
78 Operational Risk Control
䊏 Enron
䊏 Reliant Energy
䊏 Dynergy, and
䊏 Duke Power.
These four companies had bought up California’s power-generating plants under the
deregulation act passed by Congress in 1996. Enron was still a going concern in early
2001, and in an arrogant way it was leading the pack of speculators blackmailing
utilities in many parts of the US for power and natural gas. At the time, Enron’s
shareholders, bondholders, and lenders had no inkling of what was in store for them
a few months down the line.
In an effort to stave off the crisis which hit California as a result of management
risk, Gray Davis, the governor, held emergency meetings ...