Tapes: Enron plotted to shut down power plant

[UL_Approved]

Tapes: Enron plotted to shut down power plant

(CNN) -- A Washington state utility released audiotapes Thursday that it said revealed bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. plotted to take a power plant off-line in 2001 to jack up electric prices in Western states.

That same day, shortages of power forced rolling blackouts in northern California that affected about 2 million customers.

Snohomish Public Utility District in Everett, Washington, released the tapes as part of its effort to void a $122 million lawsuit Enron has filed against it seeking payment for electricity it was contracted to provide.

The utility says an Enron employee and a worker at a power plant in Las Vegas, Nevada, made up phony repairs, taking the plant off-line January 17, 2001.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/enron.tapes/index.html">Tapes: Enron plotted to shut down power plant

[yorgatron]

1. 4 years later,maybe this time it won't slide off the front pages

of the newspapers.every dog has its day motherfuckers :mad::mad::mad:

[fooj]

12. I'm one of the 2 million in Northern California...

THOSE BASTARDS! Damn them all!

[kineneb]

28. Me too!

I knew when the "rolling blackouts" were happening that the whole thing was a crock of ****. Someone, somewhere was getting a bunch of Our money and we were getting candles.
:mad:
...and for you, KennyBoy, we got this here loooong coastline and lots of sharks...care for a swim?

[PartyPooper]

29. Me three! And, I want Ken Lay behind bars once and for all!

All of his property should be sold to pay off his victims.

[The Backlash Cometh]

17. Link is broken. That didn't take long.

[UL_Approved]

34. I entered the URL wrong for the link

Here it is:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/enron.tapes/index.html

[Gyre]

20. the press is afraid of bush

So nothing of substance that irks his chimperial majesty is going to be seen anywhere near the front of the papers.

Gyre

[Occulus]

2. Kenny-boy Lay, whaddaya say,

which Bush did ya fellate on today?

Ya cocksucker. Go to jail for life, do not pass go, do not collect $200.

Jerk.

[bananas]

3. Kenny Bin Forgotten

"Kenny Boy" who?
Oh yeah - Kenny Bin Forgotten!

[alittlelark]

8. Classic bumpersticker in your post....

'Kenny Boy' who?
Oh yeah, Kenny Bin Forgotten



'Enron logo' prior to 'Kenny Boy', or after.


If no one makes this sticker I will have to print it and tape it on.

[Whoa_Nelly]

4. What about the people who died as a direct result of Enron's folly?

There should also be murder charges levied against Lay.
Have been looking for the links to the stories I read over a year ago re: deaths/accidents as a direct result of the rolling blackouts, but can't find them.

[UL_Approved]

10. That is the real dark secret of the mess

How many little old ladies on some form of life support died as a result of this debacle? How many people died from heat stroke? What about traffic deaths associated with this "rolling blackout" shenanigans?

This needs to be dug up. Bush has pushed many people too far, and the backlash is coming out of the woodwork. Maybe this time, the Neo-Con movement will get prosecuted. Here's hoping...

[fooj]

13. I understand that Lay is slated for trial in Houston in September!

September? Shit! That's ridiculous! Just in time for little Toadie the Torturer to let him go...

[On the Road]

24. No, They've Been Building a Case Against Lay

Working from the bottom of the management chain on up. I'll be shocked if he doesn't go to jail.

Of course, it may get buried in the papers. And Bush is already a lame duck, so it won't hurt him like it could have last year.

[genieroze]

5. Like anything will happen to Bushron. eom

[burrowowl]

6. Why aren't these people in jail yet

Why is Martha in jail?

[alittlelark]

9. Cuz' Martha is a HUGE DEM organizer.....

...scary....

[Mokito]

14. As Eric Idle says/sings

For Halliburton, Enron, all the companies who fail
Lets send them a clear signal and stick Martha straight in jail
She's an uppity rich bitch, but at least she isn't male
So fuck you all so very much

...

So what the planet fails
Lets save the great white males
And fuck you all so very much


Eric Idle presents... The FCC Song.
"Here’s a little song I wrote the other day while I was out duck hunting with a judge… It’s a new song, it’s dedicated to the FCC and if they broadcast it, it will cost a quarter of a million dollars."

