but ultimately, a big dip in earnings led to his exit. In 1984, Kenneth Lay succeeded Matthews and inherited the troubled conglomerate. With its conservative success, InterNorth became a target of corporate takeovers, the most prominent originating with Irwin Jacobs. InterNorth CEO Sam Segnar sought a friendly merger with HNG. In May 1985, Internorth acquired HNG for $ 2.3 billion, 40% higher than

1610-575: A common business practice in the energy industry. However, it also allowed Enron to transfer some of its liabilities off its books, allowing it to maintain a robust and generally increasing stock price and thus keep its critical investment-grade credit ratings. Enron was originally involved in transmitting and distributing electricity and natural gas throughout the US. The company developed, built, and operated power plants and pipelines while dealing with rules of law and other infrastructures worldwide. Enron owned

1771-575: A contractor exempt from state regulation. Voter distrust of both Enron and PGE was severe enough for voters to approve the measure, despite $ 71,592 being spent in advertisements to oppose it, in comparison to the $ 2,304 spent by supporters. This resulted in those three cities becoming part of the Columbia River PUD on terms far more favorable to the customers; electricity rates immediately dropped in these cities, and remain lower than those for current PGE customers. Concerned by uncertainty that

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1932-445: A dangerous spiral in which, each quarter, corporate officers would have to perform more and more financial deception to create the illusion of billions of dollars in profit while the company was actually losing money. This practice increased their stock price to new levels, at which point the executives began to work on insider information and trade millions of dollars worth of Enron stock. The executives and insiders at Enron knew about

2093-465: A financial "pyramid" or " Ponzi scheme "). Attempting to maintain the illusion, Skilling verbally attacked Wall Street analyst Richard Grubman , who questioned Enron's unusual accounting practice during a recorded conference telephone call. When Grubman complained that Enron was the only company that could not release a balance sheet along with its earnings statements, Skilling replied, "Well, thank you very much, we appreciate that ... asshole." Though

2254-514: A hostile takeover of Crouse-Hinds Company , an electrical products manufacturer. Cooper and InterNorth feuded in numerous suits during the takeover that were eventually settled after the transaction was completed. The subsidiary Northern Natural Gas operated the largest pipeline company in North America. By the 1980s, InterNorth became a major force for natural gas production, transmission, and marketing as well as for natural gas liquids , and

2415-558: A large network of natural gas pipelines, which stretched coast to coast and border to border including Northern Natural Gas, Florida Gas Transmission , Transwestern Pipeline Company, and a partnership in Northern Border Pipeline from Canada. The states of California, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island had already passed power deregulation laws by July 1996, the time of Enron's proposal to acquire Portland General Electric corporation. During 1998, Enron began operations in

2576-421: A meeting with employees on February 14, 1986, Lay announced his interest in this name change, which would be held to a stockholder vote on April 10. Less than a month from this meeting, on March 7, 1986, a spokesman for HNG/InterNorth rescinded the planned Enteron proposal, as since its announcement the name had come under scrutiny for being the same as a medical term for the intestines . This same press release saw

2737-470: A plan to improve fish passage and take other actions to help native fish recover in 2008. Since then, work has proceeded slowly, and the Corps of Engineers, citing engineering difficulties and cost, may not meet the original agreed-upon deadline of 2023 for a system of effective remedies. Other major dams in the Willamette watershed are owned by other interests; for example, several hydroelectric facilities on

2898-422: A plunge following its earnings report, Mark resigned from Azurix and Enron. Azurix assets, including Wessex, were eventually sold by Enron. In 1990, Enron's chief operating officer Jeffrey Skilling hired Andrew Fastow, who was well acquainted with the burgeoning deregulated energy market that Skilling wanted to exploit. In 1993, Fastow began establishing numerous limited liability special-purpose entities ,

3059-404: A power plant. The locks at Willamette Falls were completed in 1873. Elsewhere on the main stem, numerous minor flow-regulation structures force the river into a narrower and deeper channel to facilitate navigation and flood control . The dams on the Willamette's major tributaries are primarily large flood-control, water-storage, and power-generating dams. Thirteen of these dams were built from

3220-413: A result of a poorly designed market system that was manipulated by traders and marketers, as well as from poor state management and regulatory oversight. Subsequently, Enron traders were revealed as intentionally encouraging the removal of power from the market during California's energy crisis by encouraging suppliers to shut down plants to perform unnecessary maintenance, as documented in recordings made at

3381-404: A scene of an Enron-themed amusement park ride. The 2007 film Bee Movie also featured a joke reference to a parody company of Enron called "Honron" (a play on the words honey and Enron). The 2003 documentary The Corporation made frequent references to Enron post-bankruptcy, calling the company a "bad apple". In August 2000, Enron's stock price attained its greatest value, closing at $ 90 on

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3542-574: A share. She sold that stock for $ 49.77 a share in July 2001, a week before the public was told what she already knew about the $ 102 million loss. In 2002, after the tumultuous fall of Enron's external auditor, and management consultant, Andersen LLP, former Andersen Director, John M. Cunningham coined the phrase, "We have all been Enroned." The fallout resulted in both Lay and Skilling being convicted of conspiracy, fraud, and insider trading. Lay died before sentencing, Skilling got 24 years and 4 months and

3703-523: A system of parks, trails, and wildlife refuges along the river. In 1998, the Willamette became one of 14 rivers designated an American Heritage River by U.S. President Bill Clinton . By 2007 the Greenway had grown to include more than 170 separate land parcels, including 10 state parks. Public uses of the river and land along its shores include camping, swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, bicycling, and wildlife viewing. In 2008, government agencies and

3864-467: A temporary lake, Lake Allison , that stretched from Lake Oswego to near Eugene. The ancestral Tualatin Valley, part of the Willamette basin, flooded as well; water depths ranged from 200 feet (61 m) at Lake Oswego to 100 feet (30 m) as far upstream (west) as Forest Grove . Flood deposits of silt and clay, ranging in thickness from 115 feet (35 m) in the north to about 15 feet (4.6 m) in

4025-598: A three-member regulatory board, on March 10, 2005. With the rejection of the Texas Pacific Group's offer, the City of Portland announced it contacted Enron to resume negotiating an offer to purchase PGE. On April 19, 2005, Portland city officials announced that they were willing to spend $ 7.5 million in attorneys' fees to buy the utility. On July 6, the City Council unanimously adopted a measure to finance

4186-550: A year later, in May 1893, PGE purchased the City-Eastside Electric Light Plant, a municipal power company. E. Kimbark MacColl, who chronicled the history of Portland, referred to it "a generous gift to a private company at the expense of future taxpayers" since it was constructed for a cost of $ 40,342 and sold 15 months later for $ 27,000. In 1903, Henry W. Goode, the president of PGE, decided to make PGE

4347-400: Is Portland, with more than 500,000 residents. Not all of these cities draw water in part or exclusively from the Willamette for their municipal water supply. Other cities in the watershed (but not on the main-stem river) with populations of 20,000 or more are Gresham, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, McMinnville, Tualatin, Woodburn , and Forest Grove. Sixty-four percent of the watershed

4508-473: Is despite the dams, other alterations, and pollution (especially on the river's lower reaches). Part of the Willamette Floodplain was established as a National Natural Landmark in 1987, and the river was named as one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in the mountains south and southeast of Eugene, Oregon . Formed by the confluence of

