Enron gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion

[Robbien]

Enron Corp.'s manipulation of energy markets gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion, according to audiotapes and documents released today by the Snohomish County Public Utility District, which earlier uncovered tapes of traders laughing about cheating grandmothers on their electricity bills.

The Public Utility District (PUD) analyzed the records in hopes of defending itself against a $122 million lawsuit filed by Enron, which has accused it of illegally breaking its contracts with the company. The utility claims the contract was void because Enron engaged in fraudulent business practices to drive up the cost of energy during the 2000-01 power crunch.

U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell, D-Wash., used the evidence to demand a new investigation by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. She said the agency's colossal failure to uncover Enron's schemes wound up hurting thousands of energy customers, and that FERC tried to keep the utility from getting access to Enron's tapes.

"When are you going to give justice to the individuals who have been hurt by this Enron market manipulation?" Cantwell asked. "If the federal oversight regulators aren't going to do their job, then they should get out of the way and quit obstructing justice."

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/snohomishcountynews/2001955796_webenron14m.html

[DenverDem]

1. And where did all these dollars go?

The redistribution of The People's wealth to the power elite rolls on unabated under the watchful eye of busholinico.

Funny how enron could go broke while stealing billions of dollars.

[Pale_Rider]

4. One of the worlds largest transfers of wealth from one state ...

... California to another state, Texas!

[DenverDem]

9. Horseshit.

That money went to offshore accounts of ken lay, bushlerco et al.


Thanks for your knee jerk bashing of Texas.

[Pale_Rider]

28. And all these crooks and their offices are located in Texas ...

... so what's your point?

http://www2.roanoke.com/columnists/shareef/1248.html

Since electricity was fully deregulated in California in 1996, over one-half of that state's electric companies were bought by private companies that are located in either Texas or North Carolina. Theoretically, these companies would compete with those plants still owned by the state in providing electricity to California, thereby driving costs down. However, the opposite has occurred. Because these companies produce over half of the state's electricity, and act as a cartel, California's cost for electric power (using the same electrons and power stations) will rise from $7 billion last year to more than $50 billion this year -- and for less energy.

These higher energy costs represent a massive transfer of wealth from California to Texas and North Carolina. The same is true for natural gas. Davis told Larry King this past Wednesday that the cost of natural gas bought by Californians from Texas energy companies costs $14 per BTU while New Yorkers only pay $5 per BTU from the same companies. Of course, the majority of energy producers In New York state are not headquartered in Texas.

On edit: BTW Google these words "California energy transfer of wealth to Texas". I came up with 60,700 hits. :mad:

[DenverDem]

35. To power elitists the world is their state.

The enemy is the military/information complex, not Texas.

[Pale_Rider]

37. Don't you mean the military/industrial complex?

n/t

[DenverDem]

40. No dude, the industrial age is long over.

We are in the information age, and the power elite's control of mass media has created the military/information complex, more sinister and manipulative than its precursor. Psychological opression.

[Pale_Rider]

42. Then to be complete we are probably in the ...

... military(industrial)/information/energy complex since the dwindling oil sources (peak oil) will demand that the power elite imposes even greater amount of control over the remaining sources of oil.

[DenverDem]

43. You are correct, sir.

Great point.

[Bridget Burke]

18. Nope. 99.999% of Texans didn't see a cent of the ill-gotten gains.

Although we didn't suffer as California did, energy prices were going through the roof here. For example tuition at state schools went up because of "fuel costs".

Quite a few Texans lost a lot to Enron. And those not personally injured still think Ken Lay is a sleaze & we want him to go down.

[Pale_Rider]

29. Sorry but there was a transfer of wealth ...

... and you're correct that it wasn't to 99.999% of Texans.

[spooked]

38. Part of it went to the Bush Selection Campaign!

Enron's executives gave over half a million dollars to the Bush Campaign, plus the use of its private jet.

[Justice]

2. Cantwell Rocks

"If the federal oversight regulators aren't going to do their job, then they should get out of the way and quit obstructing justice."

What a quote!

[Eloriel]

6. Um, let's be realistic

that was ONE thing she was good on. She's not the world's greatest Dem otherwise. But I'll give it to her on this one.

[joeybee12]

7. Give her a break--she's only a frosh....

...she might prove herself on this one.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

39. Gotta agree. Cantwell basically sucks. A big disappointment.

When Patty Murray makes you look bad, you've got troubles. (Although Murray has shown some positive signs as of late). I'll be taking a hard look at Cantwell's Dem challenger in 2006.

[montanacowboy]

3. And we still wait for Kenny Boy Lay

to do the perp walk - what a joke everything has become

[waywest]

27. After this much time, I'd rather see Lay indicted...

next January. That way * can't pardon him.

[proud patriot]

5. We Californians Want Justice

:grr:

[Hell Hath No Fury]

10. DAMN STRAIGHT!

As a Californian, I got to sit there and listen to the rest of the nation laugh about our plight, saying we were a bunch of tree-hugging loonies who deserved it because of all those damn hot tubs we owned and the stupid environmental protections we had that kept us from building plants we "needed".

