Unsatisfied with the response to their pleas for electricity refunds, California officials took some solace in federal regulatory indications that there may be as much as a billion dollars in refunds to the state because of alleged natural gas border-price manipulations in the 2000-2001 time frame.

The focus by Californians is on reports that the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s staff probe of the wholesale energy markets has turned up alleged manipulation of wholesale gas prices that in turn inflated the costs of wholesale power. If FERC ordered re-calculation of wholesale gas costs as part of the electricity refund case, California officials think it will add $1 billion to their refund claim that currently stand at more than $9 billion.

“I wouldn’t scoff at $1 billion, but I don’t want to nominate FERC for the Nobel Prize either,” said Eric Saltmarsh, acting head of the California Electricity Oversight Board in a news report Thursday in the Los Angeles Times.

While state officials think $1 billion is a relatively small portion of what California consumers are owed in refunds, some knowledgeable energy observers in the West don’t think the refunds will be granted, and even if they are, the monies will never be recouped because of legal challenges and other complications, such as the hundreds of the millions that are still owed to many of the large wholesale suppliers.

©Copyright 2002 Intelligence Press Inc. All rights reserved. The preceding news report may not be republished or redistributed, in whole or in part, in any form, without prior written consent of Intelligence Press, Inc.