4669-512: Is from Albany to Oregon City. At Willamette Falls , between West Linn and Oregon City, the river plunges about 40 feet (12 m). For the rest of its course, the river is extremely low-gradient and is affected by Pacific Ocean tidal effects from the Columbia. The main stem of the Willamette varies in width from about 330 to 660 feet (100 to 200 m). With an average flow at the mouth of about 37,400 cubic feet per second (1,060 m /s),

4830-692: Is involved in several litigations against the government of Argentina claiming compensation relating to the negligence and corruption of the local governance during its management of the Buenos Aires water concession in 1999, which resulted in substantial amounts of debt (approx. $ 620 million) and the eventual collapse of the branch. Soon after emerging from bankruptcy in November 2004, Enron's new board of directors sued 11 financial institutions for helping Lay, Fastow, Skilling, and others hide Enron's true financial condition. The proceedings were dubbed

4991-635: Is of indigenous origin, deriving from the French pronunciation of the name of a Clackamas Native American village. However, Native American languages in Oregon were very similar, so the name may also be derived from Kalapuya dialects. Around the year 1850, the Kalapuya numbered between 2,000 and 3,000 and were distributed among several groups. These figures are only speculative; there may have been as few as eight subgroups or as many as 16. In that time period,

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5152-577: Is privately owned, while 36 percent is publicly owned. The U.S. Forest Service manages 30 percent of the watershed, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management 5 percent, and the State of Oregon 1 percent. Sixty-eight percent of the watershed is forested; agriculture, concentrated in the Willamette Valley, makes up 19 percent, and urban areas cover 5 percent. More than 81,000 miles (130,000 km) of roads criss-cross

5313-848: The Buena Vista Ferry between Marion County and Polk County south of Independence and Salem, the Wheatland Ferry between Marion County and Polk County north of Salem and Keizer, and Canby Ferry in Clackamas County north of Canby. Since 1900, more than 15 large dams and many smaller ones have been built in the Willamette's drainage basin, 13 of which are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The dams are used primarily to produce hydroelectricity , to maintain reservoirs for recreation, and to prevent flooding. The river and its tributaries support 60 fish species, including many species of salmon and trout ; this

5474-886: The Clackamas River are owned by Portland General Electric . These include the River Mill Hydroelectric Project , the Oak Grove project, and the dam at Timothy Lake . The 50 or so crossings of the Willamette River include many historic structures, such as the Van Buren Street Bridge , a swing bridge . Built in 1913, it carries Oregon Route 34 (Corvallis–Lebanon Highway) over the river upstream of RM 131 (RK 211) in Corvallis. The machinery to operate

5635-570: The Coast Fork Willamette River , and Dorena on the Row River . Due to these tall dams, Chinook salmon and steelhead are blocked from roughly half of their historic habitat and spawning grounds on the Willamette's major tributaries. Unable to live and reproduce as they once did, they have been "brought to the brink of extinction". Endangered species listings and a subsequent lawsuit by Willamette Riverkeeper led to

5796-588: The Enron scandal . Enron has become synonymous with willful corporate fraud and corruption . The scandal also brought into question the accounting practices and activities of many corporations in the United States and was a factor in the enactment of the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 . The scandal also affected the greater business world by causing, together with even larger fraudulent bankruptcy WorldCom ,

5957-612: The Farallon Plate beneath the North American Plate , creating the forearc basin that would later become the Willamette Valley. The valley was initially part of the continental shelf , rather than a separate inland sea. Many layers of marine deposits formed in the forearc basin and cover the older Siletz River Volcanics. About 20 to 16 million years ago, uplift formed the Coast Range and separated

6118-572: The Middle Fork Willamette River and the Coast Fork Willamette River near Springfield , the main stem Willamette meanders generally north for 187 miles (301 km) to the Columbia River . The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg , where it turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downstream from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth north of downtown Portland ,

6279-642: The Missoula Floods —a series of large outpourings originating at Glacial Lake Missoula in Montana—swept down the Columbia River and backfilled the Willamette watershed. Each flood produced "discharges that exceeded the annual discharge of all the present-day rivers of the world combined". Filling the Willamette basin to depths of 400 feet (120 m) in the Portland region, each flood created

6440-678: The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. Evidence suggests that massive quakes of 8 or more on the Richter scale have occurred historically in the Cascadia subduction zone off the Oregon coast, most recently in 1700 CE , and that others as strong as 9 on the Richter scale occur every 500 to 800 years. The basin's high population density, its nearness to this subduction zone, and its loose soils, which tend to amplify shaking, make

6601-731: The Portland Railway, Light and Power Company (PRL&P). It was the only streetcar operator within Portland city limits, and the predecessor of the modern PGE. The company name became Portland Electric Power Company (PEPCO) in 1932. It was reorganized in 1948 as PGE. On March 1, 1939, PEPCO defaulted on interest bonds that had been issued in March 1934. The bonds were pledged with PGE (the electric subsidiary) and Portland Traction Company (the streetcar subsidiary) as collateral, with Guaranty Trust as trustee. PEPCO filed for Chapter X bankruptcy (now known as Chapter 9) on April 3, 1939, and

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6762-687: The Sandy River did the explorers learn about their oversight. William Clark returned down the Columbia and entered the Willamette River in April 1806. Fur trappers originally working for the Pacific Fur Company (PFC)) and subsequently for the North West Company (NWC) were next to visit the Willamette River and various tributaries. The Siskiyou Trail (or California-Oregon Trail) originally developed by Indigenous people,

6923-857: The Siletz , the Nestucca , the Trask , and the Wilson to the west; the Nehalem and the Clatskanie to the northwest, and the Columbia River to the north. About 2.5 million people lived in the Willamette River basin as of 2010, about 65 percent of the population of Oregon. As of 2009, the basin contained 20 of the 25 most populous cities in Oregon. These cities include Springfield, Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem, Keizer, Newberg, Oregon City, West Linn, Milwaukie, Lake Oswego, and Portland. The largest

7084-870: The Supreme Court , the damage to the Andersen name has prevented it from recovering or reviving itself as a viable business even on a limited scale. Enron also withdrew a naming-rights deal with the Houston Astros Major League Baseball club for its new stadium, which was known formerly as Enron Field (now Minute Maid Park ). Enron used a variety of deceptive and fraudulent tactics and accounting practices to cover its fraud in reporting Enron's financial information. Special-purpose entities were created to mask significant liabilities from Enron's financial statements. These entities made Enron seem more profitable than it was, and created

7245-759: The World Trade Center complex that comprises PGE's corporate offices. In addition Timothy Belden , head of the West Coast Trading Desk and John Forney, an energy trader who invented various electricity trading strategies such as the Death Star , operated from the trading floor in the PGE corporate offices and were also convicted of financial crimes related to the California Electricity Crisis . Ballot measures have been filed by citizens several times since

7406-669: The eastern United States , mainly the Upland South borderlands of Missouri, Iowa, and the Ohio Valley. Many of these emigrants followed the Oregon Trail , a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) trail across western North America that began at Independence, Missouri , and ended at various locations near the mouth of the Willamette River. Although people had been traveling to Oregon since 1836, large-scale migration did not begin until 1843, when nearly 1,000 pioneers headed westward. Over

