Don Baughman

Don Baughman served as Manager of the 24-Hour Real-Time Power Trading Desk at Enron North America, overseeing round-the-clock trading operations across multiple regional power markets in the Eastern United States. His responsibilities spanned recruiting and hiring traders for shift work, managing daily operations of the real-time desk, and coordinating with scheduling and fundamentals teams to optimize Enron’s position in hourly power markets. The 24-hour desk operated two shifts daily, covering 5:30am to 5:30pm and 5:30pm to 5:30am, requiring Baughman to build and manage a substantial team of hourly power traders.

Baughman’s email archive in the Enron corpus contains 7,930 messages with 242 unique correspondents during his active period from the late 1990s through 2002, documenting his work across real-time trading operations, talent development, and market intelligence coordination.

Career at Enron

Position and Organizational Structure

Baughman worked within Enron North America (ENA) under the broader Enron Wholesale Services (EWS) organization. His desk was part of the East Power Service Delivery division, focused specifically on real-time and hourly trading operations. This positioned him as a key operational manager responsible for continuous market coverage.

His reporting structure placed him in regular contact with Lloyd Will, who served as senior manager or director overseeing East Power operations. He also worked closely with Kayne Coulter, who managed the broader East Power Trading desk operations, and coordinated with Johnny Palmer on HR and recruiting matters for trading positions.

Market Coverage

The 24-hour desk traded actively across multiple regional power markets:

• SERC (Southeastern Electric Reliability Council)
• ECAR (East Central Area Reliability Coordination Agreement)
• PJM (Pennsylvania-New Jersey-Maryland Interconnection)
• MAIN (Mid-America Interconnected Network)
• MAPP (Mid-Continent Area Power Pool)
• New York Power Pool

This geographic breadth required the desk to maintain real-time awareness of conditions across the entire Eastern Interconnection, responding to load fluctuations, transmission constraints, and pricing opportunities as they emerged throughout each trading day.

Recruiting and Team Building

One of Baughman’s primary responsibilities was building and maintaining the 24-hour trading team. The nature of shift work for real-time trading required a larger roster of traders than a standard desk, and Baughman was actively involved in the full recruiting cycle.

Candidate Requirements

Job descriptions for positions Baughman managed specified both essential functions and qualifications:

Essential Functions:

• Trading of energy, specifically power
• Identifying and evaluating current power market needs and supply availability
• Evaluating new market opportunities
• Performing shift work on 24-hour rotations
• Excellent phone skills and strong desire to learn trading

Essential Requirements:

• Advanced Excel spreadsheet skills
• Bachelor’s degree (preferably in financial or economic discipline)
• Trading experience preferred
• Knowledge of risk management tools
• Understanding of trading products, regional forward price curves, risk management, and pricing strategies
• Knowledge of power supply and transmission/physical assets

Recruiting Activity

In spring 2001, Baughman conducted an intensive recruiting push for 24-hour trading positions, interviewing numerous candidates including Alexander McElreath, Ignacio Taveras, John Nolan, Jeff Gerl, Tom Tahl, Steven Coulter, Bryan Hull, and Kirit Purbhoo. He received resumes and candidate referrals through HR contacts Johnny Palmer and Courtnie Parker, and job posting #0000108727 documented the formal requisition for an East Power Service DE Trader position.

Team Composition

The 24-hour desk grew to include a substantial roster of traders managing shift coverage:

This team size reflected the operational demands of maintaining continuous market coverage across two 12-hour shifts.

Market Intelligence and Index Reporting

Beyond trading operations, Baughman played a role in market intelligence coordination. He worked with IPG Direct, an external firm providing market index services, through contacts including Bobette Riner, Ellen Clardy, and Jeff Maack. This relationship involved coordinating the submission of hourly trade data for market indices.

The desk contributed pricing data for major regional indices including:

• AEP (American Electric Power)
• Cinergy
• Entergy/SPP
• ComEd (Commonwealth Edison)
• TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority)

In summer 2001, Baughman participated in beta testing new indices for TVA, ComEd, and ERCOT markets, working through technical issues with email delivery systems for trade data submissions. This index reporting function was important both for market transparency and for establishing Enron’s pricing as representative of broader market conditions.

Technology and Systems

Trading Platform Access

Baughman and his team utilized multiple technology systems for trading and scheduling:

• PJM eData: Energy contracts system, with Baughman holding access credentials for Enron Power Marketing Inc. (EPMI)
• Enpower: Internal trading and scheduling platform
• SVCE Portfolio: Access for hourly traders
• OASIS: Open Access Same-Time Information System for transmission scheduling
• EnronOnline: Internal trading platform

The real-time nature of the 24-hour desk’s work required robust systems access for executing trades, managing positions, and coordinating transmission rights across multiple regional operators.

Transmission and Scheduling

The desk’s operations required close coordination with transmission providers and regional reliability organizations. Baughman worked with OASIS scheduling systems and maintained awareness of NERC (North American Electric Reliability Corporation) reporting requirements. This transmission expertise was particularly important for the real-time desk, as securing transmission paths to deliver power was essential for capturing arbitrage opportunities between regional markets.

Key Correspondents

Baughman’s email patterns reveal his operational network across trading, operations, and external relationships.

The concentration of correspondence with Kayne Coulter reflects Baughman’s integration into the East Power management structure, while the substantial volume with Bobette Riner demonstrates the importance of the IPG Direct relationship for index reporting. His communications with Christopher Watts and Doug Miller show the close operational coordination required to manage the 24-hour desk.

Notable Events

MAPP Customer Service Issues (May 2001)

In May 2001, the 24-hour desk encountered difficulties with the Mid-Continent Area Power Pool (MAPP) Security Center. Baughman documented customer service complaints arising from these interactions, reflecting the operational challenges of coordinating with regional operators who controlled transmission access and scheduling authority.

UBS Transition Planning (Early 2002)

Following Enron’s bankruptcy filing in December 2001, Baughman participated in transition planning as UBS Warburg acquired portions of Enron’s trading operations. He attended meetings regarding transmission services handoff to UBS, reviewing transmission provider relationships and agreements. This work involved coordination with Christi Nicolay on legal matters, Lloyd Will on fundamentals, and operations teams to ensure continuity of trading relationships.

Organizational Context

During Baughman’s tenure, Enron Wholesale Services was structured with Jim Fallon as CEO and Rich DiMichele as COO. Within this organization, Enron North America (led by Don Miller) housed the East Power Trading operations where Baughman’s 24-hour desk operated. Peer organizations included Enron Global Markets under Gary Hickerson, Enron Industrial Markets under Rodney Malcolm, Enron Broadband Services, Enron Europe under Eric Shaw, and Enron Canada under Kyle Kitagawa.

The 24-hour desk’s focus on real-time and hourly markets complemented the forward trading activities of other East Power desks, providing Enron with continuous market presence and the ability to capture short-term pricing opportunities.

Legal Status

Don Baughman does not appear in Department of Justice or SEC enforcement actions related to Enron. As a manager of real-time trading operations in Eastern markets, he was not among the individuals charged in connection with the company’s collapse or the California energy crisis that generated criminal prosecutions for some West Power traders.

See Also

• Lloyd Will - Senior manager overseeing East Power operations
• Christi Nicolay - Regulatory and legal affairs
• Kevin Presto - Vice President of East Power Trading

References

This article is based on research from 7,930 emails in Don Baughman’s archive in the Enron corpus, with 242 unique correspondents during his active period from the late 1990s through 2002. The preserved messages document his management of the 24-hour trading desk, recruiting activities, market intelligence coordination, and participation in post-bankruptcy transition planning.