Federal energy regulators Thursday ordered staff attorneys to review new evidence that bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. tried to manipulate California energy markets nearly every day during the state’s 2000-01 power crisis.
The staff could recommend changes in ongoing enforcement cases by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) against Enron, FERC Chairman Pat Wood said.
Profanity-laced audio tapes in which Enron traders chortle about boosting prices during the crisis at the expense of “poor grandmothers” have given Western states new ammunition in their quest for refunds at FERC.
Washington state utility officials this week released trader tapes and financial records gathered in a Justice Department investigation showing that Enron overcharged Western ratepayers by about $1.1 billion using questionable trading schemes with nicknames like “Death Star” and “Get Shorty.”
“The corporate culture at Enron fostered a disregard for the American energy consumer,” Wood said.
Suedeen Kelly, the agency’s sole Democratic commissioner, called the tapes “an outrage” and urged Congress to give FERC broader enforcement power. “They show in such a graphic way the cold-blooded greed that exists,” Kelly said.
FERC lawyers completed an investigation into the Western crisis last year and found massive manipulation by Enron and others.
So far, FERC has stripped Enron of its power-trading license and an agency judge has recommended that the firm repay $32.5 million in profits from the Western crisis.
FERC has indicated it will approve about $3 billion in refunds from suppliers to California ratepayers. The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission on Thursday directed staff to review new evidence that bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. tried to manipulate California energy markets nearly every day during the state's 2000-01 power crisis.
The staff could recommend changing ongoing FERC enforcement cases against Enron, FERC Chairman Pat Wood said.
Washington state utility officials this week released trader tapes and financial records gathered in a Justice Department investigation showing that Enron overcharged Western ratepayers by about $1.1 billion using questionable trading schemes with nicknames like "Death Star" and "Get Shorty."