7567-693: The water sector , creating the Azurix Corporation, which it part-floated on the New York Stock Exchange during June 1999. Azurix failed to become successful in the water utility market, and one of its major concessions, in Buenos Aires , was a large-scale money-loser. Enron grew wealthy due largely to marketing, promoting power, and having a high stock price. Enron was named "America's Most Innovative Company" by Fortune for six consecutive years, from 1996 to 2001. It

7728-699: The "megaclaims litigation". Among the defendants were Royal Bank of Scotland , Deutsche Bank and Citigroup. As of 2008 , Enron has settled with all of the institutions, ending with Citigroup. Enron was able to obtain nearly $ 7.2 billion to distribute to its creditors as a result of the megaclaims litigation. As of December 2009, some claim and process payments were still being distributed. Enron has been featured since its bankruptcy in popular culture, including in The Simpsons episodes That '90s Show (Homer buys Enron stock while Marge chooses to keep her own Microsoft shares) and Special Edna , which features

7889-606: The 1940s through the 1960s and are operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Of those 13, 9 produce hydropower. Flood-control dams operated by the USACE are estimated to hold up to 27 percent of the Willamette's runoff. They are used to regulate river flows so as to cut peaks off floods and increase low flows in late summer and autumn, and to divert water into deeper, narrower channels to prevent flooding. A relatively small of amount of

8050-548: The 1960s to convert some or all of PGE into a public utility district (PUD), the latest of these being in 2003. Most were unsuccessful, but an exception was in 1999, when PGE announced it was selling its customer base in St. Helens , Scappoose , and Columbia City to West Oregon Electric PUD for $ 7.9 million. The terms of this sale proposed to leave the physical assets of the distribution system —the poles, wires and other components— owned by Enron , who would then manage this system as

8211-453: The 1960s, Oregon Governor Tom McCall led a push for stronger pollution controls on the Willamette. In this, he was encouraged by Robert (Bob) Straub —the state treasurer and future Oregon governor (1975)—who first proposed a Willamette Greenway program during his 1966 gubernatorial campaign against McCall. The Oregon State Legislature established the program in 1967. Through it, state and local governments cooperated in creating or improving

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8372-409: The 23rd. At this time, Enron executives, who possessed inside information on the hidden losses, began to sell their stock. At the same time, the general public and Enron's investors were told to buy the stock. Executives told the investors that the stock would continue to increase until it attained possibly the $ 130 to $ 140 range, while secretly unloading their shares. As executives sold their shares,

8533-825: The Cascade Range to 10 feet (3.0 m) at the mouth on the Columbia River. Watersheds bordering the Willamette River basin are those of the Little Deschutes River to the southeast, the Deschutes River to the east, and the Sandy River to the northeast; the North Umpqua and Umpqua rivers to the south; coastal rivers including (from south to north) the Siuslaw , the Alsea , the Yaquina ,

8694-421: The City of Portland and the State of Oregon to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) led to Portland's Big Pipe Project . The project, part of a related series of Portland CSO projects completed in late 2011 at a cost of $ 1.44 billion, separates the city's sanitary sewer lines from storm-water inputs that sometimes overwhelmed the combined system during heavy rains. When that occurred, some of

8855-603: The Clackamas' tribal population was roughly 1,800. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the Chinook population was nearly 5,000, though not all of the Chinook lived on the Willamette. The Chinook territory encompassed the lower Columbia River valley and significant stretches of the Pacific coast on both the north and the south side of the Columbia's mouth. At times, however, the Chinook territory extended even farther south in

9016-414: The Columbia River. Between the 1850s and the 1960s, channel-straightening and flood control projects, as well as agricultural and urban encroachment, cut the length of the river between the McKenzie River confluence and Harrisburg by 65 percent. Similarly, the river was shortened by 40 percent in the stretch between Harrisburg and Albany. Interstate 5 and three branches of Oregon Route 99 are

9177-534: The Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the Columbia's mouth on the Pacific Ocean. The smaller Multnomah Channel , a distributary , is 21 miles (34 km) long, about 600 feet (180 m) wide, and 40 feet (12 m) deep. It ends about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) farther downstream on the Columbia, near St. Helens in Columbia County . Proposals have been made for deepening the Multnomah Channel to 43 feet (13 m) in conjunction with roughly 103.5 miles (166.6 km) of tandem-maintained navigation on

9338-503: The Columbia to Bachelor Island . Rockwell's survey was extremely detailed, including 17,782 hydrographic soundings. His work helped open the port of Portland to commerce. In the second half of the 19th century, the USACE dredged channels and built locks and levees in the Willamette's watershed. Although products such as lumber were often transported on an existing network of railroads in Oregon, these advances in navigation helped businesses deliver more goods to Portland, feeding

9499-413: The Enron Finance Corp. and headed by Skilling. With the success of the Gas Bank trading natural gas, Skilling looked to expand the horizons of his division, Enron Capital & Trade. Skilling hired Andrew Fastow in 1990 to help. Starting in 1994 under the Energy Policy Act of 1992 , Congress allowed states to deregulate their electricity utilities, allowing them to be opened for competition. California

9660-412: The Enron Gas Pipeline Operating Company. In addition, it ramped up its electric power and natural gas efforts. In 1988 and 1989, the company added power plants and cogeneration units to its portfolio. In 1989, Jeffrey Skilling , then a consultant at McKinsey & Company , came up with the idea to link natural gas to consumers in more ways, effectively turning natural gas into a commodity. Enron adopted

9821-418: The Enron bankruptcy would bring, several local governments began investigation into acquiring PGE by condemnation . These studies ended after the announcement on November 17, 2003, that a group called Oregon Electric Utility, led by former governor Neil Goldschmidt and backed by Texas Pacific Group , offered to buy PGE for $ 2.35 billion. This was the sole bid received by the bankruptcy judge, who approved

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9982-531: The HBC merged with the NWC. In 1825 a new Fort Vancouver headquarters was built on the north shore of the Columbia closer to the Willamette, and Fort George was closed. Alexander Roderick McLeod traveled up the Willamette in 1826 and 1827, to the Umpqua and the Rogue rivers. In 1829 Lucier established a land claim near the Champoeg trading post and started to settle, soon joined by Gervais (1831), Pierre Belleque (1833) and 77 French Canadian settlers by 1836. By 1843, approximately 100 newcomer families lived in

10143-411: The Middle and Coast forks and the McKenzie , Long Tom , Marys , Calapooia , Santiam , Luckiamute , Yamhill , Molalla , Tualatin , and Clackamas rivers. Beginning at 438 feet (134 m) above sea level, the main stem descends 428 feet (130 m) between source and mouth, or about 2.3 feet per mile (0.4 m per km). The gradient is slightly steeper from the source to Albany than it

10304-419: The Native Americans. Upper-river tribes caught steelhead and salmon, often by building weirs across tributary streams. Tribes of the northern Willamette Valley practiced a generally settled lifestyle. The Chinooks lived in great wooden lodges , practiced slavery , and had a well-defined caste system. People of the south were more nomadic, traveling from place to place with the seasons. They were known for

10465-461: The Oregon House Bill 2021, which introduced new decarbonization goals, PGE announced to reduce emissions from its retail power supply by 80% by 2030 and 100% by 2040. The utility was founded in 1888 by Parker F. Morey and Edward L. Eastham as Willamette Falls Electric Company. On June 3, 1889, it sent power generated by one of four brush arc light dynamos at Willamette Falls over a 14-mile (23 km) electric power transmission line to Portland,