Download Here (3.1MB)

[prairierose]

25. Yes, and she's also an uppity woman! n/t

[Nomad559]

7. CBS Video

Enron traders caught on tape.

http://www.putfile.com/media.php?n=Enron_Traders

[Journeyman]

11. Good friends of mine had an independent grocery in central California. . .

that they started in 2000. Then came the energy pirates, with rolling blackouts and skyrocketing rates. It destroyed 'em. They cut back as much as they could, only lighted every other bank of lights, but then the insurance company threatened action for fear someone might fall. Next they put heavy plastic sheets over the open refrigerators, but clients couldn't get to the food and they didn't have enough capital to buy new refrigeration units. They struggled as long as they could, and when Jeffords switched parties and the threat of investigation opened in the Senate, energy costs came into line and the "crisis" receded. Not before my friends lost their business, however.

Justice for Kenny Boy Lay would be for him to be dragged into the dusty streets of Laredo, horsewhipped, then left lying there as a warning to all corporate criminals who dare dream of destroying any other American's dream.

[keopeli]

15. Wow! I just thought of something - Dino Rossi

I live in Seattle and, though Republicans are all zealous these days, I've been amazed that the Repubs are maintaining this Rossi challenge by funding the effort. I am sure it has to do with McCaw (rich technology guy who lives in Seattle and is the only place Bush* goes when he seldom comes here) funding this. In any case, there is NO WAY that this tape was not revealed to Kenny Boy and Bush* before today. In fact, since it was disclosed by a utility through a lawsuit, it sounds even more like a managed asset.

Had Rossi been elected, he probably could have quashed this asset. The fact that he is still pursuing this lawsuit lends credence to the possibility that there is more dirt to be had from Washington State!!! That is just too rich of a thought!

I know that another of the Republican's purposes is to ensure that they can shut down an election that is not going in their favor. But I believe these coverups are much more prevelant than any of us realize. Bush* is way too secretive for him to be squeaky clean.

[BushSpeak]

16. Several good links to the Enron / Arnold fairy tale here

New evidence: Enron was scamming years before energy crunch
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1209480#1209493

Here's the correct link to the original CNN article.

Tapes: Enron plotted to shut down power plant
http//www.cnn.com/2005/US/02/03/enron.tapes/index.html

[Kimber Scott]

18. And these are the people we want in charge of Social Security...

You can always trust the private sector to do the right thing.

[pippin]

19. Didn't we all know this?

Californians now have governor Arnie whose pals were part of this rip off. Dumb Californians went for the recall of Davis and faux elections of governor Arnie even after Enron et al essentially cleaned us out. So where was the media or our legislators when all this was happening?!! :mad:

[musette_sf]

21. recall and election were fake

and now Kevin Shelley is paying for getting rid of Diebold in CA.

Support Shelley!!!!!

[emad]

22. Enron's early gaming

Enron's early gaming
Transcripts reveal manipulation started in 1998
David R. Baker, Chronicle Staff Writer

Bankrupt energy trader Enron Corp. started manipulating California's electricity market a month after it was deregulated in 1998, according to internal documents and phone transcripts released Thursday by a small utility district in the state of Washington.

The Houston company, which made at least $1.6 billion during California's energy crisis, spotted weaknesses in the state's deregulation plan even before it went into effect, officials with the Snohomish County Public Utility District said Thursday.

The documents they unveiled Thursday also suggest Enron gamed the market in Alberta, Canada, using trading schemes similar to those it employed in California. Phone transcripts show Enron searching for reasons to shut down one of its power plants during the height of the California energy crisis, eventually closing the plant as blackouts rippled across the state.

Other transcripts include Enron employees joking about jail time.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/04/BUGV4B5D1H1.DTL

[Avalux]

23. Shocked, I tell you! (not)

Just reenforces my belief that people will do ANYTHING for money - the same type of people are in the WH and, yes, MIHOP.

[daleo]

26. They were screwing Canada too.

In my local paper today, it reported that they were honing their California theft techniques on Alberta when we "deregulated" in 1999. Why is Martha Stewart in jail, while Ken Lay is walking around? I suppose I know why.

