Detect

A long-awaited FERC staff report issued Wednesday concluded the wholesale natural gas and electricity markets in California and other western states were significantly manipulated during the critical 2000 and 2001 period. While many had hoped the report and other agency actions on western power refunds and long-term contracts Wednesday would bring some closure for the industry, it appeared the Commission’s investigation of suppliers’ activities was far from over.

Seeking to improve market transparency and provide a better means to detect and discourage discriminatory practices, FERC last Wednesday said that it would replace a number of reporting filings currently made by the power industry with a quarterly electronic report, which the Commission believes will equalize reporting requirements for both traditional public utilities and power marketers and make information more easily available to the public.

Chairman designate Pat Wood III is looking for a few good energy executives to teach him and his FERC colleagues the ins and outs of the natural gas and electricity markets, specifically how to detect when something “smelly” is taking place.

In a daring move, a staff member of the Federal EnergyRegulatory Commission’s new office that monitors the energy marketshas accused the Commission of being powerless to pinpoint andcorrect abuses in the electricity industry due to an absence ofappropriate market data.