DEBRIS.COMgood for a laugh, or possibly an aneurysm

Bim forwarded a great story about the legal battle stemming from the so-called Energy Crisis of 2000-2001: Small-time officials take lead in Enron fight (mirror)

Enron has been accused of manipulating or “gaming” the energy market, by withholding supply in order to increase demand and raise prices. The fallout was enormous: western states signed energy contracts providing ridiculously inflated prices; rolling blackouts killed power across California with little warning; Gray Davis was replaced as governor by an action-movie actor whose name escapes me.

Today’s story, in brief, is that a small utility company in Washington acquired and transcribed hundreds of hours of audio tape featuring Enron employees bragging about manipulating the market. It’s precisely the sort of evidence that Enron officials must have prayed would never come to light.

The transcriptions were explosive. Enron traders joked about lying in their negotiations with Snohomish and others. They joked about stealing money from “Grandma Millie” in California, and they joked that President Bush would not stop them by imposing price caps because of his close relationship with Enron chief executive Ken Lay.
”This is more than a smoking gun,” says Russ Campbell, another Nevada Power lawyer. “It’s an audiotape of the gun being fired, the bullet hitting the victim, and the murderer standing over the victim laughing.”