[BrotherBuzz]

27. This might be a good place to repost this story...(a must read)

Fraud Traced to the White House

How California’s energy scam was inextricably linked to a war for oil scheme

______________________


By Katherine Yurica


This story begins with the California energy crisis, which started in 2000 and continued through the early months of 2001, when electricityprices spiked to their highest levels. Prices went from $12 per megawatt hour in 1998 to $200 in December 2000 to $250 in January 2001, and at times a megawatt cost $1,000.

One event occurred earlier. On July 13, 1998, employees of one of the two power-marketing centers in California watched incredulously as the wholesale price of $1 a megawatt hour spiked to $9,999, stayed at that price for four hours, then dropped to a penny. Someone was testing the system to find the limits of market exploitation. This incident was the earliest indication that the people and the state could become victims of fraud. The Sacramento Bee broke the story three years later, on May 6, 2001.

Today, Californians are still paying the costs of the debacle while according to state officials the power companies who manipulated the energy markets reaped more than $7.5 billion in unfair profits.

During those early months of the Bush administration, and even during the prior transition period, Dick Cheney was deeply involved in gathering information for a national energy policy. The intelligence he gathered would provide justification for a war against Iraq but would also place White House footprints all over a fraud scam. This is how it all happened.



Enter the Lead Villain......

<More!

http://www.yuricareport.com/PoliticalAnalysis/FraudinWhiteHouse.htm

[Peggy Day]

30. Doesn't that make Schwarzenegger a girly man to not do anything

about them ripping off California? I remember when they were doing this crap-to hear them laugh about it makes me sick.

[GetTheRightVote]

31. What a bunch of scum balls, Duke Power was in on similiar deals as well

:kick:

[AuntiBush]

32. I DO NOT Understand why

"every" important piece of vitally significant information comes down the news-pike "after" all the damage is in place.

Don't get it! It's freepin' unreal!!!

:mad:

[GoldfingerE]

33. -Just to let you all know!-

I work at a Barnes & Noble, and I received an advance copy of a book called 'Conspiracy Of Fools', by Kurt Eichenwald (Who has also written a book called 'The Informant'. It chronicles the ENTIRE Enron debacle, from the inception of Enron, up to its' many, many fallings. It should be out 3/8/05. If you're into the Enron debacle, you all should check out this book. I find it enthralling. I think you all should read it. It's a good read, interesting, and fast paced. Check it out!




-E!

[NightOwwl]

35. Brings back memories of the god-awful tapes Jon Stewart played...

(of course I never heard them on the "real" news.)

The absolute greed, depravity, and immorality of those people chilled me to the bone.

[emad]

36. Tapes reveal Enron's secret role in California's power blackouts

Julian Borger in Washington
Saturday February 5, 2005
The Guardian

Newly discovered tapes have revealed how the energy corporation Enron shut down at least one power plant on false pretences, deliberately aggravating California's crippling 2001 blackouts with the aim of raising prices.

The tapes also show that Enron, whose bankruptcy three years ago was the biggest corporate scandal of recent times, manipulated energy markets in Canada and was planning to rig the Californian market even before deregulation in 1998, for which the Texan corporation actively campaigned.

The most damning revelations concern Enron's secret role in creating artificial power shortages in California, helping to trigger an energy crisis in 2000 and 2001 which cost residents billions of dollars in surcharges.

The crisis ultimately led to the ousting of the state's Democratic governor, Gray Davis, and paved the way for rise of Arnold Schwarzenegger in his place. Meanwhile, the shortages helped Enron to make $1.6bn (£850m).

http://www.guardian.co.uk/enron/story/0,11337,1406480,00.html

[ElsewheresDaughter]

37. kick kick kick!

[mbperrin]

38. Here's a link to the transcripts and audio files of a bunch:

http://www.enrontapes.com/

If this doesn't boil ya, nothing will.

