Zaps

Declaring their responses to questions related to FERC’s probe into energy price manipulation to be either glaringly incomplete or simply not credible, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission last week ordered four suppliers — El Paso Electric Co., Avista Corp., Portland General Electric and Williams Energy Marketing & Trading — to show why they shouldn’t be stripped of their authority to sell energy at unregulated rates dating back to Feb. 13 of this year, when the Commission opened its investigation into potential gaming of western power and natural gas markets.