California: Energy probe turns heat on Reliant

The San Francisco Chronicle ^ | Sunday, April 20, 2003 | Christian Berthelsen, Mark Martin, Chronicle Staff Writers

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Federal prosecutors conducting a criminal probe of California's energy crisis have shifted their investigation away from Enron and onto the company's Houston neighbor, Reliant Resources Inc., according to sources.

Documents released by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission depict Reliant traders and plant operators engaging in a range of deceptive practices to drive up energy prices during the crisis.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

We also have this:

______________________________________________________

How a lone trader roiled energy market -- From a sun-splashed oceanfront apartment in Long Beach, a natural gas trader named Mary Kathleen Zanaboni authored what federal regulators say was a pivotal chapter in California's energy crisis. With a fast computer, three telephone lines, a television tuned to weather reports and a steady supply of coffee, Zanaboni bought and sold natural gas swiftly and aggressively. Regulators call it "churning" and contend that she single-handedly cost households and businesses nearly $3 billion in the winter of 2000-01. Nancy Rivera Brooks in the Los Angeles Times -- 4/20/03

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Calpowercrisis:

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[snopercod]

But is "churning" illegal? That should be the only question.

[Carry_Okie]

But is "churning" illegal?

Not unless it involves communication between companies. Then it's collusion.

The real market manipulation was what created the shortage of generating capacity that made these games even possible. It took twenty years to accomplish and when "deregulation" was initiated it merely turned into the payoff. TURN, the Sierra Club, and the NRDC are the key players who funded and organized the NIMBY groups that prevented plant construction. Bryson was there all the way along. So far, I have not found detailed information re what Gray Davis was doing after he left Jerry Brown's Administration and before he became Controller besides holding office as an assemblyman.

[snopercod]

It has been reported over and over that these "round-trip" trades had zero effect on electricity (or natural gas) prices in California, and some have reported that they actually have had a beneficial effect. I believe that the main purpose of these wash sales was to boost the "income" figures of the parent firms to enhance their stock price. This might be a securities crime, but not anti-trust.

Collusion? Is that what they call one company dealing with another these days?

Aside: I am feeling like a murderer today. I had to cut down a 60-year-old hardwood tree to clear a window to the Dish Network satellite at 119 degrees which carries Fox News Channel.

It was a beautiful tree, and I plan to haul it (in pieces) to the local sawmill. That way I can build a bookshelf out of it in a couple years, and it will be remembered always...

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

You should send in your story to the Foxnews Channel!

LOL!

[snopercod]

I can claim that I did it in honor of "Earth Day".