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                                                                    Exhibit 10.1

                          CONSENT AND WAIVER AGREEMENT

     THIS CONSENT AND WAIVER is given by Ian B. Carter (the "Employee") to
Commonwealth Energy Corporation, a California corporation (the "Company")
effective as of March 12, 2004.

                                    RECITALS

     A. The Employee and the Company are parties to an Employment Agreement
dated as of January 1, 2000, as amended by an Addendum dated November 1, 2000
(the "Employment Agreement").

     B. Pursuant to Section 3.2(a) of the Employment Agreement, upon the
occurrence of certain change of control transactions of the Company, the
Employee has the right to receive certain bonus payments. Pursuant to Section
3.9 of the Employment Agreement, upon the occurrence certain sales of assets and
change of control events, the Employee shall have the right to require the
Company to repurchase from the Employee all capital stock and stock options then
owned by or owing to Employee at an aggregate repurchase price equal to two (2)
times the then aggregate price value (as defined in the Employment Agreement) of
the Company's capital stock.

     C. Pursuant to Section 7.3 of the Employment Agreement, the Employee may
terminate the Employment Agreement for cause and receive certain severance
payments upon the occurrence of certain change of control events without the
Employee's prior written consent.

     D. The Company intends to complete a reorganization transaction (the
"Transaction") pursuant to which to (a) a newly-formed California subsidiary
("Newco") of Commerce Energy Group, Inc., one of the Company's wholly-owned
Delaware subsidiaries (the "Holding Company") would be merged with and into the
Company; (b) the Company would be the surviving corporation in the merger; and
(c) the Company would become a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Holding Company.

     E. In order to facilitate the Transaction, the Employee is willing to
consent to the Transaction and in connection with the Transaction waive (a) any
right to the payment of a bonus under Section 3.2(a) of the Employment
Agreement, (b) the Employee's right to exercise the stock repurchase option
under Section 3.9 of the Employment Agreement and (c) any right to terminate the
Employment Agreement for cause under Section 7.3 of the Employment Agreement.

     NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, receipt of which is
hereby acknowledged, the Employee hereby agrees as follows:

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                               CONSENT AND WAIVER

     1. The Employee hereby expressly consents in writing to the Transaction.

     2. The Employee hereby waives any rights he may have under Sections 3.2(a),
3.9 and 7.3 of the Employment Agreement in connection with the Transaction.

     3. The consent and waivers contained in Paragraphs 1 and 2 above shall only
apply to the Transaction, not other future transactions. Except as amended or
modified by this Consent and Waiver, the Employment Agreement shall continue in
full force and effect in accordance with its terms.

                                          By: /s/ IAN B. CARTER
                                              ----------------------------------
                                              Ian B. Carter

                                      -2-<PAGE>
                                                                    Exhibit 10.2

                    SECOND AMENDMENT TO EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

     THIS SECOND AMENDMENT TO EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT is entered into as of March
16, 2004 (the "Amendment") by and among Commonwealth Energy Corporation, a
California corporation (the "Company"), and Ian B. Carter ("Employee").

     WHEREAS, the parties entered into a certain Employment Agreement dated as
of January 1, 2000, as amended by an Addendum to Employment Agreement dated as
of November 1, 2000 (collectively, the "Employment Agreement," the defined terms
of which shall be used in this Amendment unless otherwise defined herein);

     WHEREAS, the parties now desire to amend the Employment Agreement to modify
certain of the terms thereof;

     NOW, THEREFORE, for good and valuable consideration, the receipt and
adequacy of which are hereby acknowledged by each of the parties hereto, the
parties hereto, intending to be legally bound, do hereby agree as follows:

     1. Amendment of Paragraph 3.2(a). Paragraph 3.2(a) of the Employment
Agreement is hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