10626-510: The PFC. Free trappers Registre Bellaire, John Day and Alexander Carson hunted and traded furs during the winter of 1813-14 along the Willamette. About thirty NWC employees were stationed at the Champoeg post, now called the Willamette Trading Post , along with freemen housed in two huts and Kalapuya nearby. Nez Perce and Cayuse warned the NWC to stay out of the Willamette Valley hunting grounds. Skirmishes went on for several years over fishing and hunting grounds contended by several groups. By

10787-423: The Room: The Amazing Rise and Scandalous Fall of Enron . Additionally, British water regulators required Wessex to cut its rates by 12% starting in April 2000, and an upgrade was required of the utility's aging infrastructure, estimated at costing over a billion dollars. By the end of 2000 Azurix had an operating profit of less than $ 100 million and was $ 2 billion in debt. In August 2000, after Azurix stock took

10948-474: The United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range , the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley , a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem , and the state's largest city, Portland , which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at the Columbia. Originally created by plate tectonics about 35 million years ago and subsequently altered by volcanism and erosion,

11109-413: The Willamette Falls Locks have been inactive. As commerce and industry flourished on the lower river, most of the original settlers acquired farms in the upper Willamette Valley. By the late 1850s, farmers had begun to grow crops on most of the available fertile land. The settlers increasingly encroached on Native American lands. Skirmishes between natives and settlers in the Umpqua and Rogue valleys to

11270-437: The Willamette River was divided into two stretches: the 27-mile (43 km) lower stretch from Portland to Oregon City—which allowed connection with the rest of the Columbia River system—and the upper reach, which encompassed most of the Willamette's length. Any boats whose owners found it absolutely necessary to get past the falls had to be portaged . This led to competition for business among steam portage companies. In 1873,

11431-472: The Willamette Valley especially vulnerable to damage from strong earthquakes. The Willamette River drains a region of 11,478 square miles (29,730 km ), which is 12 percent of the total area of Oregon. Bounded by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascade Range to the east, the river basin is about 180 miles (290 km) long and 100 miles (160 km) wide. Elevations within the watershed range from 10,495 feet (3,199 m) at Mount Jefferson in

11592-687: The Willamette Valley were further divided into groups including the Kalapuyan-speaking Yamhill and Atfalati (Tualatin) (both Northern Kalapuya), Central Kalapuya like the Santiam , Muddy Creek (Chemapho), Long Tom (Chelamela), Calapooia (Tsankupi), Marys River (Chepenafa) and Luckiamute, and the Yoncalla or Southern Kalapuya, as well other tribes such as the Chuchsney-Tufti, Siuslaw and Molala . The name Willamette

11753-502: The Willamette Valley. The total native population was estimated at 15,000. The indigenous peoples of the Willamette River practiced a variety of life ways. Those on the lower river, slightly closer to the coast, often relied on fishing as their primary economic mainstay. Salmon was the most important fish to Willamette River tribes as well as to the Native Americans of the Columbia River, where white traders traded fish with

11914-647: The Willamette Valley. These included the Kalapuya , the Chinook , and the Clackamas . The territory of the Clackamas encompassed the northeastern portion of the basin, including the Clackamas River (with which their name is shared). Although it is unclear exactly when, the territory of the Chinook once extended across the northern part of the watershed, through the Columbia River valley. Indigenous peoples of

12075-498: The Willamette basin. The highest flow recorded at this station was 420,000 cubic feet per second (11,893 m /s) on February 9, 1996, during the Willamette Valley Flood of 1996 , and the minimum was 4,200 cubic feet per second (120 m /s) on July 10, 1978. The highest recorded flow of 635,000 cubic feet per second (18,000 m /s) for the Willamette at a different gauge in Portland occurred during

12236-537: The Willamette ranks 19th in volume among rivers in the United States and contributes 12 to 15 percent of the total flow of the Columbia River. The Willamette's flow varies considerably season to season, averaging about 8,200 cubic feet per second (230 m /s) in August to more than 79,000 cubic feet per second (2,200 m /s) in December. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates five stream gauges along

12397-496: The Willamette, continued on until the falls portage (present-day Oregon City ) and finished their journey at a flattening of both banks, the later site of Champoeg . A first trading post was established. By early 1813, William Wallace and John C. Halsey established a second outpost, Wallace House , farther south, north of present-day Salem. By the end of the War of 1812 , the NWC acquired

12558-410: The acquisition of PGE by the sale of $ 3 billion in bonds. However, Enron interim CEO Stephen Cooper called off negotiations on July 20, 2005. He explained that he did not "see a plausible solution under which our teams could reach an agreement that would lead to a transaction closing in a timely fashion". Cooper addressed several causes for the termination, including the refusal of the city to pay

12719-606: The announcement "as they did with most things Internet-related at the time", with stock prices rising from $ 40 per share in January 2000 to $ 70 per share in March, peaking at $ 90 in the summer of 2000. Enron executives obtained windfall gains from the rising stock prices, with a total of $ 924 million of stocks sold by high-level Enron employees between 2000 and 2001. The head of Enron Broadband Services, Kenneth Rice, sold 1 million shares himself, earning about $ 70 million in returns. As prices of existing fiber optic cables plummeted due to

12880-409: The bankruptcy of Enron, telecommunications holdings were sold for "pennies on the dollar". In 2002, Rob Roy of Switch Communications purchased Enron's Nevada facility in an auction attended only by Roy. Enron's "fiber plans were so secretive that few people even knew about the auction." The facility was sold for only $ 930,000. Following the sale, Switch expanded to control "the biggest data center in

13041-532: The basalt with up to 1,000 feet (300 m) of silt in the Portland and Tualatin basins. During the Pleistocene , beginning roughly 2.5 million years ago, volcanic activity in the Cascades combined with a cool, moist climate to produce further heavy sedimentation across the basin, and braided rivers created alluvial fans spreading down from the east. Between about 15,500 and 13,000 years ago,

13202-691: The basin from the Pacific Ocean. Basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group , from eruptions primarily in eastern Oregon , flowed across large parts of the northern half of the basin about 15 million years ago. They covered the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills), most of the Tualatin Valley , and the slopes of hills farther south, with up to 1,000 feet (300 m) of lava . Later deposits covered

13363-717: The bid. When details that Goldschmidt had sexually assaulted a minor in the 1970s emerged, he withdrew from the negotiations, and was replaced by Peter O. Kohler , president of the Oregon Health and Science University . Discomfort over the Texas Pacific purchase led to further voter initiatives to convert parts of PGE into PUDs. PGE defeated measures in Multnomah County (November 14, 2003), Yamhill County (March 2004), and Clackamas County (May 18, 2004). Also during this time period, PGE received notice of

13524-570: The cheap supply of labor during the Great Depression helped to fuel the company's early beginnings, doubling in size by 1932. Over the next 50 years, Northern expanded even more as it acquired many energy companies. It was reorganized in 1979 as the main subsidiary of a holding company , InterNorth, a diversified energy and energy-related products firm. Although most of the acquisitions conducted were successful, some ended poorly. InterNorth competed with Cooper Industries unsuccessfully over

