U.S. seized 24,000 hours of recordings

[emad]

By Toby Eckert
COPLEY NEWS SERVICE
March 2, 2005

WASHINGTON – Audiotapes of power trades by Enron Corp. could contain "almost 1,550 conversations in which the traders may have engaged in or discussed violations of" trading regulations during California's power crisis, a federal investigator said yesterday.

The conversations, meticulously recorded by Enron, could help "establish that the transactions were indeed intended to be violations," Patrick R. Crowley, an economist for the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, said in testimony filed in an ongoing investigation of Enron.

The testimony was based on a preliminary analysis of about 24,000 hours of recordings seized from Enron's Portland, Ore., offices, where electricity deals involving California and other Western states were recorded. The tapes cover a period from April 26, 2000, to Feb. 28, 2002, and include discussions of ways to create bogus congestion on the power grid and other schemes that allegedly enriched Enron and other power companies.

Although investigators for the commission "have spent thousands of hours auditing and analyzing the (Enron) tapes, we have only scratched the surface of the amount of material in hand," Crowley said. "I believe there is sufficient public benefit to be garnered from further review to warrant the time and resources required."

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/business/20050302-9999-1b2enron.html

[aquart]

1. Giving Ken Lay time to die of old age?

As delaying tactics go, this one is magnificent. I guess Enron's ill-gotten gains were well-spent when they bought George.

[joeybee12]

2. Yeah, but they didn't listen to them until the Snohomish, Wa county

started sending transcripts of the tapes to the media--the feds were never going to get the bottom of Enron--just ignore most of it.

[priller]

4. Yes, and I'm not sure this is a good move

The FERC seemed decidedly uninterested in these tapes for years, even at one point claiming they couldn't afford to transcribe them. Now that the Snohomish country utility has been leaking juicy tidbits from the tapes, the FERC suddenly wants all of them back to investigate. I wouldn't be suprised if they just sat on them for more years.

[bostonbabs]

6. FERC

FERC are largely Bush appointed positions...Gray Davis said that FERC never once sided with the state of California and always sided with FERC....duh....manipulation from the top....since Bush became president our energy bills have gone up more than $1000.00 a year ..on average...oil,gas,electric....crooks!The Enron tapes will show that they "tested the waters" to see how much "the people" will take.....evidently plenty...

[leesa]

3. And I'm sure Cheney's secret energy papers would be icing

on the cake. Let's crack em open.

[cthrumatrix]

9. le's see how Enron helped out on the Energy Policy.....

where are the press on this?

[sybylla]

5. I have a question. Okay, a couple of questions.

Do Fortune 500 companies regulary record all phone conversations made by corporate employees?

Is it me or does this seem like a huge Big Brother organization? You don't make 24,000 hours of recordings without deliberation and a method for keeping track of them. This was a huge-ass operation to monitor the conversations of their employees.

[Nashyra]

7. Could this be an opening to re-open Cheney's

energy policy papers? How can we push for this? This could be significant in the fact that these whores were the ones that Cheney met with? Who can we direct massive amount of questions to?

[sybylla]

8. Hadn't thought of that angle.

You don't suppose they have recordings of conversations with Cheney, do you?

Regardless, I hope he's sweating bullets that they do.

[Richard Steele]

11. Large ENERGY providers regularly record such calls.

Managing an electrical grid from source to customer is kinda like being an air-traffic controller, only a bit less hectic.

Changes in the flow have to be made often, and require cooperation from many different companies at once.

Since there is no time for dozens of contracts to be sent back and forth daily,
they have adopted a system where a few individuals at each company are legally empowered to execute binding VERBAL contracts via telephone.

The recordings are saved because they are considered to be LEGAL DOCUMENTS, just like paper agreements would be.

[sybylla]

12. Thanks for the info!

I didn't know this but it makes sense.

And now they may be hoisted by their own petard.

[cthrumatrix]

10. siezed so that a FREE PRESS can never hear them AGAIN !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[struggle4progress]

13. Gonzo's gonna be real busy obstructin justice.

[Mountainman]

14. All the repukes who blamed Grey Davis and us Californians for our

electricity problems should me made to listen to all 24,000 hours of the tapes.

They called him Grayout Davis. Chaney knew what was going on and should be a co-conspirator.