CriminalTrial Against Reliant Energy To Soon Begin In CA:

By Jason Leopold Online Journal Contributing Writer

(Reliant Stadium may not be a great name for Houston after this trial). Remember the Energy brokers on tape laughing about grandma when they were shutting down power stadiums jacking up prices).


The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals is expected to issue a ruling soon on a key piece of evidence that will help kick-start the long awaited criminal trial involving Houston-based Reliant Energy and the company's alleged scheme to boost its profits by shutting down power plants in California during the height of the state's energy crisis five years ago.

At issue are technical questions federal prosecutors have raised involving the definition of "market manipulation" as stated by California's grid operator, which US District Court Judge Vaughn Walker said could not be introduced as evidence by the prosecution.

The criminal trial -- the first one related to the state's two-year-old energy crisis -- was scheduled to begin last month. It was postponed the day jury selection was set to begin, when prosecutors asked the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals to overturn Walker's ruling that market rules of the California Independent System Operator could not be used as evidence to establish what constitute normal wholesale power prices.

Prosecutors want to submit as proof price benchmarks calculated by the ISO, an approach that federal regulators have used to distribute billions of dollars of refunds to electricity buyers from power sellers accused of price gouging. Walker sided with defense attorneys who objected to the evidence submitted by the prosecution.

Reliant and four of its traders are accused of wire fraud and single counts of commodities market manipulation

http://onlinejournal.com/artman/publish/article_289.shtml