Power Contract Terminated

By Bill Johnson Published Nov 17, 2001 01:30 pm Updated Jan 31, 2009 05:56 pm

A state contract with an energy consulting firm has been terminated by the California Power Authority, due to a potential conflict of interest. The Power Authority is a state agency involved in power production and sales.

Chicago based Navigant Consulting Company´s one million dollar contract to advise the California Power Authority was halted yesterday. The action came two days after it was reported Navigant also worked for energy companies which were negotiating with the state on about 35 billion dollars in electricity contracts.

At one time Navigant had a four million dollar contract with the state power authority, which was cut last month to one million. There have been private consultants fired earlier by the state for having a financial stake in the energy firms they dealt with.

The office of Governor Gray Davis said the Navigant situation was different. According to disclosure statements, the Navigant employees do NOT have energy firm stocks.