Enron hits bottom -- starts digging
Interesting things happening in Snohomish County (WA State). From
CNN News:
bq.
Tapes: Enron plotted to shut down power plant
Move came day that rolling blackouts hit California, utility says
bq. 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.
bq. That same day, shortages of power forced rolling blackouts in northern California that affected about 2 million customers.
bq. 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.
bq. 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.
"We want you guys to get a little creative ... and come up with a reason to go down," the Enron worker tells the plant employee on one of the tapes.
"Anything you want to do over there? ... Cleaning, anything like that?" the Enron employee says.
"Yeah, yeah," the other replies. "There's some stuff we could be doing."
And from some other tapes:
bq. Others imply that Enron used similar tactics in Canada and that traders were aware the actions were illegal.
bq. One Enron employee tells a colleague in another recorded conversation,
"I'm just trying to be an honest camper so I only go to jail once."
bq.
"Well, there you go. At least in only one country," the other replies, and laughs.
Nail them and put their asses in jail for a long long time.
Jen's dad is a farmer in the Central Valley of CA. He has to pump water from the local aquifer to irrigate his crops (Almonds and Wine Grapes mostly). When CAs electrical utility deregulated, it became cheaper for him to convert all of his irrigation pumps to diesel engines than it was to continue paying the spiraling electrical rates...
Posted by DaveH at February 4, 2005 12:50 PM