13685-492: The city's first officially recognized public swimming beach, Poet's Beach . There are more than 20 major dams on the Willamette's tributaries, as well as a complex series of levees and channels to control the river's flow. The only dam on the Willamette's main stem is the Willamette Falls Dam, a low weir -type structure at Willamette Falls that diverts water into the headraces of the adjacent mills and

13846-414: The city's growing economy. Trade goods from the Columbia basin north of Portland could also be transported southward on the Willamette due to the deeper channels made at the Willamette's mouth. By the early 20th century, major river-control projects had begun to take place. Levees were constructed along the river in most urban areas, and Portland built concrete walls to protect its downtown sector. In

14007-649: The comment was met with dismay and astonishment by press, Wall Street analysts and public, it became an inside joke among many Enron employees, mocking Grubman for his perceived meddling rather than Skilling's offensiveness. Enron initially planned to retain its three domestic pipeline companies as well as most of its overseas assets. However, before emerging from bankruptcy, Enron sold its domestic pipeline companies as CrossCountry Energy for $ 2.45 billion and later sold other assets to Vulcan Capital Management . Enron sold its last business, Prisma Energy , during 2006, leaving Enron asset-less. During early 2007, its name

14168-455: The company ended its retail endeavor in 1999 as it was revealed it was costing upwards of $ 100 million a year. As fiber optic technology progressed in the 1990s, multiple companies, including Enron, attempted to make money by "keeping the continuing network costs low", which was done by owning their own network. In 1997, FTV Communications LLC, a limited liability company formed by Enron subsidiary FirstPoint Communications, Inc., constructed

14329-457: The company made money and questioning whether Enron stock was overvalued. By August 15, 2001, Enron's stock price had decreased to $ 42. Many of the investors still trusted Lay and believed that Enron would rule the market. They continued to buy or retain their stock as the equity value decreased. As October ended, the stock had decreased to $ 15. Many considered this a great opportunity to buy Enron stock because of what Lay had been telling them in

14490-619: The company took advantage of the unregulated Texas natural gas market and the commodity surge in the early 1970s to become a dominant force in the energy industry. Toward the end of the 1970s, HNG's luck began to run out with rising gas prices forcing clients to switch to oil. In addition, with the passing of the Natural Gas Policy Act of 1978 , the Texas market was less profitable and as a result, HNG's profits fell. After Herring died in 1981, M.D. Matthews briefly took over as CEO in

14651-475: The company's fiscal health became secondary to manipulating its stock price during the so-called Tech boom . But when a company's success is measured by undocumented financial statements, actual balance sheets are inconvenient. Indeed, Enron's unscrupulous actions were often gambles to keep the deception going and so increase the stock price. An advancing price meant a continued infusion of investor capital on which debt-ridden Enron in large part subsisted (much like

14812-441: The company's success story was Daniel Scotto , an energy market expert at BNP Paribas , who issued a note in August 2001 entitled Enron: All stressed up and no place to go which encouraged investors to sell Enron stocks, although he only changed his recommendation on the stock from "buy" to "neutral". As was later discovered, many of Enron's recorded assets and profits were inflated, wholly fraudulent, or nonexistent. One example

14973-497: The construction of the Willamette Falls Locks bypassed the falls and allowed easy navigation between the upper and lower river. Each lock chamber measured 210 feet (64 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide, and the canal was originally operated manually before it switched to electrical power. Usage of the locks peaked in the 1940s, and by the early 21st century, the lock system was little used. Since 2011,

15134-647: The construction of three Kaiser Shipyards and of Vanport City, Oregon to support them. By 1945, PGE derived nearly $ 400,000 in revenue from the two Kaiser shipyards in Oregon. In August 1946, after the war, they were able to sell Portland Traction for $ 8 million in cash. Judge Fee ruled the bankruptcy reorganization complete on June 29, 1946. On July 1, 1997, Enron Corporation bought PGE for $ 2 billion in stock and $ 1.1 billion in assumed debt. Then in 1999, and again in 2001, Enron attempted to sell PGE to other investor-owned utilities including Portland-based NW Natural . The corporate officers of PGE claimed that this utility

15295-542: The controlled burning of woodlands to create meadows for hunting and plant gathering (especially camas ). The Willamette River first appeared in written records in 1792, when it was observed by British Lieutenant William Robert Broughton of the Vancouver Expedition , led by George Vancouver . The 1805-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition originally missed the mouth of the Willamette. On their return journey, only after receiving directions from natives along

15456-409: The current market price, and on July 16, 1985, the two entities voted to merge. The combined assets of the two companies created the second largest gas pipeline system in the US at that time. Internorth's north–south pipelines that served Iowa and Minnesota complemented HNG's Florida and California east-west pipelines well. The company was initially named HNG/InterNorth Inc. , even though InterNorth

15617-488: The deal and dismissed their CEO, Chuck Watson. The new chairman and CEO, the late Daniel Dienstbier, had been president of NNG and an Enron executive at one time and was forced out by Ken Lay. Dienstbier was an acquaintance of Warren Buffett. NNG continues to be profitable now. In 2001, after a series of revelations involving irregular accounting procedures perpetrated throughout the 1990s involving Enron and its auditor Arthur Andersen that bordered on fraud, Enron filed for

15778-668: The deferred energy accounts used as the basis for the California Deregulation Plan enacted during the late 1990s. Five months later, Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) was forced into bankruptcy. Republican Senator Phil Gramm , husband of Enron Board member Wendy Gramm and also the second-largest recipient of campaign contributions from Enron, succeeded in legislating California's energy commodity trading deregulation. Despite warnings from prominent consumer groups which stated that this law would give energy traders too much influence over energy commodity prices,

15939-650: The dissolution of the Arthur Andersen accounting firm, which had been Enron and WorldCom's main auditor for years. Enron filed for bankruptcy in the Southern District of New York in late 2001 and selected Weil, Gotshal & Manges as its bankruptcy counsel. Enron emerged from bankruptcy in November 2004, under a court-approved plan of reorganization. A new board of directors changed its name to Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. , and emphasized reorganizing and liquidating certain operations and assets of

16100-549: The first US power plant to do so. On August 6, 1892, Morey, Frederick Van Voorhies Holman , and Henry Failing formed the Portland General Electric Company. It was funded by General Electric and the investment arm of Old Colony Trust , with $ 4.25 million in capital. The newly formed PGE Company purchased Willamette Falls Electric and the Albina Light & Water Company in 1892. Less than

16261-447: The following decades, many large dams were built on Cascade Range tributaries of the Willamette. The Army Corps of Engineers operates 13 such dams, which affect flows from about 40 percent of the basin. Most of them do not have fish ladders. With development in and near the river came increased pollution. By the late 1930s, efforts to stem the pollution led to formation of a state sanitary board to oversee modest cleanup efforts. In

16422-450: The foundation. Records show that Mrs. Lay made the sale order sometime between 10:00 and 10:20 am. News of Enron's problems, including the millions of dollars in losses they hid, became public about 10:30 that morning, and the stock price soon decreased to less than one dollar. Former Enron executive Paula Rieker was charged with criminal insider trading and sentenced to two years probation. Rieker obtained 18,380 Enron shares for $ 15.51