Well, to those of you who smirked:

FUCK YOU.

I want a damned apology. :grr: :spank:

California was being fucked without lube by the energy companies, and there were a LOT of us who knew it and were speaking out about it, but a deaf ear was turned towards our cries.

And fuck Arnie too, for settling with those buggering companies instead of allowing the California lawsuit to go through the legal process.

[NashVegas]

14. Californians Should Sue Arnie and Kenny Both

I'm wondering if Gray Davis may have grounds for a suit, as well.

[The Backlash Cometh]

21. We should be asking, what did Arnold know? And when did he know it?

The stink factor is beginning to rise. Do you think the Dem higher-ups will protect him because of his connections to the Kennedy Clan?

[progressivebydesign]

19. Yeah.. can California have their Governor back now?

The whole drubbing of Davis was ALL ABOUT this energy crisis. I wish I could drive back to California, find the bitch with the big SUV and the "LIGHTS OUT? BLAME GRAY DAVIS" sticker.. and smack her. When I commented politely and humorously about the sticker, mentioning that perhaps we should thank Enron instead, she went ballistic on me. For once I wish I was a GOPer.. so I could be a real bitch. Just once.

[joe freedom]

22. If California weren't a bunch of

tree-hugging loonies who deserved it because of all those damn hot tubs we owned and the stupid environmental protections we had that kept us from building plants we "needed".


They wouldn't have needed to depend on another state for their power.

You set yourselves up. If California produced as much energy as they needed, any gouging would have been done by a company subject to the Cal. DOJ, and they coulda' been whacked.

When you rely on other states to put up with the pollution created by providing your energy, you can't bitch if they gig you.

:D

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[joe freedom]

25. Nice personal attack....

Well, actually it was pretty lame.

If Cal. had enough in-state production to meet its needs, and some of those plants held back, why doesn't Cal. nail them? They have to have a state business license to produce power in Cal.

The reason is because the plants the make up for temporary surges in need run on natural gas produced in other states. Some times you have to pay for your "don't drill here" desires. Picturesque views can be expensive.

[Pale_Rider]

32. A good number of California generators are owned by ...

... Texan companies, including the ones PG&E and Southern Ed were forced to sell over.

Obviously you haven't listen to the trader's tapes.

[Tansy_Gold]

33. Not all of us were laughing, HHNF

I understand your anger, and I'm not criticizing you.

I'm just pointing out for the rest of the folks that not all of the rest of the country was laughing at California. Here in Arizona, where there are more repukes than dems, many of us knew what was going on and were trying to make our voices heard, too.

At the height of the so-called shortage, four energy companies came out here to western Maricopa County, AZ, and rammed through all the permits and everything else to build four brand new power plants. Not to serve the citizens of Arizona, but to take advantage of RW Arizona's lax environmental laws and pro-business tax breaks so they could build the plants cheap and sell the power to California.

At least one of those plants sits idle now, maybe two. Consumers will be paying for them anyway.

Enron, Lay, Skilling, Fastow, and boosh screwed us all. And some of us knew it.

We just couldn't do anything to stop it.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. How f***ing badly run was this company?

They can steal 1.1 billion and still go broke.

[TahitiNut]

11. Simple. It was part of a money laundry.

To follow the money would require access to hundreds of off-shore accounts.

[Ganja Ninja]

17. No doubt there's one with the name Bush attached to it.

Maybe old Kenny boy has the Bush family by the short hairs.

[Tight_rope]

23. Oh...and let's not for get Tom Delay...he played a great part!

"It is well known that Enron lavished money and attention on political figures all over the nation's Capitol. But for an insight into how carefully the company cultivated members of Congress, look no further than its efforts to please Representative Tom DeLay." (The New York Times, Jan 16, 2002)


By the time Enron collapsed, its tentacles had penetrated deep into our federal government. No investigation into just how deep would be complete without a comprehensive examination of House Majority Whip, Tom DeLay.

In researching this story, it quickly became apparent that Tom DeLay's deep and personal involvement with Enron was not an exception but part of a pattern of controversial relationships that reach back to DeLay's earliest days in Congress.

All these relationships were consistent with a far-right, free-market, anti-regulatory philosophy that DeLay has raised to nearly religious status and upon which he has created a lucrative and ruthless power base.

Among other discoveries, we found a startling contrast between the wholesome, born-again, pro-family image DeLay portrays to voters back home in Sugarland, Texas, and the controversial causes and companies he backs in Washington.

A closer examination of Tom DeLay seems particularly important now, not so much because of his Enron entanglements, but because of his pending political promotion. With the announced retirement of House Majority Leader, Dick Army, (R-Tex) Tom DeLay is widely expected to ascend to that important post, making him the second most powerful person in the House of Representatives.

more-------->http://www.alternet.org/story/13104

Just reading about how Tom Delay help Enron screw Texas and California.
He should be impeached and never allow to hold public office again.

