Some questions about Ken Lay and power shortages

[hedgehog]

Ken Lay and Enron really took California to the cleaners a few years ago causing major problems all over the state. For example, chip makers could get hold of liquid nitrogen for love or money (because the people who liquefy nitrogen couldn't buy power) so they had to cut back production.

Q 1. What ever happened to the California power shortage? Did someone build 200 new power plants without telling anybody?

Q.2. Having robbed California blind, how in the world did Ken Lay manage to bankrupt Enron?

[Reader Rabbit]

1. Power shortage was manufactured

As anyone in California who had a publicly-owned electricity source, and they never experienced blackouts. Not to mention the fact that the prices they pay are scads lower than privately owned companies.

In the Coachella Valley, home of Palm Springs, one half of the residents have So Cal Ed, and pay through the nose. The other half have Imperial Irrigation, and their bills are half the price. The only difference? Which side of Washington Avenue you life on.

Why don't people get that free market just means "freedom for corporations to fuck the little guy?"

[MindPilot]

2. The was no shortage. Enron's traders withheld power to jack up the price

The shortage was totally manufactured, either by manipulating the market, or taking power plant offline during peak demand. In one case a power plant employee claimed he was ordered to scrap out replacement parts so the plant would stay down.

No, we have not gotten our money back and our rates have not gone down--at least not to pre-screwing levels. And no one has been yet able to find out what transpired at the meeting in '01 with Cheney, Schwarzenegger & Milken.

The former lieutenant governor initiated a lawsuit which got--I believe--$7 billion dollar refund, but the law firm who did that just got indicted.

[hedgehog]

3. You can't get blood from a stone, so the money that went to

Enron is gone for good. But why are rates still jacked up to the moon? If there's no shortage, why the high prices?

[FreakinDJ]

4. NOT true

A judgement was handed down in the civil case. Not the 9 billion CA was defrauded but the award was 1.9 billion.

ARNOLD setteled out of court during appeal of the judgement for less then 1 million

Any doubt Ken Lay met secretly with Arnold during Arnold's campaign now....

BTW: Enron diverted 100s of millions to Cal-Pine a subsidery of Enron that later broke off. Cal-Pine bought up all the power generation facilities PG&E was ordered to sell off as part of CA energy deregulation plan

[hedgehog]

5. In other words, the name players are going to jail (maybe)

but the vampire still lives on under another name. Where's the MSM on this?

[hedgehog]

6. Does Kenny boy own any Cal-Pine stock?

How about George or Arnold?

[LiberalArkie]

7. If they did, their stock is work nothing

check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calpine_Corporation

the currnt price is $0.255 per share..

[MindPilot]

8. Thanks for the correction...

I was pounding that out off the top of my head, and focusing on the law firm indictment. Totally forgot about Arnie's payoff.

[Pissed Off Cabbie]

9. Arnold Supplies The Power Now

Power shortage? Bwahahahaha. Imagine all those sophisticated Californians looking like country bumpkins after Kenny Boy got through with them. They look more foolish than even God had intended.

http://pissedoffcabbie.blogspot.com/2006/05/kenny-lay-had-bad-day.html