16583-524: The founding of the town in 1829. McLoughlin attempted to persuade the HBC (which still held sway over the area) to allow American settlers to live on the land, and provided significant help to American colonization of the area, all against the HBC's orders. Oregon City prospered because of the lumber and grist mills that were run by the water power of Willamette Falls, but the falls formed an impassable barrier to river navigation. Linn City (originally Robins Nest)

16744-625: The government to a part of the Coast Reservation that later became the Grande Ronde Reservation . Between 1879 and 1885, the Willamette River was charted by Cleveland S. Rockwell , a topographical engineer and cartographer for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey . Rockwell surveyed the lower Willamette from the foot of Ross Island through Portland to the Columbia River and then downstream on

16905-680: The idea and called it the "Gas Bank". The division's success prompted Skilling to join Enron as the head of the Gas Bank in 1991. Another major development inside Enron was a pivot to overseas operations with a $ 56 million loan in 1989 from the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) for a power plant in Argentina. Throughout the 1990s, Enron made a few changes to its business plan that greatly improved

17066-439: The internet." Enron sought to have all US internet service providers rely on their Nevada facility to supply bandwidth, which Enron would sell in a fashion similar to other commodities. In January 2000, Kenneth Lay and Jeffrey Skilling announced to analysts that they were going to open trading for their own "high-speed fiber-optic networks that form the backbone for Internet traffic". Investors quickly bought Enron stock following

17227-421: The introduction of the Enron name, which would be the new name voted on come April. Enron still had some lingering problems left over from its merger, however, the company had to pay Jacobs, who was still a threat, over $ 350 million and reorganize the company. Lay sold off any parts of the company that he believed didn't belong in the long-term future of Enron. Lay consolidated all the gas pipeline efforts under

17388-657: The largest of these originally weighed about 160 short tons (150 t). The northern part of the watershed is underlain by a network of faults capable of producing earthquakes at any time, and many small quakes have been recorded in the basin since the mid-19th century. In 1993, the Scotts Mills earthquake —the largest recent earthquake in the valley, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale —was centered near Scotts Mills , about 34 miles (55 km) south of Portland. It caused $ 30 million in damage, including harm to

17549-460: The largest participation in a renewables program among electric utilities in the U.S. PGE currently has 8 corporate officers. Willamette River The Willamette River ( / w ɪ ˈ l æ m ɪ t / wil- AM -it ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River , accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in

17710-461: The largest source of honest income, the 1930s-era Northern Natural Gas company, was eventually purchased by a group of Omaha investors who relocated its headquarters to their city; it is now a unit of Warren Buffett 's Berkshire Hathaway Energy . NNG was established as collateral for a $ 2.5 billion capital infusion by Dynegy Corporation when Dynegy was planning to buy Enron. When Dynegy examined Enron's financial records carefully, they repudiated

17871-835: The largest water storage capacity, at 477,700 acre-feet (589,200,000 m ). The other 11 dams are Big Cliff on the North Santiam River; Green Peter and Foster on the Santiam River ; Cougar on the South Fork McKenzie River ; Blue River on the Blue River ; Fern Ridge on the Long Tom River ; Hills Creek and Dexter on the Middle Fork Willamette River; Fall Creek on Fall Creek ; Cottage Grove on

18032-547: The legislation was passed in December 2000. As the periodical Public Citizen reported: Because of Enron's new, unregulated power auction, the company's "Wholesale Services'' revenues quadrupled – from $ 12 billion in the first quarter of 2000 to $ 48.4 billion in the first quarter of 2001. After the passage of the deregulation law, California had a total of 38 Stage 3 rolling blackouts declared, until federal regulators intervened in June 2001. These blackouts occurred as

18193-493: The media. Lay was accused of selling more than $ 70 million worth of stock at this time, which he used to repay cash advances on lines of credit. He sold another $ 29 million worth of stock in the open market. Also, Lay's wife, Linda, was accused of selling 500,000 shares of Enron stock totaling $ 1.2 million on November 28, 2001. The money earned from this sale did not go to the family but rather to charitable organizations, which had already received pledges of contributions from

18354-664: The next 25 years, some 500,000 settlers traveled the Oregon Trail, to reach the Willamette Valley. Starting in the 1830s, Oregon City developed near Willamette Falls. It was incorporated in 1844, becoming the first city west of the Rocky Mountains to have that distinction. John McLoughlin , the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) superintendent of the Columbia District , was one of the major contributors to

18515-637: The non-profit Willamette Riverkeeper organization designated the full length of the river as the Willamette River Water Trail. Four years later, the National Park Service added the Willamette water trail—expanded to 217 miles (349 km) to include some of the major tributaries—to its list of National Water Trails . The water trail system is meant to protect and restore waterways in the United States and enhance recreation on and near them. A 1991 agreement between

18676-484: The offshore accounts that were hiding losses for the company; the investors, however, did not. Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow directed the team that created the off-books companies and manipulated the deals to provide himself, his family, and his friends with hundreds of millions of dollars in guaranteed revenue, at the expense of the corporation for which he worked and its stockholders. In 1999, Enron initiated EnronOnline, an Internet-based trading operation, which

18837-608: The one who couldn't figure out how to f**king vote on the butterfly ballot ." (Laughing from both sides.) "Yeah, now she wants her f**king money back for all the power you've charged right up, jammed right up her a** for f**king $ 250 a megawatt-hour." The traders had been discussing the efforts of the Snohomish PUD in Northwestern Washington state to recover the massive overcharges that Enron had engineered. Morgan Stanley , which had taken Enron's place in

18998-405: The perceived profitability of the company. First, Enron invested heavily in overseas assets, specifically energy. Another major shift was the gradual transition of focus from a producer of energy to a company that acted more like an investment firm and sometimes a hedge fund , making profits off the margins of the products it traded. These products were traded through the Gas Bank concept, now called

19159-482: The pre-bankruptcy Enron. On September 7, 2006, Enron sold its last remaining subsidiary, Prisma Energy International , to Ashmore Energy International Ltd. (now AEI). It is the largest bankruptcy due specifically to fraud in United States history. One of Enron's primary predecessors was InterNorth , which was formed in 1930, in Omaha, Nebraska , just a few months after Black Tuesday . The low cost of natural gas and

19320-548: The price began to decrease. Investors were told to continue buying stock or hold steady if they already owned Enron because the stock price would rebound shortly. Kenneth Lay's strategy for responding to Enron's continuing problems was his demeanor. As he did many times, Lay would issue a statement or make an appearance to calm investors and assure them that Enron was doing well. In March 2001 an article by Bethany McLean appeared in Fortune magazine noting that no one understood how

19481-479: The raw sewage in the system flowed into the river instead of into the city's wastewater treatment plant. The Big Pipe project and related work reduces CSO volume on the lower river by about 94 percent. In June 2014, Dean Hall became the first person to swim the entire length of the Willamette River. He swam 184 miles (296 km) from Eugene to the river mouth in 25 days. In 2017, Human Access Project partnered with Portland Parks & Recreation to open

19642-540: The river at the Morrison Bridge . The Willamette River basin was created primarily by plate tectonics and volcanism and was altered by erosion and sedimentation, including deposits from enormous glacial floods as recent as 13,000 years ago. The oldest rocks beneath the Willamette Valley are the Siletz River Volcanics . About 35 million years ago, these rocks were subducted by

