Announced Actions for March 8, 2005

Petition to reopen and set aside order: The Commission has received a petition to reopen and set aside an existing consent order from Entergy-Koch, LLC (EKLP), in connection with FTC Docket No. C-3998. The order, dated January 31, 2001, establishes procedures for Entergy and EKLP to follow in connection with Entergy’s procurement of natural gas transportation services to carry natural gas to any electric power generating facility or local natural gas distribution facility that uses, distributes, stores, or transports natural gas, and is owned, operated, or controlled by an Entergy subsidiary that is subject to a state regulator’s rules governing the recovery cost of buying the relevant product.

According to the respondents, Paragraph II of the Commission order was intended “to create a competitive, transparent process to make it easier for regulators to detect whether Entergy purchased gas supplies . . . at inflated prices or a level of service that is above that necessary for effective operation, in the wake of the joint venture that gave Entergy a 50 percent interest in Gulf South,” a major natural gas transportation supplier in Louisiana and Mississippi. The respondents have now petitioned the FTC to reopen and modify the order because they contend: 1) Entergy and EKLP have fully complied with the terms of the order; 2) EKLP sold Gulf South to TGT Pipeline, LLC, on December 29, 2004, eliminating Entergy’s indirect 50 percent ownership in Gulf South; and 3) Entergy no longer has any ownership interest in or control over Gulf South, so it no longer has any arguable incentive to pay inflated natural gas transportation prices to Gulf South. Moreover, with the sale of Gulf South, EKLP no longer can ensure that Gulf South posts on its Electronic Bulletin Board, as required by Paragraphs II.C.1.d and II.C.2.d. Consequently, it states in its application that there is no longer a basis for the remedy contained in the order.

The Commission is seeking public comments on the companies’ petition for 30 days, until April 5, 2005, after which it will decide whether to approve it. Copies of the complete petition can be found on the FTC’s Web site as a link to this press release. Comments should be sent to: FTC Office of the Secretary, 600 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., Washington, DC 20580. (FTC Docket No C-3998, the staff contact is Elizabeth A. Piotrowski, Bureau of Competition, 202-326-2623; see press release dated January 31, 2001.)

Commission approval of final consent order: Following a public comment period, the Commission has approved a final consent order in the matter concerning Petco Animal Supplies, Inc., and approved letters to the commenters of record. The Commission vote approving the final consent order and authorizing staff to send the letters was 5-0. (FTC File No. 032-3221; the staff contact is Alain Sheer, Bureau of Consumer Protection, 202-326-3321; see press release dated November 17, 2004.)

Copies of the documents mentioned in this release are available from the FTC’s Web site at http://www.ftc.gov and also from the FTC’s Consumer Response Center, Room 130, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., Washington, DC 20580. Call toll-free: 1-877-FTC-HELP.