Ever hear of ethics? It would be one thing if energy was something we could choose to do without, but, as you and the rest of the crooks in the energy field know, it isn't.
If this (screwing the consumers by manipulation) is an example of what energy companies call "free market" or "deregulation" it sucks, and may they rot in hell...
It isn't about Gray Davis or the Democrats. It's about screwing the unsuspecting public under the guise of free market and deregulation.
First, it's obvious that you aren't a trader, or you would have known better than to make that silly remark about ethics. Trading cannot even proceed on a regular basis unless the participants are ethical regarding each other.
On the CBoT and the other exchanges, if a trader 'walks' a trade, that is, makes a trade and subsequently disavows it, no one on the floor will deal with the guy again for a LONG time. In the OTC world, a trader's prospects vary directly with his ethical behaviour. If you give your word, you keep it. If you enter a contract, you perform. Or else you don't get to play any longer.
My comment about 'as far as we could tell' referred to the prolixity and, frankly, the impenetrability of the regulations drawn up by idiots who have and had exactly zero idea of the marketplace, and who wished to substitute for it a Fantasyland of anti-Randian ideology. The comment had nothing to do with corner-cutting or crookedness.
Here's a tip for you. There wasn't any 'deregulation' in Calbania, ever, no matter how badly the socialists (evidently including yourself) want to tar and smear and blame 'deregulation' for their problems. You cannot deregulate one phase of a multi-phase market, can't be done. Oh, you can do it for a little while, but the minute there is ANY supply dislocation, any sort of distribution or capacity problem, the stuff hits the fan...and there is no way on G*d's green earth that the regulators and bureaudorks can react quickly enough to deal with it. Doofus could have sorted things out by suspending or eliminating numerous regulations including price caps, and letting the market clear, but, for purely political reasons he wouldn't do so. Talk about screwing the consumer, pally, there's your immediate villain.
And now you've seen what happens when assorted clowns attempt this type of faux-deregulation. Pretty picture, wasn't it? Will you take the lesson to heart? I've no idea, but somehow, given your message, I doubt it.
As for this business about electricity being necessary, fine, go back to completely regulated utility systems if you wish. They're comparatively inefficient, they tend strongly to become hidebound, super-bureaucratic, and risk-averse very quickly, and as for necessary innovation over time, forget about it.
This is not and wasn't ever about Democrats and Republicans. Any number of Republican pols I can think of would have behaved exactly as Doofus did. Doofus isn't a doofus because he's a Democrat, he's a doofus because he's a doofus sailing off to a socialist dream world and creating havoc in his wake.
Actions have consequences. Perhaps in future the consumers won't screw themselves by electing such morons.