          "(a) Bonus Upon Sale of Assets or Control of the Company. If during
     the term of the Agreement (i) all or substantially all of the assets of the
     Company or more than fifty percent (50%) of the issued and outstanding
     voting shares of the Company are, in any transaction or series of
     transactions, acquired by any one person or entity not then affiliated with
     the Company, or (ii) control of the Company is taken over by a group of
     shareholders when no significant change of ownership has taken place, or
     (iii) a liquidity event such as a merger, acquisition, strategic alliance
     or any other event that could bring substantial capital into the company
     and any of these events listed require that the Employee be terminated,
     leave the company, replaced or any other event that no longer allows or
     requires the Employee to remain with the Company, then the Company shall
     pay to the Employee a bonus equal to three (3) times the Employee's Annual
     Compensation (for purposes of this Paragraph 3.2(a), "Annual Compensation"
     shall be defined as the sum of the Employee's then-current Base Salary and
     the average of the two (2) highest bonuses paid to the Employee by the
     Company) plus the amount of I.R.S. Code 280 G taxes payable by the
     Employee. In addition, all stock options referred to in this Agreement,
     whether earned or unearned, shall be deemed to be valued at two (2) times
     the then aggregate price value of the Company's capital stock (See
     Paragraph 3.9). The bonus shall be paid to the Employee and the options
     purchased from the Employee prior to the Closure date of such an event
     taking place. The bonus shall be payable to the Employee whether or not the
     Employee elects to terminate this Agreement pursuant to Paragraph 7.3
     below."

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     2. Amendment of Paragraph 7.3. Paragraph 7.3 of the Employment Agreement is
hereby amended and restated in its entirety to read as follows:

          "7.3 Termination by Employee for Cause. Employee may terminate this
     Agreement only for cause, which shall be limited to any one of the
     following:

          "(a) The sale of all or substantially all of the Company's assets to a
     person unaffiliated with the Company or the occurrence of a Change of
     Control, in either case without Employee's prior written consent, which
     consent may be given or withheld by Employee in his sole and arbitrary
     discretion.

          "(b) The Company's material breach of any of the terms and conditions
     of this Agreement, provided that termination pursuant to this subsection
     (b) shall not constitute a valid termination for cause unless the Board
     shall have first received written notice from Employee stating with
     specificity the nature of such material breach and affording the Company at
     least thirty (30) days to cure the material breach alleged.

          "Upon any termination of this Agreement by Employee for cause,
     Employee shall not be required to render or to provide any further services
     pursuant to this Agreement and shall be entitled to receive in one lump sum
     within fifteen (15) days following notice of such termination, a
     termination payment equal, in the case of termination under (a) above,
     three (3) times the Employee's Annual Compensation (as defined in Paragraph
     3.2(a) of this Agreement) and equal, in the case of termination under (b)
     above, to the monetary value (not discounted to present value) of all of
     the compensation, including all the options, and other benefits payable to
     Employee pursuant to this Agreement for the remainder of the term hereof.
     Such compensation shall be in addition to, and not in lieu of, any other
     damages to which Employee may otherwise be entitled."

     3. Effect of Amendment. Except as specifically amended herein, the
Employment Agreement shall remain in full force and effect without any other
changes, amendments or modifications.

     4. Counterparts. This Amendment may be executed in one or more
counterparts, each of which shall be deemed an original, but all of which
together shall constitute one and the same instrument.

     5. Further Acts. The parties agree to execute and deliver all such further
documents, agreements and instruments and take such other and further action as
may be necessary or appropriate to carry out the purposes and intent of this
Amendment.

     6. Entire Agreement. This Amendment and the Employment Agreement, as
amended by this Amendment, sets forth the entire understanding of the parties
with respect to the subject matter of the Employment Agreement, supersedes all
existing agreements between them concerning such subject matter, and may be
modified only by a written instrument duly executed by each party.

                                      -2-
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     IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties hereto have executed this Amendment as of
the day and year first above written.

"Company"                              COMMONWEALTH ENERGY CORPORATION

                                       By: /s/ ROBERT C. PERKINS
                                           -------------------------------------
                                       Name:  Robert C. Perkins
                                       Title: Chairman of the Compensation
                                              Committee

                                       By:
                                           -------------------------------------
                                       Name:
                                             -----------------------------------
                                       Title:
                                              ----------------------------------

"Employee"                             /s/ IAN B. CARTER
                                       -----------------------------------------
                                       Ian B. Carter

                                      -3-

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