19803-542: The river in Portland. The 3,700-foot (1,100 m) bridge is the only cantilevered deck truss in Oregon. Enron Corporation Enron Corporation was an American energy , commodities , and services company based in Houston, Texas . It was founded by Kenneth Lay in 1985 as a merger between Lay's Houston Natural Gas and InterNorth , both relatively small regional companies. Before its bankruptcy on December 2, 2001, Enron employed approximately 20,600 staff and

19964-472: The river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island . Used for navigation purposes, these channels are managed by the U.S. federal government . The main channel, which is the primary navigational conduit for Portland's harbor and riverside industrial areas, is 40 feet (12 m) deep and varies in width from 600 to 1,900 feet (180 to 580 m), although the river broadens to 2,000 feet (610 m) in some of its lower reaches. This channel enters

20125-447: The river's drainage basin was significantly modified by the Missoula Floods at the end of the most recent ice age . Humans began living in the watershed over 10,000 years ago. There were once many tribal villages along the lower river and in the area around its mouth on the Columbia. Indigenous peoples lived throughout the upper reaches of the basin as well. Rich with sediments deposited by flooding and fed by prolific rainfall on

20286-494: The river, and roads cross the main stem on approximately 30 different bridges. More than half a dozen bridges not open to motorized vehicles provide separate crossings for bicycles and pedestrians, mostly in the Eugene area, and several others are exclusively for rail traffic. There are also ferries that convey cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians across the river for a fare and provided river conditions permit. They are

20447-470: The river, at Harrisburg, Corvallis, Albany, Salem, and Portland. The average discharge at the lowermost gauge, near the Morrison Bridge in Portland, was 33,220 cubic feet per second (941 m /s) between 1972 and 2013. Located at river mile (RM) 12.8 or river kilometer (RK) 20.6, the gauge measures the flow from an area of 11,200 square miles (29,000 km ), roughly 97 percent of

20608-527: The scandal caused the dissolution of Arthur Andersen, which at the time was one of the Big Five of the world's accounting firms. The company was found guilty of obstruction of justice in 2002 for destroying documents related to the Enron audit. Since the SEC is not allowed to accept audits from convicted felons, Andersen was forced to stop auditing public companies. Although the conviction was dismissed in 2005 by

20769-443: The south, settled from this muddy water to form today's valley floor. The floods carried Montana icebergs well into the basin, where they melted and dropped glacial erratics onto the land surface. These rocks, composed of granite and other materials common to central Montana but not to the Willamette Valley, include more than 40 boulders, each at least 3 feet (0.9 m) in diameter. Before being partly chipped away and removed,

20930-583: The southwest of the Willamette River led the Oregon state government to remove the natives by military force. They were first led off their traditional lands to the Willamette Valley, but soon were marched to the Coast Indian Reservation . In 1855, Joel Palmer , an Oregon legislator, negotiated a treaty with the Willamette Valley tribes, who, although unhappy with the treaty, ceded their lands to non-natives. The natives were then relocated by

21091-584: The success in England, the company developed and diversified its assets worldwide under the name of Enron International (EI), headed by former HNG executive Rebecca Mark . By 1994, EI's portfolio included assets in The Philippines, Australia, Guatemala, Germany, France, India, Argentina, the Caribbean, China, England, Colombia, Turkey, Bolivia, Brazil, Indonesia, Norway, Poland, and Japan. The division

21252-424: The swing span was removed in the 1950s. The Oregon City Bridge , built in 1922, replaced a suspension span constructed at the site in 1888. It carries Oregon Route 43 over the river at about RM 26 (RK 42) between Oregon City and West Linn . The Ross Island Bridge carries U.S. Route 26 ( Mount Hood Highway ) over the river at RM 14 (RK 23). It is one of 10 highway bridges crossing

21413-647: The then largest Chapter 11 bankruptcy in history (since surpassed by those of Worldcom during 2002 and Lehman Brothers during 2008), resulting in $ 11 billion in shareholder losses. As the scandal progressed, Enron share prices decreased from US$ 90 during the summer of 2000, to just pennies. Enron's demise occurred after the revelation that much of its profit and revenue were the result of deals with special-purpose entities ( limited partnerships which it controlled). This maneuver allowed many of Enron's debts and losses to disappear from its financial statements. Enron filed for bankruptcy on December 2, 2001. In addition,

21574-405: The time. These acts contributed to the need for rolling blackouts, which adversely affected many businesses dependent upon a reliable supply of electricity, and inconvenienced a large number of retail customers. This scattered supply increased the price, and Enron traders were thus able to sell power at premium prices, sometimes up to a factor of 20 × its normal peak value. The callousness of

21735-484: The traders' attitude toward ratepayers was documented in an evidence tape of a conversation regarding the matter, and sarcastically referencing the confusion of retiree voters in Florida's Miami-Dade County in the November 2000, presidential election. "They're f**king taking all the money back from you guys? All the money you guys stole from those poor grandmothers in California?" "Yeah, Grandma Millie man. But she's

21896-418: The two companies agreed to give billions of dollars to Enron's creditors. By May 2011, $ 21.8 billion had been distributed to the creditors, totaling 53 percent of Enron's debts at the time of bankruptcy. Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation was ultimately dissolved on November 28, 2016. Azurix, the former water utility part of the company, remains under Enron ownership, although it is currently asset-less. It

22057-1065: The two major highways that follow the river for its entire length. Communities along the main stem include Springfield and Eugene in Lane County ; Harrisburg in Linn County ; Corvallis in Benton County ; Albany in Linn and Benton counties; Independence in Polk County ; Salem in Marion County ; Newberg in Yamhill County ; Oregon City , West Linn , Milwaukie , and Lake Oswego in Clackamas County ; and Portland in Multnomah and Washington counties. Significant tributaries from source to mouth include

22218-595: The vast oversupply of the system, with only 5% of the 40 million miles being active wires, Enron purchased the inactive "dark fibers", expecting to buy them at low cost and then make a profit as the need for more usage by internet providers increased, with Enron expecting to lease its acquired dark fibers in 20-year contracts to providers. However, Enron's accounting would use estimates to determine how much their dark fiber would be worth when "lit" and apply those estimates to their current income, adding exaggerated revenue to their accounts since transactions were not yet made and it

22379-605: The vicinity of the Willamette on a section referred to as French Prairie . By 1841, members of the United States Exploring Expedition came through the Siskiyou Trail. They noted extensive salmon fishing by natives at Willamette Falls, much like that at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. In the middle part of the 19th century the Willamette Valley's fertile soils, pleasant climate, and abundant water attracted thousands of settlers from

22540-483: The water stored in the reservoirs is used for irrigation . Cougar Dam on the South Fork McKenzie River and Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River are the two tallest dams in the Willamette River basin. Detroit Dam is 463 feet (141 m) high and stores 455,000 acre-feet (561,000,000 m ) of water. Lookout Point Dam on the Middle Fork Willamette River , forming Lookout Point Lake , has

22701-678: The watershed. In 1987, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior designated 713 acres (289 ha) of the watershed in Benton County as a National Natural Landmark . This area is the Willamette Floodplain , the largest remaining unplowed native grassland in the North Pacific geologic province, which encompasses most of the Pacific Northwest coast. For at least 10,000 years, a variety of indigenous peoples populated

22862-497: The western side of the Cascades, the Willamette Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural regions in North America, and it was thus the destination of many 19th-century pioneers traveling west along the Oregon Trail . The river was an important transportation route in the 19th century, although Willamette Falls , just upstream from Portland, was a major barrier to boat traffic. In the 21st century, major highways follow

