Second Look At California Energy Crisis

In the wake of the Enron scandal, the federal government is re-examining claims that California´s energy crisis was artificial. Regulators who blamed last year´s crisis on flawed deregulation are taking another look at whether energy companies manipulated the market. A newly public memo from Enron lawyers contains strategies for creating false congestion on California´s electrical transmission grid. And ongoing federal and state investigations are exploring whether electricity generators withheld supply by idling power plants or manipulating bidding for power supplies. The state has demanded nearly $9 billion in refunds from power companies it claims violated federal rules on “just and reasonable” wholesale prices.