Fusaro, Peter C. 1950-

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FUSARO, Peter C. 1950-

PERSONAL:

Born October 18, 1950, in New York, NY; son of Dominick and Pauline (Ferrara) Fusaro. Ethnicity: "White." Education: Carnegie Mellon University, B.A., 1972; Tufts University, M.A., 1979.

ADDRESSES:

Home—211 West 56th St., Apt. 23M, New York, NY 10019.

CAREER:

U.S. Department of Energy, Washington, DC, policy analyst, 1975-81; Mayor's Energy Office, New York, NY, senior policy analyst, 1985-87; Petroleos de Venezuela, New York, NY, principal analyst, 1988-89; Global Change Association, New York, NY, chairman, 1991-2003; ABB Financial Services, New York, NY, senior vice president of energy consulting. Member of advisory board, New York University Energy Forum and Far East Oil Price Index; founder and advisory board member, Green Energy Trading Summit.

MEMBER:

International Association for Energy Economics (president of New York chapter).

AWARDS, HONORS:

Special achievement award, U.S. Department of Energy, 1976.

WRITINGS:

Energy Risk Management: Hedging Strategies and Instruments for the International Energy Markets, McGraw-Hill (New York, NY) 1998.

(With Jeremy Wilcox) Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets, Energy Publishing Enterprises (New York, NY) 2000.

(With Ross M. Miller) What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyone's Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History, J. Wiley (Hoboken, NJ) 2002.

(Editor) Energy Convergence: The Beginning of the Multi-Commodity Market, Wiley (New York, NY) 2002.

Global Markets and National Interest, CSIS Press, 2002.

(With Justin Harlow) Electronic Energy Trading: Special Report, fourth edition, Global Change Associates (New York, NY), 2002.

(With Marion Yuen, and editor) Greentrading Markets: Developing the Second Wave, GreenTrading (Brooklyn, NY) 2004.

(With Marion Yuen) Greentrading: Commercial Opportunities for the Environment, GreenTrading (New York, NY) 2004.

Contributor of numerous articles to energy trade journals.

SIDELIGHTS:

A consultant and policy analyst in the energy field, Peter C. Fusaro has written and edited books on a variety of subjects related to his specialty. In Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets, Fusaro and Jeremy Wilcox provide an overview of the financial markets as they pertain to the trading of new derivative products in various forms of energy, including electricity. A collection of chapters by different experts, the book covers emissions trading, bandwidth trading, the restructuring of European natural gas markets, and the details of the European Gas Directive, among other topics. Fusaro and Wilcox begin the volume with an explanation of the development of these new markets, then follow up with an analysis of trading contracts, as well as of both the traditional form of floor trading and the more recent electronic trading as relate to energy.

In a review for Energy Journal, Irina Khindanova called the book "an excellent source on the history of energy industry deregulation, developments in energy risk management and energy trading markets." She went on to state that "Energy Derivatives will be understandable to novice traders and risk managers … [and] contains valuable information and analysis of energy market developments and energy trading instruments." Howard L. Simons, writing for Futures, pointed out that "the downside to such a style is that no individual chapter can approach the depth and detail a reader would need to feel truly educated, and there is no truly central thread running through the book." He admitted, however, that "those seeking a survey of what the creative minds of the energy and risk management business have been doing, however, are likely to find this a satisfying, non-intimidating and useful reference."

Fusaro, with collaborator Ross M. Miller, has also contributed to the books written in the wake of the Enron scandal. What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyone's Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History serves as a general introduction to the events that led to Enron's troubles. Unfortunately, the bankruptcy of mega-corporation WorldCom in July 2002 rendered the book obsolete, but a reviewer for M2 Best Books remarked that "as a general 'situation setter' over a complex issue this book really does meet its target." William J. Holstein, in a review for the New York Times, called the book "the best offering" of the initial publications dealing with the scandal. Houston Chronicle reviewer Tom Fowler commented that "Fusaro and Miller tackle concepts that most readers never heard of before last fall, such as mark-to-market accounting, put options and special-purpose entities, presenting them in simple terms that are clear to readers who don't regularly peruse the business pages." He continued that the book "takes many complicated threads that run throughout the company and its bankruptcy and tries to simplify them for a general reader." American Prospect contributor Robert Kuttner noted that "Fusaro and Miller's book is useful for its explanation of the dynamics of energy trading."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

American Prospect, June, 2003, Robert Kuttner, "The Great Crash, Part II," p. 47.

Energy Journal, April, 2003, Irina Khindanova, review of Energy Derivatives: Trading Emerging Markets, p. 147.

Futures, August, 2001, Howard L. Simons, review of Energy Derivatives, p. 86.

Houston Chronicle, August 25, 2002, Tom Fowler, "The Fall of Enron: Two Accounts Attempt to Trace the Gigantic Collapse of Enron," p. 19.

M2 Best Books, August 15, 2002, review of What Went Wrong at Enron: Everyone's Guide to the Largest Bankruptcy in U.S. History.

New York Times, July 28, 2002, William J. Holstein, "Harvesting the First Crop of Enron Tales," p. 36.*