23023-559: The whole state of California". The location was also more protected from natural disasters than areas such as Los Angeles or the East Coast. According to Wall Street Daily , "Enron had a secret", it "wanted to trade bandwidth like it traded oil, gas, electricity, etc. It launched a secret plan to build an enormous amount of fiber optic transmission capacity in Las Vegas ;... it was all part of Enron's plan to essentially own

23184-439: The winter of 1818-19, Thomas McKay led a hunting brigade farther south towards the sources of the Willamette River and reached the upper Umpqua River . More violent skirmishes were fought. Most brigade members returned to Fort George (formerly called Fort Astoria ). Louis LaBonté, Joseph Gervais , Étienne Lucier , Louis Kanota, and Louis Pichette (dit DuPré) remained in the Willamette Valley as free trappers. Meanwhile, in 1821

23345-476: The world". Enron, seeing stability after the merger, began to look overseas for new possible energy opportunities in 1991. Enron's first such opportunity was a natural gas power plant utilizing cogeneration that the company built near Middlesbrough , UK. The power plant was so large it could produce up to 3% of the United Kingdom's electricity demand with a capacity of over 1,875 megawatts . Seeing

23506-427: Was a major electricity , natural gas , communications, and pulp and paper company, with claimed revenues of nearly $ 101 billion during 2000. Fortune named Enron "America's Most Innovative Company" for six consecutive years. At the end of 2001, it was revealed that Enron's reported financial condition was sustained by an institutionalized, systematic, and creatively planned accounting fraud , known since as

23667-639: Was an innovator in the plastics industry . In 1983, InterNorth merged with the Belco Petroleum Company, a Fortune 500 oil exploration and development company founded by Arthur Belfer . The Houston Natural Gas (HNG) corporation was initially formed from the Houston Oil Co. in 1925 to provide gas to customers in the Houston market through the building of gas pipelines . Under the leadership of CEO Robert Herring from 1967 to 1981,

23828-413: Was assigned District Judge James Alger Fee . The proceedings were later called "one of the most prolonged and complicated series of legal proceedings in Portland's history". The reorganization and bond default was brought on by PGE's difficult negotiations with Bonneville Power Administration , the death of Seattle City Light 's visionary J. D. Ross, and the indecision created by the possible creation of

23989-423: Was canceled, with Enron shares dropping from $ 80 per share in mid-February 2001 to below $ 60 the week after the deal was killed. The branch of the company that Jeffrey Skilling "said would eventually add $ 40 billion to Enron's stock value" added only about $ 408 million in revenue for Enron in 2001, with the company's broadband arm closed shortly after its meager second-quarter earnings report in July 2001. Following

24150-418: Was changed to Enron Creditors Recovery Corporation. Its goal is to repay the old Enron's remaining creditors and end Enron's affairs. In December 2008, it was announced that Enron's creditors would receive $ 7.2 billion from the company's liquidation (approximately 17 percent of the debts owed by the company). After Citigroup and JP Morgan Chase were sued for their role in abetting Enron's practices with loans,

24311-402: Was established across the Willamette from Oregon City. After Portland was incorporated in 1851, quickly growing into Oregon's largest city, Oregon City gradually lost its importance as the economic and political center of the Willamette Valley. Beginning in the 1850s, steamboats began to ply the Willamette, despite the fact that they could not pass Willamette Falls. As a result, navigation on

24472-436: Was in 1999 when Enron promised to repay Merrill Lynch 's investment with interest to show a profit on its books. Debts and losses were put into entities formed offshore that were not included in the company's financial statements ; other sophisticated and arcane financial transactions between Enron and related companies were used to eliminate unprofitable entities from the company's books. The company's most valuable asset and

24633-487: Was not involved in the financial mis-dealings of its owner, pointing to the fact that many of its employees suffered when Enron froze the 401(k) retirement plan and were unable to sell the rapidly declining stock. However, Ken Harrison and Joseph Hirko , PGE's CEO and CFO respectively at the time of the Enron merger were charged on several felony level counts primarily related to financial misrepresentation regarding Enron Broadband Services which had its headquarters within

24794-486: Was not known if the cables would ever be active. Enron's trading with other energy companies within the broadband market was its attempt to lure large telecommunications companies, such as Verizon Communications , into its broadband scheme to create its own new market. By the second quarter of 2001, Enron Broadband Services was reporting losses. On March 12, 2001, a proposed 20-year deal between Enron and Blockbuster Inc. to stream movies on demand over Enron's connections

24955-469: Was on the Fortune ' s "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list during 2000, and had offices that were stunning in their opulence. Enron was hailed by many, including labor and the workforce, as an overall great company, praised for its large long-term pensions, benefits for its workers, and extremely effective management until the exposure of its corporate fraud. The first analyst to question

25116-533: Was one of the final projects of legendary graphic designer Paul Rand before his death in 1996, and debuted almost three months after his departure. In 1998, Enron International acquired Wessex Water for $ 2.88 billion. Wessex Water became the core asset of a new company, Azurix , which expanded to other water companies. After Azurix's promising IPO in June 1999, Enron "sucked out over $ 1 billion in cash while loading it up with debt", according to Bethany McLean and Peter Elkind, authors of The Smartest Guys in

25277-639: Was one such state to do so. Enron, seeing an opportunity with rising prices, was eager to jump into the market. In 1997, Enron acquired Portland General Electric (PGE). Although an Oregon utility, it had the potential to begin serving the massive California market since PGE was a regulated utility. The new Enron division, Enron Energy, ramped up its efforts by offering discounts to potential customers in California starting in 1998. Enron Energy also began to sell natural gas to customers in Ohio and wind power in Iowa. However,

25438-434: Was producing a large share of earnings for Enron, contributing 25% of earnings in 1996. Mark and EI believed the water industry was the next market to be deregulated by authorities. Seeing the potential, they searched for ways to enter the market, similar to PGE. During this period of growth, Enron introduced a new corporate identity on January 14, 1997, and from that point adopted their distinctive tricolor E logo. This logo

25599-416: Was technically the parent. At the outset, Segnar was CEO but was soon fired by the board of directors to name Lay to the post. Lay moved its headquarters back to Houston and set out to find a new name, spending more than $ 100,000 in focus groups and consultants in the process. Lippincott & Margulies , the advertising firm responsible for the InterNorth identity five years prior, suggested "Enteron". During

25760-602: Was used by virtually every energy company in the United States. By promoting the company's aggressive investment strategy, Enron's president and chief operating officer Jeffrey Skilling helped make Enron the biggest wholesaler of gas and electricity, trading over $ 27 billion per quarter. The corporation's financial claims, however, had to be accepted at face value. Under Skilling, Enron adopted mark-to-market accounting , in which anticipated future profits from any deal were tabulated as if currently real. Thus, Enron could record gains from what over time might turn out to be losses, as

25921-410: Was used to reach farther south. This trail, over 600 miles (970 km) long, stretched from the mouth of the Willamette River near present-day Portland south through the Willamette Valley, crossing the Siskiyou Mountains , and south through the Sacramento Valley to San Francisco . In 1812, William Henry and Alfred Seton paddled up from Fort Astoria (PFC) on the Columbia River into the mouth of

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