🚀 go-pugleaf

> Enron was a middleman.  They didn't produce the power in California,
> they just bought and sold it. While they sold power at high prices, they
> also bought power at high prices (ideally, from their point of view,
> less high).  So it is really hard to say how much they netted out of
> California.  What's more, California was only a small part of their
> business.

<rant>
Yes, They bought it on contract months in advance to resell to their
customers...  this was their primary source of income in the state- hedging
power purchases.  When the prices were going through the roof, they tried to
squeeze out of existing contracts that they had with customers (Univ. of CA,
being one of the larger ones) so they could sell their already-purchased
power at the exorbitant prices that were being asked at the PX.

It wasn't just an electric game either- Enron did the same thing with
Natural Gas.  They bought gas contracts months in advance for customers at
lower rates, then tried to get out of the contracts to sell the gas on the
spot market.

So yes, they made millions gaming and manipulating the California energy
market.  But by no means were they the only ones doing it.  Duke, Southern
Co., Calpine, and Dynegy come to mind...  All are guilty of manipulating the
Power Exchange.  Add this to the gross mis-management of our State's power
grid by the ISO, and it's a recipe for disaster.  Gray Davis total lack of
knowledge of the power industry (one of the states largest industries)
didn't help, and neither did the previous administrations rush to
deregulate.

Enron got what was coming to them, and I'm sure their shady record as a
California energy marketer will come out in the Bankruptcy courts.
</rant>
-Jon in SF, CA