[HuckleB]

39. Kick

[Carl Brennan]

40. Enron top campaign contributor to Bush, sells subsidiary to Carlyle Group

Enron contributions to Bush: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=104x1262566

Enron sells subsidiary to Carlyle: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x402226

[Carl Brennan]

41. Even Tony Blair involved in Enron:

Brit named Porter liable in Enron scandal, links to Blair: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=200886

[Carl Brennan]

42. Swartznegger's link to Enron (Palast)

Maybe somebody should start leveling charges against the gropinator
Governor:


http://www.gregpalast.com/detail.cfm?artid=283&row=0


It's not what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to the girls a decade back that should raise an eyebrow. According to a series of memoranda our office obtained today, it's his dalliance with the boys in a hotel room just two years ago that's the real scandal.



The wannabe governor has yet to deny that on May 17, 2001, at the Peninsula Hotel in Los Angeles, he had consensual political intercourse with Enron chieftain Kenneth Lay. Also frolicking with Arnold and Ken was convicted stock swindler Mike Milken.



Now, thirty-four pages of internal Enron memoranda have just come through this reporter's fax machine tell all about the tryst between Maria's husband and the corporate con men. It turns out that Schwarzenegger knowingly joined the hush-hush encounter as part of a campaign to sabotage a Davis-Bustamante plan to make Enron and other power pirates then ravaging California pay back the $9 billion in illicit profits they carried off.



Here's the story Arnold doesn't want you to hear. The biggest single threat to Ken Lay and the electricity lords is a private lawsuit filed last year under California's unique Civil Code provision 17200, the "Unfair Business Practices Act." This litigation, heading to trial now in Los Angeles, would make the power companies return the $9 billion they filched from California electricity and gas customers.



It takes real cojones to bring such a suit. Who's the plaintiff taking on the bad guys? Cruz Bustamante, Lieutenant Governor and reluctant leading candidate against Schwarzenegger.



Now follow the action. One month after Cruz brings suit, Enron's Lay calls an emergency secret meeting in L.A. of his political buck-buddies, including Arnold. Their plan, to undercut Davis (according to Enron memos) and "solve" the energy crisis -- that is, make the Bustamante legal threat go away.

[Rainscents]

43. I live here in Snohomish County

and when this Enron crap happened, my PUD bill went up almost 50%... I was shocked!!!

[pfitz59]

47. Me too...!

Privatizing electricity has been a long-term assault on Bonneville Power, TVA and other govt providers. PAC NW was famed for cheap electricity due to hydro power, but now we've been scewed. Several Aluminum smelters shut down due to ENRON manipulations, forcing thousands of lay-offs. Silicon Valley had huge electricity demands due to computer servers and such. Which rich white guys swooped in to buy up tech stock when paniced companies couldn't afford the juice? Ripples from ENRON are still re-verberating!

[merh]

44. A thread that is worth checking out on Enron

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1944068

[CHIMO]

45. Enron Tested Schemes in Alberta, U.S. Utility Says

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Enron Corp. used Alberta as a testing ground for wholesale power trading schemes that would later become notorious in charges of price manipulation in California's energy crisis, an attorney with a Washington state public utility said on Friday.

Enron, the bankrupt energy trader, artificially inflated electricity prices in Alberta as part of a scheme called "Project Stanley," as the province was deregulating its power sector in 1999, Snohomish County Public Utility District said, citing Enron documents and tapes made public this week.

At one point in the spring of 1999, Enron traders in Alberta were able to play the system to reap revenues of C$45 million ($36 million) in one day, while pushing the spot price of electricity up by about 10 times, according to an analysis prepared by Massachusetts-based Frontier Economics Inc.

The Washington state utility said knowledge of the Canadian activities went "to the very top of the Enron organization."

http://www.globeinvestor.com/servlet/ArticleNews/story/ROC/20050204/2005-02-04T234052Z_01_N04275779_RTRIDST_0_BUSINESS-ENERGY-ENRON-CANADA-COL

[indepat]

46. Just let the free markets do their jobs

[Blower]

48. Why did this news wait until after the election? n/t

[leesa]

49. Again?? This is such old news. I'm sure Tony the Fixer can make it go

away.

Are these the meetings Arnode attended to help screw California out of 9 billion dollars?

[NNN0LHI]

50. Most Californians don't care about this minutia. But isn't Arnold dreamy?

[hollowdweller]

51. Would they be considered terrorists?

[struggle4progress]

52. kick

[SillyGoose]

53. hmmm...and where is Ken Lay today? n/t