Enron Corp.’s manipulation of energy markets gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion, according to audiotapes and documents released Monday by the same utility that uncovered tapes of traders laughing about cheating grandmothers on their electricity bills.
The Snohomish County Public Utility District analyzed the records in hopes of defending itself against a $122 million lawsuit filed by Enron, which has accused it of illegally breaking its contracts with the company.
The utility claims the contract was void because Enron engaged in fraudulent business practices to drive up the cost of energy during the 2000-01 power crunch.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., used the evidence to demand a new investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. She said the agency’s colossal failure to uncover Enron’s schemes wound up hurting thousands of customers, and that FERC tried to keep the utility from getting access to Enron’s tapes.
“When are you going to give justice to the individuals who have been hurt by this Enron market manipulation?” Cantwell asked. “If the federal oversight regulators aren’t going to do their job, then they should get out of the way and quit obstructing justice.”
Energy traders routinely keep tapes of their phone calls as a record of oral contracts. Last month, the Snohomish PUD unveiled profanity-laced transcripts of Enron traders gleefully joking about stealing money from “those poor grandmothers” in California during the state’s energy crunch.
On Monday, the utility released more than 750 pages of financial documents dated from January 2000 to mid-June 2001 that it said show Enron manipulated the market on 473 of the 537 days during that period.
Among the records were accounting sheets that showed how Enron executed its trading schemes, said utility lawyer Eric Christensen. In one example of a “ricochet” scheme, Enron made $222,678 in a three-hour period by shipping power from California to Oregon, masking the original source of the power, and then selling it back to California for $750 per megawatt hour.
The Snohomish PUD is also seeking to convince a Federal Energy Regulatory Commission administrative law judge that Enron should be ordered to surrender up to $2 billion in ill-gotten gains.
Sens. Barbara Boxer and Dianne Feinstein of California want the state to receive at least $8.9 billion in refunds and an order that long-term contracts made under manipulated prices be re-negotiated.
An administrative law judge’s finding that Enron should forfeit $32.5 million in unjust profits is pending before FERC.
Enron refused to comment on the records except to say it is cooperating with all investigations. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001 amid revelations of hidden debt, inflated profits and shady accounting.
Other companies have reached larger settlements stemming from the Western energy crisis. California parties have settled complaints with Tulsa, Okla.-based Williams Cos. for $1.4 billion and Houston-based El Paso Corp. for $1.7 billion. Dynegy Inc. and NRG Energy Inc. struck a deal in April to wipe out more than $280 million in unpaid electricity bills during California’s energy crisis.
Enron Corp.'s manipulation of energy markets gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion, according to audiotapes and documents released Monday by the same utility that uncovered tapes of traders laughing about cheating grandmothers on their electricity bills.
The Snohomish County Public Utility District analyzed the records in hopes of defending itself and against a lawsuit filed by Enron, which has accused it of illegally breaking its contracts with the company.
The utility claims the contract was void because Enron engaged in fraudulent business practices to drive up the cost of energy during the 2000-01 power crunch.
U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., used the evidence to demand a new investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. She said the agency's colossal failure to uncover Enron's schemes wound up hurting thousands of energy customers.
Enron filed for bankruptcy protection in 2001 amid revelations of hidden debt, inflated profits and shady accounting.