Baldur, I am in a hurry, but you might want to look up this article:
Report Voices Suspicions on Energy Crisis
The New York Times
August 14, 2002
PAGE C1, The National Edition
By RICHARD A. OPPEL Jr.
Following is an excerpt:
WASHINGTON, Aug. 13 - Federal energy regulators, struggling to get to
the bottom of the California energy crisis of 2000-01, said for
the first time today that there was evidence that natural gas prices might have been manipulated,
helping to drive up power prices.
They also said that they had found evidence of possible manipulation of
electricity prices by Enron and two other companies, Avista and El
Paso Electric, and began formal investigations to determine whether they
broke federal electricity-trading rules.
The preliminary report prepared by the staff of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission contrasts with the agency's approach at the outset
of the California crisis two years ago, when it played down the possibility
of manipulation. The report comes closer to endorsing the view of
many California officials that the state's energy crisis resulted at least
in part from manipulation of the market by energy companies like
Enron." |
