Remember Enron? Some Still Paying

May 26 - Seattle Post - Intelligencer

Remember the West Coast energy crisis - the one about electricity rather than gasoline? Snohomish County Public Utility District officials and congressional representatives are still trying to get much-needed federal acknowledgement that Enron ripped off Northwest customers.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission has failed to come up with meaningful relief for utilities and their customers from Enron's market manipulation during the 2000-01 crisis. FERC has hidden behind technicalities and has turned a blind eye toward the evidence.

The commission's attempts to ignore its responsibilities to the public became a lot harder last week when the Snohomish County utility released transcripts of Enron traders' conversations. The newly transcribed tapes add to the evidence of deliberate manipulation of markets that brought unconscionably high prices.

Enron sold power under phony conditions made possible, in part, by the commission's deregulation of markets. FERC must find a way to provide any relief that's still possible for cheated customers in Snohomish County and wherever else in the West. Nothing less will do.