California: Surprise culprit in energy price rigging (the state itself!)

Sacramento Bee ^ | May 5, 2002 | Dan Weintraub

[John Jorsett]

A California state senator plowing through boxes of subpoenaed Enron Corp. documents has finally unearthed a smoking gun, the first tangible proof that energy traders tried to manipulate the price of electricity amid short supplies last summer.

One problem: The evidence doesn't implicate Enron so much as the managers of California's electricity grid, whose Folsom-based trader was caught red-handed trying to game the market. In a bizarre twist, it turns out that the state-created Independent System Operator, or ISO, was the one rigging the price of power, not the evil private generators who everyone suspected.

[John Jorsett]

Of course, there will be vigorous denunciation of the state's actions by governor Davis, and prosecution for those involved. Why are you laughing?

[John Jorsett]

Why does this story not surprise me?

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Good one!

But its directors are appointed by the governor, and its hybrid nature makes it vulnerable to political influence

Yep, that is what Davis does best!

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[daviddennis]

Hey, you're picking some great articles here!

Thanks.

This really doesn't look like Gray Davis' month, does it?

Speaking of which, are we ever going to hear about polls other than the Field one? Seems like that's been all we've been hearing about since it was released.

D

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

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[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

John is really on a roll this morning!

How is the blood pressure John!

Mine has been up for the last week or so, I am sure it is Davis and his cronies fault!

[WillaJohns]

Unbelievable, simply unbelievable. I suppose Davis and his minions will have us believing that this guy made these telephone calls all by his lonesome.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Yea, the reporters are finally doing their job!

I am gonna ping you on just one of articles John has put up this morning that is exceptional!!

[snopercod]

The ISO employee has been fired...

What? Lockyer didn't personally escort him to a jail cell to meet his home-boy named Spike?

[snopercod]

Yea, the reporters are finally doing their job!

Sure, published at the bottom of page E23 on a weekend when nobody will ever read it.

Even here in FReeperland, weekend posts die an early death.

[sailor4321]

I see at least two jailable violations: price fixing and a RICO violation. Instead, the Democrat administration fired the poor bastard who was told to make the call and just swept the rest under the rug.

"There comes a time when the machinery of power becomes so corrupt that the only way to stop it and the only right thing to do is for the people to throw their bodies on the machinery to stop it" --- paraphrase of Mario Savio, 1964.

No law, no peace!

[John Jorsett]

A lot of the other polls are internal ones, and they get talked about, but since they're unpublished they don't get near the notice that a public one like Field does. I hope someone commissons a Zogby poll. Theirs seem to be most accurate.

[monkeyshine]

These government employees, I dunno what to say. It's like they are communists. They can't stand it when someone else makes money. It's so bizarre that the ISO would intervene just to screw up someone else's profit potential. It wasn't going to save the state anything. All it would do is hurt someone else.

Enron and the ISO in bed together. What a scandal. Simon should get some leverage from this.

[John Jorsett]

It's so bizarre that the ISO would intervene just to screw up someone else's profit potential. It wasn't going to save the state anything. All it would do is hurt someone else.

Well, it also lets them turn around later and blame Enron for everything: "Look how they screwed us!" (Even if we did ask them to. Ignore that part of it.)

[VOA]

This is news?

Nothing shocks me about California politics and finances.

[Dog Gone]

Gray Davis hates the private sector, except for the campaign donations he extorts from them.

This is totally in keeping with his philosophy.

[Gophack]

The reason you're only hearing about the Field Poll is that is the ONLY poll out there that shows Davis ahead. It was a faulty poll, taking ALL registered voters, NOT likely voters (which always gives a bump to Democrats.) The fact is, the Davis numbers are consistent (with 4 points) with all the other poll numbers ... and his unfavorables are still at or over 50%. That is KEY. Considering that he has virtually 100% name ID and HALF the people DON'T LIKE HIM.

Oraclegate, energygate, and all the quid-pro-quo manuevers are coming back to haunt him. As well they should. Gray Davis is a campaign nut. He's a megalomaniac, Captain Queeg, everyone is after me and it's everyone else's fault, give me a million and I'll sign your bill or veto your enemies.

Davis not only DOES NOT deserve re-election, he should be PROSECUTED for gross malfeaseance and bribery. I DO NOT use that word lightly because I know that many people accused of wrongdoing are, in fact, innocent, especially in politics where the public thinks everyone is corrupt. But the difference is: Gray Davis IS CORRUPT and has used the power of his office to raise campaign contributions in exchange for vetoes or signatures. He needs to spend the next four years not in the corner office, but in prison.

Dump Davis!

[fella]

Expect the writer of this to take a long walk on a mountain lion infested path, soon.

[randita]

This is consistent with the way the Davis Administration (who watched Clinton very closely) works--accuse others of exactly what you are doing yourself.

How often have we heard the Davis shills and their media accomplices cry, "price gouging, price gouging", yet here we see the ISO pressuring suppliers to manipulate the market.

Reminds me of the case last year when two (laid off) union flunkies who worked for one of the big power producers in CA (can't remember which) claimed that their bosses told them to ramp down production in order to make more money. As it turned out, the ramping down was done at the behest of the CA ISO. But what do people remember--that the union flunkies testified that their evil, greedy company was gaming the market, that's what.