The operators of the state´s power grid are hiring an attorney to investigate a state senator´s accusation that they manipulated California´s energy market. The Independent System Operator says it did nothing improper. But the system´s board is hiring attorney Michael Strumwasser to make sure. Strumwasser spent 17 years with the state Department of Justice. Grid operators say they were reacting to a transmission line problem in November 2001 when they asked state energy traders to buy unnecessary power at above-market rates, which the state later had to sell at a loss. State Sen. Joe Dunn a Democrat from Santa Ana calls that a request for the state to schedule “fictitious” energy demands. Dunn chairs the Senate Select Committee to Investigate Price Manipulation of the Wholesale Energy Market.
This post was last modified on 01/31/2009 5:31 pm