PHILADELPHIA - Several former Enron executives launched a new company Monday to market energy services to small and medium-sized businesses.<br>
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Celeren Corp. was negotiating the final details of an expected $15 million agreement with its first customer, a New York company, and expected to announce that deal by the end of next week, said Thomas A. Brigger, president and chief executive officer.<br>
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The company is also negotiating with potential investors, looking for a $5 million equity partner in what Brigger called a "tough market for venture capital, equity investment."<br>
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Brigger, Celeren chief operating officer Donald S. Parker and others left Enron in July to start organizing their new venture, well before the Houston-based energy trader rocked the financial world with its Oct. 16 disclosure of a $638 million third quarter loss and its bankruptcy filing on Dec. 2.<br>
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Brigger had been Mid-Atlantic regional manager for Enron Energy Services' outsource fulfillment operation, and Parker had been Mid-Atlantic regional director of asset risk management.<br>
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"The group we were with, Enron Energy Services, was doing very well. Our group had nothing to do with accounting," Brigger said.<br>
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He said Celeren will focus on small to mid-sized businesses and institutions often overlooked by large energy conglomerates.<br>
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"Enron liked large Fortune 100 companies with 400 sites, we like a single site or a reasonably placed location. Generally our prototype is a company that spends about $1 million a year on energy services, though $10 million doesn't bother us," Brigger said.<br>
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Celeren plans to offer services in which customers pay a flat monthly payment over the life of the agreement, and Celeren then takes the responsibility for obtaining the energy - electric or gas - on the market and delivering it.<br>
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In addition to the customer expected to be announced next week, Brigger said several more, whose names he declined to disclose, were "in the pipeline." <br>
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