Manipulated

Barclays Bank plc and a quartet of its traders manipulated the electricity markets in and around California for a two-year period beginning in 2006 and should be assessed an “unprecedented” penalty under the Federal Power Act, according to a filing by FERC staff.

FERC Monday approved a record $30 million agreement resolving claims that Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) and three affiliates manipulated physical natural gas prices at key Texas trading points from late 2003 through 2005.

BP Products North America Inc., a subsidiary of BP America, has agreed to pay $303 million to settle charges that it manipulated and attempted to manipulate the propane market in early 2003 and 2004, federal officials announced Thursday.

The scheduled start for the jury trial for Sempra Energy’s multi-billion-dollar class action lawsuit in which it is alleged to have manipulated wholesale Arizona border natural gas prices was delayed Monday as hearings continued on 30 pre-trial motions in the case in a state Superior Court in San Diego County.

With the stark animosity that has come to mark the split among its five members, the hardened majority at the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday rejected an outgoing commissioner’s allegations that a state-conducted probe proved Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. utility conspired to drive up wholesale natural gas prices at the Arizona border in the 2000-2001 western energy crisis.

With the stark animosity that has come to mark the split among its five members, the hardened majority at the California Public Utilities Commission Thursday rejected an outgoing commissioner’s allegations that a state-conducted probe proved Sempra Energy’s Southern California Gas Co. utility conspired to drive up wholesale natural gas prices at the Arizona border in the 2000-2001 western energy crisis.

Andrew Fastow, the ex-Enron Corp. CFO who allegedly manipulated the company’s books that eventually led to bankruptcy, will be tried separately beginning April 20, 2004 under an order by Houston-based U.S. District Judge Kenneth Hoyt.

This past winter’s natural gas and gasoline wholesale price spikes were not the result of manipulation but rather primarily a reaction to changes in the weather, according to the latest monthly tracking report released by California’s two major energy agencies Tuesday. The California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission completed investigations this spring at the behest of the governor.

This past winter’s natural gas and gasoline wholesale price spikes were not the result of manipulation but rather primarily a reaction to changes in the weather, according to the latest monthly tracking report released by California’s two major energy agencies Tuesday. The California Energy Commission and California Public Utilities Commission completed investigations this spring at the behest of the governor.