Feinstein Urges Energy Hearings
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Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) on Wednesday called for hearings by the Senate Energy Committee to examine possible manipulation of Western energy markets and to urge federal regulators to penalize misbehaving companies.
Feinstein sent a letter to incoming committee Chairman Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) after listening to audio tapes in which traders from AES Corp. and Williams Cos. discussed plans to deliberately shut down one Southern California power plant that AES operated for Williams and to prolong a maintenance closure at another in April and May 2000. Parts of the conversations were first made public last month by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which gave Feinstein the audio tapes Wednesday.
AES and Williams have denied wrongdoing. The companies settled a FERC inquiry by agreeing to pay $8 million.
Feinstein said she believes the tapes “demonstrate very clearly that market manipulation led to the dramatic escalation of price in the Western energy market in 2000.”
-- Nancy Rivera Brooks
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