[progressivebydesign]

20. If Bush was anywhere NEAR the company,

of course it went belly up! Stupidity is often tied closely with greed.

[President Jesus]

12. Ken Lay campaign donations, 1983-present

Never forget who this jackal was in bed with...in a big way!
http://www.newsmeat.com/fec/bystate_detail.php?st=TX&last=Lay&first=Kenneth

[Tight_rope]

26. Thanks...this is a great way to track contributors!

[NashVegas]

13. Oh, Kenny Boy

You're so fucked. If I were you, I'd plead guilty and pray my friend George W. Bush is in a pardoning mood on his way out the door this Christmas.

[struggle4progress]

15. Aren't Dubya's friends great?

[cybildisobedience]

16. and let's not forget

All the people who were mocked as "conspiracy theorists" when they suggested that this was EXACTLY what was happening.

[Guaranteed]

34. Let's not forget it's STILL HAPPENING- GAS PRICES. nt

[Bluebear]

30. Kindly stop talking about it, a mall almost blew up

Booga booga!

[Judi Lynn]

31. Utility: Enron manipulated energy market practically every day during powe

Utility: Enron manipulated energy market practically every day during power crisis


By GENE JOHNSON
The Associated Press
6/14/04 5:51 PM


SEATTLE (AP) -- Enron Corp. manipulated the energy market practically every day during the 2000-01 power crunch and gouged Western customers for at least $1.1 billion, according to audiotapes and documents released Monday.
(snip)

The records also show that Enron employed at least five other schemes, dubbed "sidewinder," "ping pong," "donkey punch," "spread play" and "Russian roulette."

In one of the transcripts, an Enron employee says, "If the line's not congested I just look to congest it. ... If you can congest it, that's a moneymaker no matter what."

The documents also show that Enron maintained five separate sets of accounting records.
(snip/...)

http://www.mlive.com/newsflash/business/index.ssf?/newsflash/get_story.ssf?/cgi-free/getstory_ssf.cgi?f0284_BC_EnronTapes&&news&newsflash-financial

[They_LIHOP]

36. Remember Cheney and his spiel about how this was all California's Fault?

Remember when Grey Davis went to the Feds and complained (perfectly correctly, of course) about this manipulation, and good ol' Unka Dick went ahead and called California 'conspiracy mongers' or some shit? Then he went on to explain that this was really all OUR (me bein' Californian) fault on account of our not building enough production facilities? This was right around the time of his secret energy meetings. He is 'from' Texas. Texas companies were ripping off California. Enron, his and Georgie-boy's buddies, primarily.

As a fringe benefit of his LIES, I'm sure raggin on California and it's enviro-whackos played VERY well with the base.

Does ANYONE actually believe the Cheney wasn't completely 'in' on this scam, and simply LIED HIS F*CKING ASS OFF about it?

WHAT did we do to deserve the SHITBIRDS we know as the bush administration?

This entire cabal of lying, murderous, criminal thugs should be on trial right now, facing the death penalty that they all LOVE SO MUCH. Every last one of them, from Hadley to Libby to Cambone and right on up to the TOP.

For war crimes, racketeering, treason, and MURDER (for Iraq, and for LIHOP).

If every one of them were to be convicted and summarily publically executed, I'd be sitting in the front row with a bag of popcorn, cheering the executioners like they were Raiders after winning the Super Bowl.

[Rene]

41. who else was in on it.

Texas oil robbed CA with the help of Perot Systems...per Ross.

Perot Systems was hired to write the California Energy Management computer systems. They gave the key to the back door to the programming to Texas oil firms who manipulated the power OUT of CA to nearby states....created an artificial shortage and then, after jacking up prices, they sold it back into California.

[icymist]

44. An update to this story/ Seattle Times, Tue. June 15, 2004

Tuesday, June 15, 2004 - Page updated at 12:03 A.M.

Enron gouged $1.1 billion, utility says

By Christopher Schwarzen
Times Snohomish County bureau

Newly released financial documents show that Enron made more than $1.1 billion manipulating energy markets during the West Coast energy crisis, U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell and the Snohomish County Public Utility District charged yesterday.
Scrutinizing about 750 pages of financial documents called "inc sheets" and hours of day-trading tapes, PUD officials said it appears Enron manipulated energy markets 88 percent of the time it made trades from January 2000 to June 2001.

The tapes and financial sheets unveil several schemes traders used to control prices, PUD general counsel Mike Gianunzio said. Traders used names like "ricochet," "sidewinder" and "ping pong" when referring to price-gouging techniques, Gianunzio said.

One of the most common, tapes show, was the "ricochet," where traders would buy an excess of energy from a California utility, mask where the electricity originated, then sell it back to the same California utility at a higher price. Since California's energy market allows open trading like the U.S. stock exchanges, utilities often would sell surplus electricity hoping for better buys later in the day.

More at this