If these guys are manipulating the market they certainly aren't doing a 
very good job of it.  Can't you send some folks over to give them a few 
lessons????   MIKE

P.S.  The attachment didn't come through.



At 07:23 PM 9/21/2001 -0500, you wrote:
>FYI.
>Thought folks might be interested in the following story.
>In addition, I've attached at the end for those that are interested a
>CSFB report on PG&E's POR announced yesterday.
>Very much enjoyed working with this group on a solution for California.
>Perhaps, given were things stand, we'll have another shot at helping get
>the market, California energy policy, and Edison, back on their feet.
>Best,
>Jeff
>
>FERC To Examine Alleged Market Manipulation By Calif ISO
>Updated: Friday, September 21, 2001 04:53 PM ET By Jason Leopold Of DOW
>JONES NEWSWIRES
>LOS ANGELES (Dow Jones)--Federal energy regulators may investigate
>whether the operator of California's wholesale electricity market has
>been manipulating its power-purchasing practices to reduce the costs of
>power the state purchased under long-term contracts, according to
>documents obtained Friday by Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
>At issue is whether the California Independent System Operator has
>violated its own market rules by purchasing expensive power secured by
>the state under contracts rather than cheaper power available in the
>spot market. The state's need to sell off surplus power secured under
>those contracts has proven embarrassing for Gov. Gray Davis, who signed
>$43 billion in deals to head off a summer of spiking prices and
>blackouts that never materialized.
>The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission will hold a meeting in
>California Monday to address generators' complaints. The energy
>companies say that the California ISO's purchasing decisions are
>difficult to comprehend and out of line with the market, according to a
>letter sent by Andrea Wolfman, lead FERC counsel for market oversight
>and enforcement.
>The letter was sent to the ISO, the California Department of Water
>Resources - which has been buying power in lieu of the state's
>struggling utilities since mid-January - and several generators, all of
>which were to attend the meeting.
>"Recently we have become concerned that the scheduling and dispatch
>procedures of the California ISO, as they have had to change in the last
>nine months, are not well understood or are not well suited to the
>current market structure," Wolfman said in her letter. "The purpose of
>the meeting is to develop agreement between the ISO and those that
>participate in the scheduling and dispatch (generators, utilities, CDWR)
>on appropriate practices and procedures."
>ISO Procedures Need Explaining -FERC
>The ISO's main responsibility is keeping power supply and demand in
>balance on the state's electrical grid. As part of that job, the ISO
>determines which power plants to call into service and which suppliers
>to buy power from.
>If the ISO can't explain how it makes its decisions, FERC may conduct an
>audit of the organization and investigate the possibility it has
>manipulated the market, Wolfman's office said.
>"As discussed, FERC may schedule a technical conference and operational
>audit of CAISO," a second letter from FERC's market oversight and
>enforcement division states. "This unprecedented examination of CAISO
>operations could lead to the belief that complaints by generators of
>market manipulation and other practices by the ISO should be
>investigated."
>The ISO's operating rules generally call for it to purchase the cheapest
>power first.
>"The information that (generators) have provided all leads to a theory
>that the CAISO is manipulating the market in order to purchase surplus
>DWR power at high prices and protect Gov. Davis from political
>embarrassment," the second letter says.
>The ISO has said only that the market isn't operating as intended, and
>declined to answer other questions about the allegations or discuss
>Monday's meeting.
>Generators Confused
>Generators, including Mirant Corp. (MIR
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/quotes/?symbol=MIR>, news
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/news/?symbol=MIR>, msgs
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/discuss/?symbol=MIR>), Reliant
>Energy Inc. (REI
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/quotes/?symbol=REI>, news
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/news/?symbol=REI>, msgs
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/discuss/?symbol=REI>), Williams
>Cos. (WMB <http://quicken.excite.com/investments/quotes/?symbol=WMB>,
>news <http://quicken.excite.com/investments/news/?symbol=WMB>, msgs
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/discuss/?symbol=WMB>), Duke
>Energy (DUK <http://quicken.excite.com/investments/quotes/?symbol=DUK>,
>news <http://quicken.excite.com/investments/news/?symbol=DUK>, msgs
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/discuss/?symbol=DUK>) and Dynegy
>Inc. (DYN <http://quicken.excite.com/investments/quotes/?symbol=DYN>,
>news <http://quicken.excite.com/investments/news/?symbol=DYN>, msgs
><http://quicken.excite.com/investments/discuss/?symbol=DYN>), have
>bought apparently inexpensive power in the ISO's spot market only to
>find weeks later that the price was much higher. That's because,
>according to the allegations, the ISO is letting DWR supply expensive
>power into the market as "out-of-market" purchases that aren't averaged
>into the real-time prices that ISO market participants see.
>DWR continues to buy out-of-market power regularly at the ISO's request,
>DWR operations chief Pete Garris has said, but those purchases are being
>made in the spot market and are never being satisfied by power from
>DWR's long-term contracts.
>The out-of-market purchases appear to be expensive, however. According
>to the ISO's August market report, the average out-of-market price for
>peak hours was $55.90 a megawatt-hour, compared with $26.49/MWh on the
>ISO computerized market. Brokered prices of western electricity have
>been lower than the out-of-market prices for months.
>None of the companies mentioned was willing to comment on the record.
>The meeting is scheduled to be held at the ISO's headquarters in Folsom,
>Calif., and representatives from power producers, utilities and the
>state are expected to attend. FERC will serve as facilitator, Wolfman
>said. The meeting isn't open to the public.
>The meeting will begin with a presentation by the ISO on its practices
>and operational procedures, followed by adjustments that may be needed
>to improve the market.
>"The objective is to develop a written set of procedures that is agreed
>to by all the market participants and that is consistent with good
>utility practices," Wolfman said in the letter.
>-By Jason Leopold, Dow Jones Newswires; 323-658-3874;
>jason.leopold@dowjones.com <mailto:jason.leopold@dowjones.com>
>
>
>
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