Utility to settle energy crisis case (Enron/California)

Portland General Electric, the Oregon utility that Enron is selling, will pay $8.5 million to settle charges that the company manipulated Western power markets under an agreement approved Friday by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

The settlement resolves charges that traders for Portland General and its parent conspired to drive up prices and power-delivery costs with false reports during the California energy crisis of 2000 and 2001. It also ends probes by state and local regulators into trading activity and price-gouging complaints.

Similar settlements were announced Friday with Duke Energy, based in Charlotte, N.C., and Mirant, based in Atlanta. Portland General admits no wrongdoing in agreeing to the penalty, the order said. Neither did Duke or Mirant.

The settlement stems from a FERC probe of the California energy crisis and trading tactics allegedly used by Enron to manipulate prices. FERC in June stripped Houston-based Enron of its right to trade power and natural gas, barring the company from the energy-trading industry it helped create.

http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/2309713

comment: Is this the payback Enron gets for supporting Arnold? Wasn't the fine supposed to be in the billions? Or was that something else?

I loathe these clauses in corporate settlements

"admits no wrongdoing"
It would be possible, and quite enlightening, to write a history of corporate corruption and malfeasance in the past 30 years using only cases in which the "corporate citizen" admitted no wrongdoing.
Who the hell do they think they're fooling? Their stockholders? Their wives? Their dogs? They're criminals, plain and simple.
Ah, Portland General: KISS MY ASS!

With all the others. Notice this one is dated
Dec. 20, 2003, 2:09AM
Unfriggen believable. :argh:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=278454

Crappy deal for California.

If you're comparing the $8.5 million settlement to California's claim that it was overcharged by $9 billion. (OTOH that overcharge was not 100% the doing of Enron -- they had help from Dynegy, Duke, LAWP and a host of others).

Bill Lockyer not Arnold. This only absolves the subsidiary, not all subsidiaries and there are still cases to be resolved. The odds that we would get 9 billion in any award are small so going after as many defendants as possible and settling when the funds are available does make sense.

whole kit and caboodle. Hopefully they will get enough to help out the budget mess.

or is it now a moot subject? I can't find any updates on the internet that addresses the lawsuit filed by Cruz Bustamante as a private citizen on behalf of California taxpayers (November 20, 2002).